Research Initiation: The Role of Internships in Developing Engineering Professional Identity for First Generation Low-Income Students

Elizabethtown College, Elizabethtown PA

Investigators

Abstract

The U.S. has a goal to strengthen and diversify its engineering and technology workforce. Particularly in engineering, internship experiences are a valuable way that students explore the field, form an identity as engineers, connect with various technology industries, and build professional skills. However, first generation college students are significantly less likely to experience an undergraduate internship compared to students whose parents attended college. Understanding how internships impact the engineering professional identity of first generation and low-income students, and the barriers and supports for these students to access internship experiences, increases social mobility and develops the U.S. technology sector by strengthening a pathway into the engineering workforce for these students. Furthermore, understanding how internships influence professional engineering identity can increase engagement between academia and industry, and enable students, career counselors, and human resources directors to facilitate impactful internship experiences, particularly for first generation low-income students. This study generates new knowledge pertaining to later-year undergraduate students, how they form identity as a professional engineer as they prepare to enter the workforce, and how that is mediated by first generation low-income status. Grounded in the frameworks of engineering identity and social capital, the research questions are: What role do internships play in developing engineering professional identity as students approach entering into the workforce?; How do engineering professional identity and the role of internships in forming engineering professional identity differ for first generation low-income students as they approach entering into the workforce?; and What are the barriers and supports to internship access for first generation low-income students? The study uses a sequential mixed-methods approach that will use existing quantitative survey data to inform qualitative interviews using three constructs of engineering identity (competence, interest, recognition) and two constructs from social capital (assets and deficits). The combined data is triangulated to generate new knowledge and create research products useful for students, institutions of higher education, and employers in 1) facilitating internship experiences that help develop engineering professional identity and, 2) increasing access to internships for first generation low-income students. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.