Motivation of Latina Students Leading to Retention in Engineering

Females and underrepresented ethnic minorities earn a small percentage of the engineering and computer science bachelor’s degrees awarded in the United States, receive an even smaller proportion of graduate degrees, and are underrepresented in the engineering workforce. Considerable research has examined the aspects of postsecondary engineering education that impede the achievement of underrepresented populations. However, this research used a positive perspective to recognize the motivating factors that promote the retention of Latina students in engineering, rather than identifying factors that lead to attrition. This action research study at a large public university used a qualitative approach to examine the characteristics and experiences of Latina students who pursued a bachelor’s degree in engineering as part of the 2008 first-time full-time freshman cohort. The researcher conducted two semi-structured individual interviews with seven undergraduate Latina students who successfully persisted from their first to their fourth year in engineering. The study aimed to understand what characteristics made Latina students successful and how their experiences motivated their persistence in an engineering major. The data collected in this study revealed that the parents’ consistent expectations for success and high academic achievement was a significant motivating factor in the Latina participants’ persistence in an engineering degree program. From the data collected, the researcher provides suggestions for engineering programs to implement and adapt activities and support systems that can improve the retention and graduation rates of undergraduate Latinas in engineering. Introduction In 2006, women earned 19.5% of engineering bachelor’s degrees awarded in the United States . As a result of this low degree attainment, the presence of women in the engineering workforce is also minimal. In 2008, females represented only 9.5% of the nearly 1.5 million engineers employed at the bachelor’s degree-level in the United States . Similarly, Hispanics (male and female) earned 7.8% of all bachelor’s degrees and only 7.2% of bachelor’s degrees in engineering. This limited representation becomes even more apparent considering that Latinos comprise 13.5% of the American labor force, but only 5.8% of the engineering workforce . Given these statistics, it is not surprising to find that Latinas (female Hispanics) earn only 1.7% of all engineering bachelor’s degrees. This gender and ethnic disparity among engineering degree-earners must be addressed to thwart further discrimination, tap into a population that can fill the growing need for engineers, and provide diversity within the field that can lead to stronger solutions for our engineering challenges. Over the coming years we face a shortage of engineers . This demand may be the result of baby boomer retirement, the widespread growth of the global technology, or a combination of both. In any case, the United State has not adequately utilized women or ethnic minorities to meet the growing demand in the engineering workforce. In this global economy, where fewer than half of American patents were awarded to foreign companies in 2009, the problems addressed by engineers will inevitably become increasingly complex and unfamiliar . Consequently, more P ge 23915.2 women and minority engineers are needed to meet the demand for a larger and more diverse engineering workforce that can address the needs of customers from around the world . According to Battles, “[t]he attrition of women from the STEM fields represents a loss of talent from these key disciplines, limiting their access to respected, well-paid jobs and affecting our technological competitiveness as a nation” . Motivation for the Study Although substantial progress has been made toward gender parity in biological and natural sciences, females continue to be underrepresented in the fields of engineering and computer science. Therefore, further research is needed to advance the STEM achievement of women from a Hispanic background—an ethnicity that accounts for more than half of the population growth in the U.S. since 2000 . An extensive body of research has examined the perceptions, culture, curriculum, and pedagogy that impede women and underrepresented ethnic minorities in engineering and computer science (e.g., Baker, 2010; Ceci & Williams, 2007; Hall & Sandler, 1982; Margolis & Fisher, 2003; Seymour & Hewitt, 1997; Tonso, 2007). However, limited research has exclusively focused on Latinas in engineering. Similarly, considerable research has focused on the attrition of minority students, examined all students in STEM fields, or investigated why students leave a specific field of study. In contrast, this study focused on why successful engineering students persist in their engineering major. By exploring the strengths and motivators of Latina persisters, this research informs further efforts to build on those positive characteristics and experiences. Two research questions guided this study: • What are the characteristics of successful Latina persisters in engineering? Characteristics may include traits that are developed over time or natural, intrinsic attributes. • How do the experiences of Latina students influence their persistence toward a bachelor’s degree in engineering? These experiences may have molded the students’ characteristics or may have directly influenced their decisions to persist. Qualitative methods allow researchers “to get at the inner experience of participants, to determine how meanings are formed through and in culture, and to discover rather than test variables” . Beyond the problem of high attrition rates of Latinas in engineering and computer science, the researcher sought to understand how Latinas respond to the culture of engineering, which drives many students away. To further understand how the engineering culture can cultivate or dissuade Latina persisters, it was most beneficial to invest in students who successfully navigated and persisted in the field of engineering, rather than to focus on those who did not persist in engineering. As an engineering administrator, the researcher felt it necessary to demonstrate an ethic of care and to listen to the expressed needs of the students being served . Noddings explains the ethic of care: If my expressed needs are not treated positively, or at least sensitively, I will likely not feel cared for. Attempts to care frequently misfire this way. Would-be carers think they know what the cared-for needs and act on their inferences in the name of caring. (p. 148) Postsecondary administrators often implement initiatives based on the perceived needs of a population or because a program has had success in another area. As Noddings discussed, there P ge 23915.3 is a definite difference between the expressed and inferred needs of students. This study served as an opportunity for Latina students to express their needs in a safe environment and to partner with an administrator who can serve as a sponsor for change. Methodology The researcher queried the university student database for all students whom identified as “female” and “Hispanic/Latino,” were admitted as first-time full-time freshmen in the fall 2008 semester, and were still enrolled in an engineering major as of October 2011. Of the 44 female Latina students who were admitted to engineering in fall 2008, only 19 were still enrolled in an engineering discipline three years later at the time of recruitment for this study. Walden and Foor 12 describe persisters as students who were directly admitted and enrolled in a STEM major, internal resettlers as students who switched from one STEM major to another, and inswitchers as students who began their college career as a non-STEM major and switched into a STEM major later. All interview participants were persisters who were directly admitted to an engineering major. Seven of the 19 students who were contacted agreed to participate and a summary of the participants is detailed in Table 1. Table 1 Participants by Major with Demographic Data Student Fall 2011 Major Heritage Residency Gabriela Aerospace Engineering Mexican Non-Resident Rosa Chemical Engineering Mexican Resident Paloma Civil Engineering Mexican Resident Isabel Electrical Engineering Mexican Resident Adriana Industrial Engineering Mexican Resident Yolanda Industrial Engineering Peruvian Resident Salma Mechanical Engineering Mexican Resident Data were collected by conducting two individual interviews with each of the seven participants. The researcher collected data through more than one interview to gradually build her rapport with participants, to introduce new themes at a pace that was consistent with the level of trust between the researcher and participant, and to avoid time constraints that could have inhibited the thorough investigation of each topic. An interview protocol helped ensure that the research questions were addressed during the interviews and that all participants were asked the same questions to elicit reliable responses. The researcher developed her interview protocols with influences from Margolis and Fisher 13 and Vasquez , who studied the persistence of women in computer science and the persistence Latinos in engineering, respectively. Additionally, the researcher referenced Eccles Expectancy Value Model of Achievement-Related Choices when adapting and designing interview questions . During and after data collection, the researcher analyzed her field notes and interview transcriptions to identify themes among participant responses and occurrences at the student organization executive board meetings. The researcher used qualitative data analysis software to review raw text, document memos and diagrams, and code the data. The researcher reviewed each transcription to select and label text relevant to the research questions, identified repeating ideas among the relevant text, an