The Benefit Of Outreach To Engineering Students

Abstract

Engineering K-12 education outreach programs provide a unique opportunity for undergraduate engineers to develop communication and leadership skills as well as build self-confidence. Recently, there has been an engineering education outreach surge at many universities across the country. While the main goal of these programs is to assist educators in incorporating engineering into the K-12 curriculum, there are offshoot benefits to the undergraduate students who participate in outreach efforts, especially females. Capitalizing on a student's fresh engineering knowledge and young ambitions to make an impact, outreach programs send undergraduates into K-12 classrooms to introduce the engineering discipline to young children. Female engineers demonstrate a large interest in these outreach efforts, and subsequently enhance their overall undergraduate engineering experience. Beyond the initial self-satisfaction of working with young children, which gratifies the female instinct, the young women engineers are able to gain a greater confidence in the technical discipline that is often difficult to obtain in the male-dominated college classroom environment. Tufts University offers this opportunity through the Center for Engineering Educational Outreach, and in the following paper, the participating female engineers account their enhanced leadership, communication, and technical skills as a direct result of outreach.

Using Motivational Theory to Implement S-STEM Activities Supporting Student Success

“…Participation in outreach events helps undergraduate engineers to strengthen communication and leadership skills and build self-confidence (identity value, competence, and belief in ability) while enhancing their undergraduate experience and sense of civic responsibility [28]. All participants must participate in one STEM Outreach event per year.…”

Board 172: Redefining the Role of Women in Engineering through SWE-Led Middle School Outreach Program (Work in Progress)

“…Researchers and educators have worked to develop programs and strategies to help combat such negative gender stereotypes in the fields of engineering and technology, while preparing young girls to undertake careers in engineering. Studies have shown that female students, in particular, are attracted to careers with communal and altruistic goals, showing that female students are most interested in the social relevance of the work, exploring career opportunities of engineering fields that link communal goals with engineering practice [5][6][7][8]. Studies have also shown that outreach camps and programs that strive to provide an outlet for like-minded students to interact with each other are a great tool for introducing young students to careers in the STEM fields [9].…”