Underrepresented Minority Engineering Students’ Professional Experiences with Cooperative Education: Perceived Benefits, Drawbacks, and Pathways to Participation

Abstract

This study examines underrepresented minority students' perceptions of cooperative education programs (co-ops), and how these perceptions (and other influences) are related to students' decisions about whether to participate in co-ops. This study also examines current co-op students' experiences, including identified benefits and drawbacks of co-op participation. Eight African American, Latinx, and Pacific Islander engineering students (three co-op, one applicant, and four non-co-op) were interviewed about their co-op perceptions and experiences. Both co-op and non-co-op students highlighted depth of experience as a strong benefit of co-ops. Students differed in their decisions about whether to pursue co-ops based on how they ranked the relative significance of the characteristics of co-ops and internships. Students described how minority engineering organizations provided them with information about co-ops and influenced their expectations and decisions.Research findings could help inform institutions, offices of professional practice, and student advisors on how to describe the benefits of co-op participation and address potential student concerns. The findings suggest that minority organizations play a key role in providing information and influencing students' decisions. University programs and advisors can help students make informed decisions about undergraduate work experiences by understanding the sources and types of information that students seek and value. This work also contributes to broader understanding in engineering around the potential role of co-ops in efforts to broaden participation and increase retention of underrepresented minority students in the engineering profession.

A narrative exploration of the in/authentic experiences of Black engineering interns (Work in Progress)

“…In some instances, students of Color have benefited from participation in internships. Some benefits include a higher likelihood of graduation and higher starting salary than those who did not participate [29], an understanding of the workplace culture and employability [36], and professional identity formation [32], [37]. No studies have looked solely at the effects of internships on Black engineers' identity development.…”