STRENGTHENING THE K-20 ENGINEERING PIPELINE FOR UNDERRREPRESENTED MINORITIES

摘要

As the National Academy of Engineers (NAE) report on Changing the Conversation: Messages for Improving Public Understanding of Engineering revealed, there is a public misconception of engineers particularly among minorities. The study reported that Hispanic boys in general believe that engineering has a positive effect on people's everyday lives but Hispanic girls believe that engineers are nerdy and boring. At California State University, Los Angeles (CSULA), a designated Hispanic Serving Institution, these findings are born out in the classroom where the overwhelming majority of Hispanic engineering students are male. Furthermore, while some Hispanic engineering undergraduates opt to pursue a master's degree, very few pursue a doctoral degree. The IMPACT LA Program, Improving Minority Partnerships and Access through CISE (Computer & Information Science & Engineering)-related Teaching, is an NSF Graduate STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) Fellows in K-12 Education Program designed to address these concerns. The program partners graduate fellows who are conducting master's level research in a CISE-related field with a middle or high school teacher from the East Los Angeles area. Fellows work closely with teachers to develop hands-on activities designed to enhance the educational experience of students and increase their interest in STEM-related fields. The NAE study found that female students in particular relate well to role models, and thus, the program actively and successfully recruited women and minorities graduate fellows for its second year. Of the nine fellows 44% are women and 56% are Hispanic.