Pathway to Engineering Technology Careers Through Internships and Industry Guidance

San Joaquin Delta College, Stockton CA

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to develop a pipeline of technically skilled and well-trained engineering technicians to meet the current labor market demand. San Joaquin Delta College has an established engineering technology associate degree program. Based upon economic data from the College’s region of service, approximately 900 annual job openings are projected for students with this degree, which could support students' economic mobility. However, enrollment in engineering technology at the College is not sufficient to meet the demand. To address this opportunity, the engineering technology program will partner with local industry to provide students with internship and career opportunities. Partners include Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, OG Packing, and Wong Enterprises. The project will work with these partners to expand recruitment and implement interventions designed to increase student retention. Activities will include collaborating with other departments at the College, developing a cohort model to build peer support, introducing work-based learning opportunities, hosting career and academic workshops, and offering post-graduation career services. The expected outcomes include an increase in enrollment in all engineering technology courses, in retention of the student cohort, and in the associate degree completion rate. The project will support five summer internships at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and other partners each year. This project will work to increase the number of students who enter the engineering technology program and complete an associate degree in engineering technology. This increase will help meet the growing need in multiple economic sectors for technologists who have this degree and the skills it confers. The project will test how strategies developed in partnership with industry can be used successfully to recruit, educate, and support engineering technology students. The findings and evidence generated will be relevant to engineering technology programs in multiple disciplines and regions. Assessment of the cohort-workshop-intern model will document the impact of peer and faculty support on retaining students after the critical first year of study. The internships, industry tours, and career services offered to students will be evaluated to determine how visualization of careers may support student retention and completion of associate degrees. Since the College serves many Hispanic and lower-income students, the evidence gathered from this project can also inform strategies for increasing interest and degree completion rates in engineering technology by these student populations elsewhere. The project results will be disseminated broadly, including to industry, thus promoting the cohort-workshop-intern model as a potential solution to workforce needs in multiple industries. This project is funded by the Advanced Technological Education program that focuses on the education of technicians for the advanced-technology fields that drive the nation's economy. 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.