Multi-year study of sense of belonging at a large comprehensive Ontario university

Efforts to diversify engineering educational spaces have seen some success in recent years, however minority groups continue to have different experiences during their studies both in university environments and external job placements. Online surveys were developed and delivered in the 2022/23 and 2024/25 academic years investigating how undergraduate and graduate students experience their engineering education with an emphasis on the perceived experiences of equity seeking groups (ESG). A total of 921 responses were gathered between the two years with ~70% of respondents being men. Clear differences were noted in responses from students of different genders. Additional 2024/25 survey questions further investigated the presence of engineering role models prior to university, what students perceive to be challenges for equity seeking groups, and how belonging to the 2SLGBTQ+ community impacts responses. Results indicate that students from ESG are more aware of challenges related to these identities compared to students with non-minority identities.