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2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access

Success Expectations of Low-income Academically Talented Students in Engineering: A Preliminary Study at a Hispanic-serving Institution

Presented at Minorities in Engineering Division Technical Session 2

This paper describes findings on interviews conducted to Hispanic engineering students interested in participating in an S-STEM fellowship program at our institution. The program seeks to increase the retention, persistence, and success of Low-Income Academically Talented Students (LIATS) at the College of Engineering (CoE). Specifically, this program integrates elements from Lent’s et al. Social Cognitive Career Theory and Tinto’s Departure Model in conjunction with a scholarship program to establish an intervention model to be further institutionalized at the CoE, if proven to be effective. Specifically, this paper focuses on findings during the recruitment and selection process. An exploratory study was conducted guided by the following research question: What are the success expectations of LIATS participating on the proposed fellowship program?

The recruitment process implemented consisted of a five-stage process: (1) program announcement, (2) application process, (3) info-sessions, (4) interview process, and (5) awarding process. Out of 2,388 students received that were invited to participate, 92 were finally selected for the program. The participation was distributed as 41 scholars (S) and 51 participants (P). Participants received all program benefits except financial aid, i.e. they participated on all the interventions designed for the program. Furthermore, the final group distribution resulted in 34 freshmen (S=13, P=21), 28 sophomore (S=13, P=15) and 38 juniors (S=13, P=15).

The interview protocol consisted of 6 questions that focused on: (1) interest in pursuing an engineering degree, (2) likes and dislikes on their current program of study, (3) factors affecting academic their performance, (4) plans after graduation, (5) events that had an effect on their academic performance, (6) interest on participating in the program. A grounded theory approach was applied to determine emerging themes through an open-coding process. Then, participants’ answers were tallied and ranked. Preliminary results indicated that students’ interest to pursue an engineering degree was due to participation either on a STEM program at their high school or a campus outreach activity, such as summer camps. In terms of how they feel about their program of study findings indicated a positive reaction to the college environment. On the other hand the main trouble was the adaptation to the college work-load. When asked about factors affecting their academic performance, participants indicated the economic problems that were facing due to the rise of school tuition fees. Also, their plans after graduation were to continue graduate studies followed closely by getting a job. Furthermore, participants indicated that time management has been the biggest factor affecting their academic performance. Finally, their motivation to participate in the program was to seek mentorship from professors from their field of study.

Authors
  1. Dr. Aidsa I. Santiago-Roman University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus [biography]

    Dr. Aidsa I. Santiago-Román is a Professor and Chair in the Engineering Sciences and Materials (CIIM) Department at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus (UPRM). Dr. Santiago earned a BS and MS in Industrial Engineering from UPRM and Ph.D in Engineering Education from Purdue University. Dr. Santiago has over 20 years of experience in academia and has been successful obtaining funding and publishing for various research projects. She's also the founder and advisor of the first ASEE student chapter in Puerto Rico.

    Her primary research interests include investigating students’ understanding of difficult concepts in engineering sciences, especially for underrepresented populations. She also works in the development and evaluation of various engineering curriculum and courses at UPRM applying the outcome-based educational framework.

  2. Dr. Manuel A. Jimenez University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus [biography]

    Dr. Jimenez is a professor at the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department in the University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez (UPRM). He earned his B.S from Universidad Autonoma de Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in 1986, M.S. from Univ. of Puerto Rico

  3. Dr. Luisa Guillemard University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus [biography]

    Luisa Guillemard is a psychology professor at the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez Campus. She has a M.S. in Clinical Psychology from the Caribbean Center of Advanced Studies in Puerto Rico [today the Carlos Albizu University] and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Texas A&M University, post-graduate training in evaluation at The Evaluators Institute (TEI) at George Washington University and the AEA/CDC Summer Evaluation Institute. Besides teaching, she has worked as an evaluator in grants awarded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), National Institutes of Health (NIH), US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Currently she is the internal evaluator for the projects Recruiting, Retaining and Engaging Academically Talented Students from Economically Disadvantaged Groups into a Pathway to Successful Engineering Careers (PEARLS) and for Building Capacity at Collaborative Undergraduate STEM Program in Resilient and Sustainable Infrastructure (RISE-UP). Both projects are funded by NSF.

  4. Dr. Sonia M. Bartolomei-Suarez University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus [biography]

    Sonia M. Bartolomei-Suarez is a Professor of Industrial Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico Mayagüez (UPRM). She graduated with a BS in Industrial Engineering from UPRM (1983), a MSIE (1985) from Purdue University, and a PhD in Industrial Engineering (1996) from The Pennsylvania State University. Her teaching and research interests include: Discrete Event Simulation, Facilities Planning, Material Handling Systems, Women in Academia in STEM fields, Engineering in Education and Access to Post-Secondary Education. From August 2006 through February 2008, she was the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs of the College of Engineering. She was Co-Pi of the NSF’s UPRM ADVANCE IT Catalyst Project awarded during 2008. From 2008-2016, she was Co-PI of the USDE’s Puerto Rico College Access Challenge Grant Project. From 2015-2018, she was the Coordinator of the UPRM College of Engineering Recruitment, Retention and Distance Engineering Education Program (R2DEEP). Currently, she is Co-PI of the project "Recruiting, Retaining, and Engaging Academically Talented Students from Economically Disadvantaged Groups into a Pathway to Successful Engineering Careers," sponsored by NSF DUE.

  5. Prof. Oscar Marcelo Suarez Orcid 16x16http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3797-4787 University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus [biography]

    Professor Oscar Marcelo Suarez joined the University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez in 2000. He holds a BS in Aeronautical & Mechanical Engineering (National Univ. of Cordoba, Argentina) and an MS and Ph.D. in Metallurgical Engineering from the U. Wisconsin-Madison (UW). A Fellow of ASM International and Distinguished Alumnus of UW, he is the Coordinator of the Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) graduate program (one of the few hosted by a Hispanic-serving institution) and a faculty member of the Bioengineering graduate one. He was also the director of the first Nanotechnology Center in Puerto Rico, receiving nearly $10 million from the National Science Foundation. His research areas encompass light alloys and composites for aerospace applications, biopolymeric composites for electronic, environmental, and biological uses, as well as nanoengineered concrete. His research group includes a post-doctoral fellow, four doctoral students, and four master ones from Bioengineering, MSE, and Civil and Environmental Engineering.

  6. Prof. Nelson Cardona-Martínez Orcid 16x16http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1523-0960 University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus [biography]

    Nelson Cardona-Martínez is a Chemical Engineering Professor at the University of Puerto Rico - Mayagüez. His research focuses on the development of catalytic materials and processes for the conversion of biomass derived feedstocks into valuable chemica

  7. Dr. Carla López del Puerto Orcid 16x16http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0334-7208 University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus [biography]

    Carla López del Puerto, Ph.D. is a Professor of Construction Engineering and Management in the Department of Civil Engineering at The University of Puerto Rico - Mayagüez Campus.

  8. Dr. Nayda G. Santiago Orcid 16x16http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-6049-8782 University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus [biography]

    Nayda G. Santiago is professor at the Electrical and Computer Engineering department, University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus (UPRM) where she teaches the Capstone Course in Computer Engineering. She received an BS in EE from the University of PR, Maya

  9. Dr. Pedro O. Quintero University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus [biography]

    Pedro Quintero earned a B.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez and an M.S .from that same institution. After spending nine years in the electronics industry, he joined the University of Maryland, College Park, where

  10. Dr. Anidza Valentín-Rodríguez Orcid 16x16http://orcid.org/https://0000-0001-8981-653X University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez Campus
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