Cheryl Carrico

Supporting student career development of undergraduate engineering

Preliminary findings from the Professional Engineering Pathways Study, a study of career placement processes of undergraduate engineering majors at six diverse US institutions will be presented, and small group discussions guiding the application of the findings to the institutions represented by the audience will be led.

A Qualitative Analysis of Career Choice Pathways of College-Oriented Rural Central Appalachian High School Students:

To explore the ways context may shape career choices, we used a qualitative approach to analyze interviews with college-oriented high school students from the rural Central Appalachia region of Virginia. Using social cognitive career theory, we analyzed pathways to career choices and relevant contextual factors, using data from 24 interviews. Results revealed that participants’ pathways partially matched the model, though we also found variant pathways triggered by significant environmental influences and incomplete pathways due to variations in possible career plans. Explanatory factors included status as prospective first-generation college student, outcome expectations that included remaining local and having job stability, and an emergent factor of continuing generation Appalachian. The patterns that emerged with respect to contextual factors and career choice pathways highlight the importance of culture and context when examining how students make career choices. This research extends prior research by examining career pathways using student’s own words as data. Moreover, the patterns offer insights career coaches, counselors, and educators can use in supporting students’ post–high school career planning.

Exposure matters: Understanding the experiences of rural cultures

Engineering has been shown to be an important field of study and practice for economic and technological development, as well as an opportunity for students to improve their standard of living and their communities. Engineering also has the potential to provide a powerful career path in places that suffer disproportionate economic losses from shifts in the global economy, particularly as the growth of mobile communication technologies enable virtual work and local business development in areas formerly considered “remote” or “inaccessible.” Despite these opportunities, little investigative work to date has been done on recruitment of engineering students from rural cultures that are typically underrepresented in the field. To address this gap, this paper explores two such cultures: the Central Appalachians in the United States of America and the Maori in New Zealand. We present a review of the current situation in each region, along with preliminary findings from a study of Appalachian students, to identify both similarities and differences between the two peoples that can be used to enhance recruitment efforts and provide a global context for understanding the experiences of rural cultures.