Statewide effort to diversify undergraduate engineering student population.

University Of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln NE

Investigators

Abstract

This project seeks to investigate a framework that reassesses admissions criteria to deemphasize standardized tests by considering a holistic perspective of a student's academic experience. Research shows that putting too much weight on standardized tests results in a misrepresentation of a student's actual potential for academic success. Students, particularly students of color and women, are often negatively impacted by stereotype threat which has been shown to result in lower test scores. Therefore, test scores do not accurately reflect a student's ability. To broaden participation in engineering, the College of Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is broadening the admission review process to deemphasize standardized test scores and include a wider array of academic and social indicators. The changing demographics of Nebraska's high school graduates, and in particular the growth of the Hispanic/Latino/a population, make University of Nebraska-Lincoln an ideal place to study the impact of these changes on retention and graduation and the efficacy of subsequent student support programs for these 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.