The central objective of this interdisciplinary, inter-institutional project is to conduct a comparative study of the factors affecting the success and pathways to engineering careers of African American students at a Predominantly White Institution (PWI) and a Historically Black University (HBCU). The study focuses on the following three factors:
1. The attitudes and beliefs of faculty and staff toward underrepresented students and how these attitudes influence their classroom and advising interactions and expectations, and the impact this has on the students’ sense of belonging and academic success;
2. The existing institutional support mechanisms at both institutions and students’ perceptions of their efficacy and the role they perceive these mechanisms play in their academic success; and
3. The influence of student organizations- specifically underrepresented Minority engineering affinity groups and the embedded networks therein on the social and academic integration of African American students at the two types of institutions.
Here we report on the social network analysis conducted as part of this study. The data used was collected from focus group and individual interviews of African American engineering students at both institutions. We examined individual ego network maps of students and whole networks in the context of the narrative interviews to determine the role of the students’ networks in the survival strategy, integration, and success of members of underrepresented minority affinity groups in engineering versus African American engineering students who are not a part of these organizations. Through social network analysis we examine the importance of NSBE (at the PWI and the HBCU) and an engineering fraternity at the HBCU subcultures in fostering an environment that aids students’ integration into these respective university cultures. We explore whether there is a correlation between social integration as articulated through social network analysis and student success at these institutions.
Lesley Berhan is currently the Associate Dean of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement for the College of Engineering and an Associate Professor in the department of Mechanical, Industrial, and Manufacturing Engineering at The University of Toledo. Her research interests are in the areas of composites and fibrous materials and engineering education. She received her B.Sc. in Civil Engineering from the University of the West Indies in St. Augustine, Trinidad, her M.S. in Civil Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. She joined the faculty at the University of Toledo in 2004. As the Associate Dean of Diversity, Inclusion, and Community Engagement she leads the development and execution of initiatives and programs to facilitate the recruitment, retention, and success of women, students from underrepresented groups and first generation students. These duties are well aligned with her current research interests and external funding in engineering education.
Aaron Adams is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical and Civil Engineering at Alabama A & M University. Before pursuing graduate studies, he worked at the National Academy of Engineering & Ford Motor Company as a product design engineer focusing on Minority STEM education and environmental policies. His research interests include nuclear radiation detection and thermal electric material development. He also works with the Center for Entrepreneurship Innovation and Economic Development to encourage African American students, and underrepresented groups in developing business innovation and ideas.
Willie McKether is the Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion and Vice Provost at The University of Toledo. Formerly, he was associate dean in UT’s College of Languages, Literature and Social Sciences and is an associate professor of anthropology in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology. His academic areas of focus include African-American migration and culture, as well as business anthropology and urban anthropology, with a focus on student retention and school culture as well as social network analysis. He earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Grand Valley State University, a master’s degree in business administration from Saginaw Valley State University, and a Master of Arts degree in labor and industrial relations, as well as a doctoral degree in business anthropology, from Wayne State University. Dr. McKether is a founding member (2011) of Brothers on the Rise, a retention and mentoring program at UT as well as the Multicultural Emerging Scholars Program (MESP) summer bridge program at The University of Toledo. His community involvement includes: advisory board member, Art Tatum African-American Resource Center at the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library; founding member (2009), Edrene Cole African-American Oral History Collection in Toledo; member of United Way of Greater Toledo’s African-American Leadership Council; and he is a Board of Trustee member with YMCA. He also is past president of the Central States Anthropological Society.
Ph.D. in Education and Psychology from the Combined Program in Education and Psychology, University of Michigan. At the graduate level, she teaches courses in Adolescent Development, Motivational Theory and Application, Cultural Perspectives in Learning a
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