Bridging the Social Capital Gap in Historically Marginalized Populations

First-generation college (FGC), historically marginalized populations (HMP), and female engineering students often have social capital deficits that impede their transition from college to industry, despite social capital underpinning a successful career in engineering. ASEE's 2020 Survey for Skills Gaps in Recent Engineering Graduates identified communication as acritical professional skills for recent graduates. Providing students with explicit instruction on professional skills that support building social capital can be a way to address this deficit. This paper investigates student-perceived growth on specific skills within the communication purview related to building social capital: the ability to build relationships online, the ability to build professional relationships in-person, the ability to interview, and the ability to negotiate. These skills were targeted based on their contribution to developing social capital in the early years as a professional. First is the ability to build relationships both online and in-person. The adage "It's not what you know, but who you know" is often true when searching for an internship or professional position. The US Bureau of Labor and Statistics concludes that 85% of jobs are filled by networking. Secondly, the employment interview is often the deciding factor in hiring one candidate over another. Lastly, the ability to negotiate salary is often noted as a reason for inequalities in salary/wage across populations. We piloted a professional skills seminar that provides explicit instruction in these communication skills. We measured the student's perceived skill level with a Likert scale at the beginning and conclusion of the course. The instructor facilitated intentional activities to build these professional skills in the students throughout the semester. We then analyzed the pre-& post-assessment scores for individual growth in marginalized subgroups: FGC, HMP, and female-identifying, compared to counterpart subgroups: Continuing-generation, historically privileged populations, and male-identifying. The results showed positive trends of growth in each professional skill for all students and in sub-groups including first-generation, historically marginalized populations, and women.