ERIC Number: EJ1356165
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023-Jan
Pages: 25
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0091-5521
EISSN: EISSN-1940-2325
Available Date: N/A
"They Helped Me to Get Through": Investigating Institutional Sources of Support at Two-Year Colleges That Facilitate the Transfer and Persistence of Black Engineering Students
Berhane, Bruk; Onuma, Felicia; Buenaflor, Shannon; Fries-Britt, Sharon; Ogwo, Ashley
Community College Review, v51 n1 p103-127 Jan 2023
Introduction: While a considerable amount of extant scholarship describes the importance of and strategies for improving the postsecondary pathways of Black engineering students, most literature is contextualized within 4-year institutions. Objectives: The purpose of this article is to illuminate Black engineering students' experiences at community colleges in order to understand ways in which they engage different types of 2-year institutional support. Methods: We draw from data obtained through a series of focus groups and interviews facilitated between fall 2018 and fall 2019 with 13 engineering undergraduates. Results: Findings include evidence of important connections with faculty at 2-year colleges, such as positive engagement with them inside the classroom, as well as during office hours and general advising. In addition, we describe support from academic advisors regarding transfer pathways, as well as from campus staff who helped identify scholarships or other valuable resources on campus. Conclusion: We offer implications and conclusions that highlight the tremendous capacity of community colleges to support and educate future Black engineers. We also discuss the significance of underrepresented students of color working closely with faculty, adding that research to date notes that these interactions often tenuous for underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities. Finally, we discuss ways in which our results can inform the broader landscape of undergraduate engineering education, which--like other STEM fields--has often created unwelcoming and competitive environments that lead to student attrition for students from all demographic backgrounds.
Descriptors: Two Year College Students, Community Colleges, Blacks, Engineering Education, Social Support Groups, Transfer Programs, Transfer Students, Academic Persistence, Academic Advising, College Faculty, School Personnel
SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education; Two Year Colleges
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Science Foundation (NSF)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: 1828619
Author Affiliations: N/A