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- All Subjects: engineering
- All Subjects: job after graduation
- Creators: Ganesh, Tirupalavanam
- Member of: Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
- Resource Type: Text
The project was aimed towards middle school and high school students, as this is the estimated level where they learn biology and chemistry—key subject material in biomedical engineering. The high school students were given presentations and activities related to biomedical engineering. Additionally, within classrooms, posters were presented to middle school students. The content of the posters were students of the biomedical engineering program at ASU, coming from different ethnic backgrounds to try and evoke within the middle school students a sense of their own identity as a biomedical engineer. To evaluate the impact these materials had on the students, a survey was distributed before the students’ exposure to the materials and after that assesses the students’ understanding of engineering at two different time points. A statistical analysis was conducted with Microsoft Excel to assess the influence of the activity and/or presentation on the students’ understanding of engineering.
Self-efficacy in engineering, engineering identity, and coping in engineering have been shown in previous studies to be highly important in the advancement of one’s development in the field of engineering. Through the creation and deployment of a 17 question survey, undergraduate and first year masters students were asked to provide information on their engagement at their university, their demographic information, and to rank their level of agreement with 22 statements relating to the aforementioned ideas. Using the results from the collected data, exploratory factor analysis was completed to identify the factors that existed and any correlations. No statistically significant correlations between the identified three factors and demographic or engagement information were found. There needs to be a significant increase in the data sample size for statistically significant results to be found. Additionally, there is future work needed in the creation of an engagement measure that successfully reflects the level and impact of participation in engineering activities beyond traditional coursework.
A survey of 133 engineering students at Arizona State University (ASU) was conducted to determine if extracurricular activities correlated to the amount of internships a student receives. The problem that ASU engineering students are having is that finding an internship during college and consequently finding a job after graduation is getting more difficult due to the intense competition, not only at ASU, but at every other college and university across the globe. The literature review showed that employers are looking for more from a potential candidate besides a degree and a good GPA (Grade Point Average). Employers are looking for well-developed leadership and soft skills (Dalessio, 1989). These attributes are not always learned in the classroom and many students are under the false impression that an engineering degree alone is enough to land them a job. The survey that was conducted proved that the more engineering-related extracurricular activities a student engages in, the greater the chance of finding an internship. Similarly, a linear relationship was also found between the number of activities involved in and number of interviews received. From the literature review, relevant experience is of utmost importance to many employers. Because of this, not receiving an internship throughout college greatly lessens a students’ success finding a job after college. The survey showed male students do far less extracurricular activities according to the survey compared to females. The males from the survey had a 51% percent success rate of finding an internship compared to the 71% success rate of females. As a Peer Career Coach at ASU, students come to me far too often and far too late in their academic career with empty resumes and lack of involvement. Each and every one of these students struggle heavily to find internships and eventually jobs. This problem can easily be addressed, but students must be aware that a high GPA in an engineering degree alone will not make them competitive in the job market.