Understanding The Numbers: Increasing The Number Of Minority Engineering Students

In order to begin to increase the number of minority engineering students, the current state of affairs must be understood and analyzed. The analysis shows a lack of representation of minority engineering students. This representation is lacking with respect to all engineering students and with respect to the U.S. population percentages of minority people. Within these under-representations, in both all bachelor degrees awarded and all engineering bachelor degrees, an interesting discrepancy is apparent. The statistics show that the two main groups within the minority population, Blacks and Hispanics, do not earn as many bachelor degrees nor engineering degrees as the remainder of the minority group. Another disheartening statistic is the next generation of minority students, the high school graduates. The statistics do not give much hope for the future. The future population trends have been predicted by the U.S. Census Bureau, and if the current state of minorities in engineering is not improved, the field of engineering will suffer. This paper will address all of the above items: the current U.S. population and education statistics, the trend of some minority groups to obtain higher percentages of both bachelor and engineering degrees over other minority groups, the next-generation of college students, the projected future populations, and some possible solutions to increasing the numbers of minority students in the engineering field. Literature Search In researching this area, one finds a plethora of information, yet not all address the accurate state of minority students in engineering. Some references, including those published by NSF1,2, state accurate information, but focus on the increase in the numbers of minority students, not the racial groups within the minority groups or the relationship between these numbers and the U.S. population. Also, accurate information regarding engineering students is missing. According to the NSF’s Science and Engineering P ge 8.223.1 Session Division: 2793 “Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright 2003, American Society for Engineering Education” Indicators, Chapter 2, Higher Education in Science and Engineering, “The trend of increasing enrollment of underrepresented minority students in undergraduate programs has persisted for over a decade and accelerated in the 1990s. Black enrollment increased 3.6 percent annually in the 1990s, reaching 1.3 million in 1995. Hispanic enrollment in higher education increased at an even faster rate during this period (7.1 percent annually).” While this is accurate, and may paint a rosy picture for minority education, it hides many problems: it does not indicate engineering students, it does not indicate the increase in U.S. population for Blacks and Hispanics, and does not state the original numbers. The research in our paper accurately discusses the past, present, and future for minorities in engineering, and is based on U.S. Census Bureau data. Another unique aspect of our research is the discussion of the future of engineering and the United States based on projections of the population for the year 2100. In one hundred years, the racial make-up of this country will be very different than it is today. This paper discusses the difference in population in 2100 and this difference’s effect it may have on the country, assuming the numbers of Blacks and Hispanics in engineering remain low. History of U.S. Population and Education Figures In order to fully comprehend the educational trends and future of minorities, one must understand the educational history of minority populations. This section will discuss the historical trends with the 1940, 1950, and 1994 census information. The U.S. Census Bureau in 19403, used the term “Negro” instead of “Black” and other minorities were not differentiated but rather included in statistics as “Other Races.” All minorities constituted 9.1% of the U.S. Population, with Negroes comprising 8.7% of the U.S. population, and other races constituting 0.4%. Within the minority population, Negroes were overwhelmingly the largest sector, at about 96%. Figure 1. Percentages of U.S. Population with Respect to Race, 1940 90.9% 8.7% 0.4% White Negro Other Races