Board 114: Work-in-Progress: Engineering Identity across the Mechanical Engineering Major

The Mechanical Engineering Department at Seattle University was awarded a National Science Foundation RED (Revolutionizing Engineering and Computer Science Departments) grant in 2017 to study how student identities change when a department makes “revolutionizing” changes. These changes will be implemented over the next five years in four areas research shows are important: shared vision, reflective faculty, relevant curriculum and pedagogy, and supportive policies. The goal of the changes is to immerse students in a new culture of “Engineering with Engineers” throughout their years of studying mechanical engineering. This paper focuses on the identity data collected during the first year of the grant, and describes the theoretical background, methodology, and the results. These data will serve as a baseline for the ongoing identity research supported by the grant.