Minority student enrollment in environmental engineering, general student perceptions of the discipline, and strategies to attract and retain a more diverse student body

Abstract

Environmental engineering, as a discipline has celebrated success at incorporating women into its ranks among undergraduate students. It appears that the discipline may also share a similar success at attracting Native American and Hispanic students. Data presented at the 2006 ASEE conference indicates that, across the nation, the discipline attracts more Native American and Hispanic students than engineering overall1. However, this paper takes a closer look at this data, which indicates that just a few schools across the nation are enrolling minority students within environmental engineering. Perceptions of a discipline can alter career choice among first year students. This paper presents studies regarding the perceptions of the discipline among k-12 and first year students, and highlights the need for research regarding the perceptions of the discipline among minorities and factors influencing career choice of minority students. Finally, some suggestions are made for strategies which may increase the attraction and retention of minority students to the discipline. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2007.