Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011 - rees2009

Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) Página 803 de 957
Results
The data collected was examined to answer the following questions:
1. What factors are significant to NSBE members’ engineering self-efficacy?
2. Does involvement in NSBE constitute high self-efficacy?
3. Are there differences in engineering self-efficacy of women vs. men in NSBE?
Table 4 provides the subscale means by gender for the sample under consideration. The
questions in the survey instrument use a 7 point scale (1-Strongly Disagree, 7-Strongly
Agree). Students were tasked to indicate the level to which they agree with statements in
the survey (i.e. Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Slightly Disagree, Disagree nor Agree, Slightly
Agree, Agree, Strongly Agree). For example, there were three questions included in the
math outcome expectations subscale:
1. Doing well at math will enhance my career/job opportunities
2. Doing well at math will increase my sense of self worth
3. Taking math courses will help me to keep my career options open
Taking a look at the mean scores in Table 4 the authors do not see major difference in
coping self-efficacy, math outcome expectations, engineering self-efficacy, and engineering
career success expectations for men vs. women. Men in NSBE had higher mean values for
feeling of inclusion than did women in NSBE.
Table 4: Comparison of subscale means by gender
The subscale means for the entire sample are provided in Table 5. Again, the data shows
that NSBE members in this sample have a low feeling of inclusion in engineering, which is
surprising considering the large network of Black engineers they belong to.
Table 5: Comparison of subscale means by gender
Proceedings of Research in Engineering Education Symposium 2011
Madrid, 4 th - 7 th October 2011