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195. Lay of the Land: Professional Identity in our Student Body

Samantha Schauer, Dr. Eric Jankowski, Dr. Krishna Pakala, Dr. Sara Hagenah

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Background

A strong sense of professional identity can be linked to retention and graduation rates. This study analyzed the professional identity of the current population of Boise State’s College of Engineering.

Methods

1. Survey was sent to all COEN students (over 2000), and we received 260 responses.

2. Students were asked 57 questions to look at four main categories

  • Feelings of Recognition
  • Interest in the Subject Confidence and
  • Competence Definition of an “Engineer”

3. With demographic questions, the data could be sliced to analyze specific populations

Demographic Questions and Results

Gender

Pie chart of gender distribution of participants.
37% female, 59.7% male, 1.9% prefer not to answer, and 1.4% unidentified

Class Standing

Pie chart of distribution of participants by class standings.
11.6% freshmen, 16.4% sophomores, 27.1% juniors, 43.6% seniors+, 1.3% other

Who views you as an Engineer?

Bar chart: Friends, family, myself, Eng. Classmates, Eng. Professors, Coworkers
Students involved in at least one club, or participate in research or internships report higher levels of recognition in compared to students not involved in any clubs, internships, or research labs.

Traditional vs. Non-Traditional Students

bar chart: I am interested in engineering concepts, I am interested in finding out more about engineering, engineering is the correct path for me, I feel prepared to tackle engineering problems
Non-traditional students also report a higher confidence in their engineering skills compared to traditional students.

There are opportunities to improve professional identity in junior, nontraditional, and female engineers at Boise State.

Gender Differences

Bar chart: I enjoy engineering, I can see myself pursuing an industry job in engineering, I can find technical solutions in class, I feel prepared to tackle engineering problems.
Across the board, female engineers reported lower confidence levels compared to male engineers.

Year Differences

line graph: I can find technical solutions in class, Engineering is the correct path for me, I feel prepared to tackle engineering problems.
Students also experience an identity crisis in their confidence during junior year, which is often considered the most difficult year. These questions were asked on a Likert scale: 1: Strongly Disagree 2: Disagree 3: Neutral 4: Agree 5: Strongly Agree

Conclusions

This data can be used to inform behaviors and strategies that support different populations of students on their road to graduation.

Our survey can also be deployed in other colleges with pertinent changes.

Additional Information

For questions or comments about this research, contact Samantha Schauer at SamanthaSchauer@u.boisestate.edu.

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