Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011 - rees2009

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higher education, Black men enrollment rates are much lower, and their attrition rates are
significantly higher in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields
(National Science Foundation [NSF], 1995-2004). These discrepancies among this
population stem from pervasive social and economic challenges, which one could
undoubtly say are unique to Black men in America. Research by Polite and Davis (1999)
illustrates that this population of young people is often deprived access to college
preparation activities and curriculum. Certainly, the evidence supports why the few Black
males who complete secondary education are underprepared in higher education, and
struggle to persist to attain degrees. The inequity present in this population directly
corresponds to the lack of Black males entering STEM fields and, inevitably, leads to a lack
of diversityin the workforce.
This issue of equity directly spills over into the issue of quantity. According to the US
Census Bureau (2004), the number of minorities, including Blacks, is projected to increase
significantly in the next 40 years. With the projected transformation in American
demographics, minorities will then make up roughly half of the population. Additionally,
the population of Whites is projected to decrease. Providing that the population
transforms as projected, if the current rate of degree attainment for minorities is
maintained, surely this will lead to a shortage of engineers. Therefore, at this point, the
presence of minority engineers is crucial to the sustainability of the US engineering
workforce, making it imperative that we focus on the persistence and retention of Black
male engineers towards degree attainment. A third threat to the US engineering
workforce, brought on by a lack of diversity is one of quality. Past president of the National
Academy of Engineering (NAE), William Wulf (2002), posited that engineeringquality is
directly affected by a lack of diversity. Creativity, a crucial element in engineering design,
isenhanced by the prior knowledge gained by the past experiences of the designer. The
lack of diversity inengineering significantly diminishes the breadth of solutions that are
considered for engineering problems. More so today, with the economy becoming more
global, the same solutions that may have worked for and on a small population of similar
people, will not work for a more diverse market. With the daunting statistics reflecting the
inequity of Black males enrolling and persisting in engineering and theprojected
transformation of the US population, it is essential that researchers explore factors that
maycontribute to their retention and persistence to the bachelor’s degree.
Based on past research, one factor that holds great promise in increasing diversity in the
engineering workforce is social capital. Social capital is the networks that are created and
reproduced socially that serve as resources for individuals who in the absence of these
networks would not be able to accomplish certain goals (Coleman, 1988). Coleman (1988)
used social capital to describe the experiences of the working class and marginalized
groups alike. Recent studies use social capital to examine retention and persistence in
college students (Hinton & Adams, 2006; Palmer & Gasman, 2008). The theory of social
capital can be applied directly to networks that students acquire before and throughout
their higher education career.
In one study by Hinton and Adams (2006), it was found that Black high school students
who were provided with high levels of social capital were more likely to be accepted into
Proceedings of Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011
Madrid, 4 th - 7 th October 2011