Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011 - rees2009

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) Página 793 de 957
information which might be costly or almost impossible to receive is transferred by means
of social relations (Coleman, 1988). This speaks to being able to use others as sources of
information. However, certain types of information also extremely useful are privileged
and are more likely to be shared exclusively among individuals within the same social
circles (Coleman, 1988). The last form of social capital, social norms, is the process by
where norms established, help towards the interest of the social group/network
(Coleman, 1988). However, in social structures where there is low negative external effect
and higher positive ones, these norms do not exist (Coleman, 1988). The current study
focuses on the first two forms of social capital, obligations and expectations and
information channels.
Methodology
This two-year study focuses on fifty-three Black male engineering students at a minority
serving institution in the United States of America. The paper focuses on the preliminary
findings gathered during year one of the study.
The fifty-three Black male student participants represented various engineering majors in
the engineering college. All six engineering majors were represented with the largest
percentage (59.2%) of students coming from mechanical engineering and electrical
engineering. The remaining 40.8% of the participants were enrolled in computer
engineering, chemical engineering, computer science and civil engineering. The study
participants were predominately US born Black males (72%) with a small sample of
international Black male students (28%). While efforts were made to make these
populations representative of the population within the engineering college, student
participation was limited for the international group. Grade point average for each term
was self reported for preliminary analyses. Final grades were unavailable from the
university’s registrar office to measure academic achievement.
Quantitative and qualitative data were gathered from surveys, structured interviews, and
focus groups during the second semester of the participant’s first year. The student survey
instrument used to collect quantitative data was a modified version of the Persistence
Survey (Eris et.al, 2005). This instrument, probed the extent of participants’ social and
academic integration in their engineering programs. Based on the Social Capital Theory,
items measured students’ perceptions of obligations, expectations and information
channels among peers and between faculty members and students. These questions
included but were not limited to academic advising and faculty mentorship. Surveys were
administered to all student study participants. Descriptive statistics were computed on
survey data.
Thirty-five of the fifty-three participants were selected to participate in semi-structure
interviews. The semi-structured interviews provided the collection of more detailed
information related to the use of social capital in the engineering major and its impact on
persistence, and its relationship to the instructional and social culture of the university. In
addition, select students were asked to participate in homogeneous focus groups that
were based upon nationality and school classification. Focus group questions were
Proceedings of Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011
Madrid, 4 th - 7 th October 2011