Viewing access and persistence in engineering through a socioeconomic lens

The Popularity and Intensity of Engineering Undergraduate Out‐of‐Class Activities

“…The higher odds that underrepresented students specify Job as their top activity could have various explanations, including the overrepresentation of socioeconomic disadvantage in the groups underrepresented by race/ethnicity, meaning they are more dependent on earning money to support their education or are more conscious of the importance of gaining experience for securing a good paying job. Indeed, multiple studies in engineering and STEM more broadly find that racial/ethnic differences in various outcomes can be accounted for by socioeconomic differences (Corbett, Hill, & St. Rose, ; Ohland, Orr, Lundy‐Wagner, Veenstra, & Long, ).…”

Work in Progress: Developing a Procedure for Identifying Indicators of "Over-persistence"

“…A number of variables including institutional [1][2][3] , financial 4-7 , socioeconomic [8][9][10][11] , as well as demographic and academic factors [12][13][14][15][16] have been investigated to determine their influence on college student retention. While all of these factors can play a role in a student's decision to either drop out or persist, both in college and in their respective majors, few of these factors are readily available to university advisors who are charged with assisting students in these decisions.…”

International Perspectives on Engineering Education

“…On the other hand, those who lacked the cultural capital to take those classes, those who graduated from schools without the option for this coursework, and those who simply learn better with their hands struggle through engineering education because they do not see their own skills refl ected or valued in the traditional curriculum. This accumulation of benefi ts and disadvantages is one of the ways in which privilege operates within engineering education and mitigates against a more diverse student body (see also Ohland et al 2012 ). This process is evident in graduation rates, as there exists an 11 % difference between low income students and their peers even when controlling for factors such as high school grades, standardized test scores, race/ethnicity, gender and university (Strutz et al 2012 , p. 147).…”