Evaluating the Impact of Teaching Undergraduate Engineering Students Strategies to Become Leaders in Diverse Environments

Abstract The purpose of this work-in-progress practice paper is to assess the effectiveness of our course, Leadership Development to Promote Equity in Engineering Relationships, in building undergraduate engineering students' skills to be leaders in diverse environments, both on campus and in their future careers. Historically, engineering education has focused on technical skill development, where non-technical skills such as teamwork and communication have been emphasized only recently. Furthermore, while historically marginalized groups remain underrepresented in engineering, the field is starting to see growth in diversity. With this growth comes the responsibility to ensure that engineering students know how to advance social justice and be leaders in diverse engineering learning and working environments. In support of the changing landscape within the engineering field and engineering education, we aim to bring diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) leadership to the forefront of engineering education through the implementation of our course. As educators, we believe it is imperative to explicitly teach inclusive leadership skills and to continuously evolve our course to meet the pedagogical advancements in engineering education and to modernize course content per current engineering and societal issues. This paper presents the preliminary data analysis that is part of a larger course evaluation project which seeks to assess the impact the course has on current and past students with regards to their skills related to advancing DEI and social justice in engineering. The objective of our course is for engineering students to acquire leadership skills and implement behaviors that create a more supportive and inclusive engineering environment. Topics covered in the course include implicit and systemic bias, creating inclusive cultures, community engagement, and leadership in diverse engineering environments. Using a conceptual framework based on social justice education, engineering for social justice, and situated engineering learning, we engage students through various active learning techniques to allow them to practice leadership skills, such as how to be an ally, engage in diverse teams, and develop a sense of belonging, in a safe, inclusive learning environment. For the first phase of our assessment, we administered pre- and post-course surveys to current students for each term of the past academic year. The surveys included both quantitative Likert-style questions and qualitative free-response questions to evaluate students' knowledge of diversity, equity, and inclusion topics both before and after the course, their expectations for the course, and the impact the course has on students' abilities to utilize the skills learned in their future leadership and professional roles. We analyzed the survey responses with descriptive statistics and paired t-tests of the quantitative questions and thematic analysis of the qualitative questions. Ultimately, the results of the analysis will inform continuous improvement to the course's pedagogy to ensure students are obtaining the skills necessary to be leaders in diverse engineering environments.