Overview of Policies and Programs to Retain Black Students in Engineering

In this work in progress, we use Lee and Matusovich's model of co-curricular support (MCCS) and the recruitment aspect of the Building Engineering and Science Talent (BEST) framework to investigate the policies, programs, and activities for, and recruitment and retention of, underrepresented students at four institutions. These four colleges of engineering are in the top 15 nationally in engineering bachelors' degrees conferred on Black students. This information will provide background for a mixed-methods study on the choice, persistence, and attrition of Black students in computer, electrical, and mechanical engineering and is a critical first step to contextualize the student experiences to be revealed in individual interviews. We use publicly available information from web-based and other resources as well as interviews with key informants on each campus to ascertain the programs that are available on each campus and categorize them using the MCCS and BEST frameworks. This study lays the groundwork for future institutional data analysis and interviews with Black students currently or formerly enrolled in computer, electrical or mechanical engineering to uncover what causes them to enroll and persist in or leave these majors.