Student engagement in extracurricular activities, and the integration of these activities with academics, can be critical factors influencing student persistence. There is also evidence linking extracurricular and social involvement to career choices, goals and plans, as well as success in future employment and earnings. This paper explores the…

Despite generally higher academic achievement, female students display lower academic self-confidence than males. Of particular interest to engineering educators is the difference in confidence in mathematical, scientific and problem-solving skills. Using a multi-method approach that utilizes the rich dataset of the Academic Pathways Study, the…

The Academic Pathways Study (APS) is a multi-institution, mixed-methods, longitudinal study which examines engineering students' learning and development as they move into, through, and beyond their undergraduate institutions (Atman et al., 2008; Sheppard et al., 2004). It is part of the Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education…

This analysis, that utilizes data from part of the Academic Pathways Study (APS) of the Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education (CAEE), found that as a result of taking a course in engineering design and/or studying engineering for four years, students acquire engineering design language that is common to a larger community of practice…

For undergraduate engineering students, development of an engineering identity is an important outcome of their education as they progress towards their professional selves. This process is reflected in engineering colleges' frequent practice of referring to engineering students as "engineers" (even in the earliest days following matriculation) in…

Women represent only one-fifth of engineering Bachelor's degree recipients in the U.S. This gender gap has stubbornly held for the past several years. The authors' study uses survey and interview data to examine the experience and perspectives of 40 first-year women and men intending to study engineering at a public, research extensive…

In this study, the authors used two methods for analyzing expert data: verbal protocol analysis (VPA) and narrative analysis. VPA has been effectively used to describe the design processes employed by engineering students, expert designers, and expert-novice comparative research. VPA involves asking participants to "think aloud" while…

As engineers contribute to solving the increasingly complex problems facing our society, there is a growing need for the engineers graduating from undergraduate programs to deeply understand the context within which they are solving problems. There is a particular need for engineers who recognize the complexities of global and societal issues and…

There is evidence in the literature that women have lower confidence in their skills and knowledge than men, particularly in areas considered crucial for engineering, like math and science. This difference has been linked to gender gaps in engineering enrollment and persistence. This study of engineering students extends research on gender…