The Importance of Educating and Mentoring High School Students on the Selection of the Chemical Engineering Bachelor’s Degree

摘要

Students that are highly successful in their mathematics and science courses are often told by family, teachers, and guidance counselors to pursue college degrees in related fields. However, the breadth of STEM fields is wide ranging and can be challenging to narrow without further advice. Students that have family members and/or friends in chemical engineering are inclined to choose it as their major in college. After speaking to undergraduate students enrolled in the chemical engineering program and alumni at the University of Connecticut, it has been found that their selection of the major is frequently the result of exposure and encouragement from mentors in the field, second to an interest in chemistry. In contrast, high school students who are uneducated about chemical engineering as a career are less likely to adopt the major in their undergraduate years. Thus, it is highly likely that many students that have the potential to be successful in the field do not pursue the degree because of this lack of education and mentorship. Such as can be seen most clearly amidst the population of underrepresented students in engineering (i.e. women and minorities).