Investigating Gains from EWB-USA Involvement
Publication: Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 140, Issue 1
Abstract
There is a national need for an increased quantity of engineers. In addition to pure quantity, there are calls for a more diverse engineering population capable of addressing increasingly complex and global future challenges. Many acknowledge that current institutionalized models of education may not be filling these needs and that extracurricular experiences may recruit and retain diverse engineers while supplementing traditional education. This research investigates the internationally-focused and largely unstudied organization, Engineers Without Borders (EWB-USA), to understand members’ perceptions of what an engineer needs to know, what gaps they experience in their education, and what gains they experience from their membership in EWB-USA. Responses to open-ended questions were collected from 505 members at five geographically spread regional EWB-USA workshops. These responses were analyzed for the total population and disaggregated for gender and professional status. The most common gains members identified were a global perspective, relationships, experience and application, and project management skills, which address both the future needs of the profession and more personal connections to the engineering field. In comparisons, females showed gains previously identified as important for engineering persistence, and student participants emphasized the engineering experience they gained through the organization. This large-scale study provides empirical evidence for past anecdotal indications that EWB-USA-like experiences can supplement existing curricula to help generate engineers of the future.
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge EWB-USA Executive Director, Cathy Leslie, for her input and assistance with data collection. Additionally, the authors extend their gratitude to Jessica Kaminsky for her preliminary work on this project and to Casey Casias for transcribing participants’ responses to Excel spreadsheets. This material is based in part upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Research in Engineering Education program under Grant No. 1129178. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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Published In
Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice
Volume 140 • Issue 1 • January 2014
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 16, 2013
Accepted: Sep 9, 2013
Published online: Sep 11, 2013
Published in print: Jan 1, 2014
Discussion open until: Apr 6, 2014
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