Analysis of stakeholder attitudes for a pre-college outreach program

Abstract

The 21 st century economy demands an educated workforce, particularly in science, mathematics, engineering and technology. However, New Jersey, like many other states, is increasingly unable to adequately prepare sufficient numbers and quality needed for a advanced technical workforce. The Pre-Engineering Instructional and Outreach Program (PrE-IOP) has been initiated to enlarge the future pool of qualified high-tech workers in New Jersey, including those who have been historically underrepresented (such as minorities and women). This comprehensive program has two major components. The Instructional component includes the adaptation of pre-engineering curricula for use in middle and high school science and math classrooms and the provision of summer institutes for teacher professional development. The Outreach component involves the implementation of an "Engineering the Future" outreach program and the formation of alliances with three groups of stakeholders: educators, counselors and parents. It will include assessments of attitudes towards engineering and technology, a career alternative assessment, and a comprehensive information campaign about the rewards of science, engineering, mathematics and technology (SMET) professions. More positive attitudes towards engineering as a career is one of the outcomes that will used to determine the efficacy of this outreach program. To this end instruments to measure high school students' and adults' attitudes are being developed. This paper will discuss the design and pilot study of these assessments and initial benchmark results for high school students.