Paz, J. M., & Cousins, M., & Wilson, C. D., & Markey, M. K. (2015, June), Retention of First-year Undergraduate Engineering Students: Role of Psychosocial Interventions Targeting First-generation College Students  Paper presented at 2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Seattle, Washington. 10.18260/p.24675

\bibitem{asee_peer_24675}
  Paz, J. M., \& Cousins, M., \& Wilson, C. D., \& Markey, M. K. (2015, June), \emph{Retention of First-year Undergraduate Engineering Students: Role of Psychosocial Interventions Targeting First-generation College Students}
  Paper presented at 2015 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Seattle, Washington.
  10.18260/p.24675

Jennifer Maritza Paz, Margo Cousins, Cindy D. Wilson, and Mia K. Markey.  "Retention of First-year Undergraduate Engineering Students: Role of Psychosocial Interventions Targeting First-generation College Students".  2015 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Seattle, Washington, 2015, June.  ASEE Conferences, 2015.  https://peer.asee.org/24675 Internet.  23 Jun, 2024

\bibitem{asee_peer_24675}
  Jennifer Maritza Paz, Margo Cousins, Cindy D. Wilson, and Mia K. Markey.
  "Retention of First-year Undergraduate Engineering Students: Role of Psychosocial Interventions Targeting First-generation College Students".
  \emph{2015 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Seattle, Washington, 2015, June}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2015.
  https://peer.asee.org/24675 Internet.  23 Jun, 2024

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_24675
author = "Jennifer Maritza Paz, Margo Cousins, Cindy D. Wilson, and Mia K. Markey"
title = "Retention of First-year Undergraduate Engineering Students: Role of Psychosocial Interventions Targeting First-generation College Students"
booktitle = "2015 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition"
year = "2015"
month = "June"
address = "Seattle, Washington"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/24675}
number = {10.18260/p.24675}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  -      Retention of First-Year Undergraduate Engineering Students: Role of    Psychosocial Interventions Targeting First-Generation College Students         An increasing number of students are making the decision to enroll in higher educationinstitutions to obtain a four-year degree. A substantial portion of those college students do nothave a parent with a four-year degree and are considered first-generation students. First-generation students are a growing population throughout the country’s universities, whichcontributes to the diversity and overall cultural enrichment of college campuses (Engle & Tinto,2008). However, while college enrollment of first-generation students has increased, theretention rates of these students are much lower. Prior research has shown that first-generationstudents are at a disadvantage and encounter more obstacles than continuing-generation students(those with at least one parent with a four-year degree) throughout their collegiate careers. First-generation students are more likely to perform poorly and earn lower grades, thus reducing thelikelihood of obtaining a college degree and having higher dropout rates (U.S. Department ofEducation, National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2001). The obstacles that arecommonly encountered by first-generation students include economic barriers and access toresources, as well as psychological factors, such as a sense of belongingness (Harackiewicz, etal., 2013).        Many educational institutions have introduced programs that provide financial andacademic resources to first-generation students in an effort to increase success and narrow theachievement gap. While these programs provide valuable resources, they do not tackle social-psychological obstacles, such as a lack of belongingness, which can reduce the effectiveness ofthese programs. Arguably, these obstacles become more salient in highly competitive fields, suchas engineering, which historically has experienced lower retention rates than other fields of study(Moller-Wong & Eide, 1997). Social-psychological interventions that improve the retention andgraduation rates of first-generation students in engineering would benefit the school as a wholeand increase the number of engineers in the workforce.        The purpose of this study is to design, implement, and evaluate a flexible module ofsocial-psychological interventions into a freshman seminar course in order to improve retentionand success for first-generation college students in engineering, and evaluate the effectiveness ofthe module so as to enable future refinements. The study is being conducted in a large, urban,public research institution in the Southwest that is considered to be selective and has a mostly in-state student population. The module is based on interventions that have been demonstrated toimprove academic and psychosocial outcomes for first-generation college students in otherdisciplines at other universities. The activities of the module include the Values AffirmationIntervention (VAI), which is a writing exercise, and the Difference-Education Intervention(DEI), which is a form of a student panel.        The VAI is a writing intervention technique that has been proven to promote self-integrity and self-worth, which can help with performance on perceived challenging tasks. TheVAI contains a broad list of values that are not directly related to academic performance. The 12values illustrated have been validated by past research and include the following: being good atart; creativity; relationships with family and friends; government or politics; independence;learning and gaining knowledge; athletic ability; belonging to a social group (such as yourcommunity, racial group, or school club); music; career; spiritual or religious values; and a senseof humor. Students are instructed to circle two or three values that are of personal importance,write a few sentences explaining why the chosen values are important to the participant, andindicate their agreement of several statements by using a numerical scale (Harackiewicz, et al.,2013).        The DEI is composed of a diverse student panel group that answers questions regardingthe role that their social background played in the college experience of each student panelist, asa first-generation student or a continuing-generation student. This contrast between first-generation and continuing generation students’ stories provides the participants with aframework to understand the role that their own social background plays in their collegeexperience and simultaneously provides the psychological resources first-generation studentsneed to effectively transition to college and improve their academic performance (Stephens,Hamedani, & Destin, 2014).        Our primary outcome measures will be overall 1st year GPA and 1st year retention inengineering for first-generation college students relative to: continuing-generation students whoalso experienced the same module; first-generation college students in sections of the freshmanseminar course in which the module wasn’t used; and first-generation college students who tookthe freshman seminar course in prior years. Secondary outcome measures will be assessedthrough a post-intervention survey and include demographic information and variouspsychological constructs, such as tendency to seek college services, social fit and appreciation ofdifference. The survey data will be augmented by review of data on utilization of campusresources, such as tutoring services. Qualitative data from interviews of student panelists and theinstructors who facilitate the freshman seminars will also be reported.BibliographyEngle, J., & Tinto, V. (2008). Moving Beyond Access: College Success for Low-Income, First-       Generation Students. Pell Institute for the Study of Opportunity in Higher Education.Harackiewicz, J. M., Canning, E. A., Tibbets, Y., Giffen, C. J., Blair, S. S., Rouse, D. I., & Janet,      H. S. (2013, August 29). Closing the Social Class Achievement Gap for First-Generation      Students in Undergraduate Biology. Journal of Educational Psychology, 106(2), 375-      389. doi:10.1037/a0034679Moller-Wong, C. and Eide, A. (1997), An Engineering Student Retention Study. Journal of       Engineering Education, 86: 7–15. doi: 10.1002/j.2168-9830.1997.tb00259.xStephens, N. M., Hamedani, M. G., & Destin, M. (2014, February 19). Closing the Social-Class       Achievement Gap: A Difference-Education Intervention Improves First-Generation       Students' Academic Performance and All Students' College Transition. Psychological       Science, 25, 943-953. doi:10.1177/0956797613518349U.S. Department of Education. National Center for Education Statistics. Bridging the Gap:       Academic Preparation and Postsecondary Success of First-Generation Students, NCES       2001–153, by Edward C. Warburton, Rosio Bugarin, and Anne-Marie Nuñez. Project       Officer: C. Dennis Carroll. Washington, DC: 2001
AU  - Jennifer Maritza Paz
AU  - Margo Cousins
AU  - Cindy D. Wilson
AU  - Mia K. Markey
CY  - Seattle, Washington
DA  - 2015/06/14
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Retention of First-year Undergraduate Engineering Students: Role of Psychosocial Interventions Targeting First-generation College Students
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/24675
DO  - 10.18260/p.24675
ER  -