A cross-sectional study of engineering students' creative self-concepts: An exploration of creative self-efficacy, personal identity, and expectations

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to expand the research base on creativity by assessing engineering students' creative self-concepts. A cross-sectional study of first-year and senior engineering students was conducted to investigate three constructs that measure creative self-concept: creative self-efficacy, creative personal identity, and creative expectations. Gender differences in how creative self-concepts differ from first-year to senior year were also explored. The results show that female students have lower average scores on a creative self-efficacy scale at both the first and senior years. First-year female students have higher average creative identity scores than male students. However, senior male students have a stronger creative identity than senior female students. Senior males and females feel that instructors have lower expectations regarding creative behaviors as compared to first-year students. The lower expectation of senior students suggest that engineering instructors should consider ways to engage upper level students in creative behaviors. Future research includes a longitudinal study to examine how creative self-concept changes in progression through the engineering curriculum.