Climate Survey in a Mid-Sized Research University Mechanical Engineering Department: Report

This study was inspired by the restructuring of a mid-sized private research university’s mechanical engineering undergraduate major. This restructuring consists of offering major “concentrations” in several different areas which were developed based on student and alumni feedback, and redesigning academic advising for mechanical engineering majors. This time of change is being utilized as a chance to assess the undergraduate student climate in the department more generally. Climate is operationalized around the following factors: sense of community, perceptions of diversity of both faculty and students, and perceptions of inclusivity. This study is guided by the following evaluation questions: 1. What can be learned about our students’ self-beliefs and perceptions of supports? How do they differ by gender and major? 2. How might self-beliefs and perceptions of supports be related? To answer these questions, data were collected via surveys administered to current students who have declared a major in mechanical, biomechanical, or design engineering. The data gathered included students’ study skills and habits, their thoughts on program diversity and inclusivity, experiences with faculty, the sense of community of the program, and demographic information including parents’ education levels and careers, high school classes and exposure to engineering, and engineering activities outside of school. We found that there were significant differences between men and women, and mechanical engineering and design students. For men and women, these differences were present in the areas of certain engineering skills, engineering identity, innovation task self-efficacy, engineering task self-efficacy, engineering identity, major fit, and major perception. For mechanical engineering and design students, these differences were present in innovation and engineering task selfefficacy, sense of engineering community, engineering identity, and major perception. Lastly, we found strong positive correlations between the three supports considered in this work (support of diversity, engineering community support, and faculty support) and a student’s sense of fitting into their major. In addition, a strong sense of engineering community support is correlated with greater engineering task self-efficacy, whereas a stronger sense of faculty support is correlated with greater skill beliefs.