The Effect of Diversity on Feelings of Belongingness for New Engineering Students

This research category full paper seeks to understand if feelings of belonging differ according to student demographics for first-year engineering students. Engineering has maintained a stable profile (i.e., white, masculine, and male) for many years, despite national trends in higher education. Multiple researchers have demonstrated that increased diversity leads to improved communication skills, creativity, and problem-solving capabilities, all goals that directly align with engineering’s core values. The lack of diversity within engineering has resulted in a culture which produces engineers that are underprepared and lacking the skills required to work in an increasingly diverse and global engineering market. Engineering’s cultural attitude towards diversity has created environments where students, especially underrepresented minorities (URM), feel that they do not belong despite meeting the academic requirements. To better understand feelings of belongingness within engineering education, the research team set out to answer the question: How do feelings of belongingness differ across demographic characteristics for new (second week) engineering students, enrolled in a first-year first-semester engineering course? Our results demonstrate that neither disability status, race or sexual identity significantly affect how new engineers report their perception of belonging. Female students entered engineering feeling that they belong but at a level significantly lower than their male peers. This suggests that there is still much work to be done in the K-12 environment to cultivate female students’ interest and confidence in engineering, as well as room for improving the welcoming of all students into engineering education.