(49h) Study of Upper Division Chemical Engineering Students’ Motivations in Selecting a First Position upon Graduation

Engineering education often focuses on developing students for engineering careers, and much of the current body of literature focuses on understanding factors for preparation to become professional engineers. Most of these studies focus on mastering knowledge, skills, and abilities that educators and employers think are important [1]. Fewer studies approach the problem by exploring how young engineers perceive the relevance of their education and the process of a job search. Often, these studies have focused on early-career engineers in the workplace, while a few have studied engineering students currently in school. One study, the Professional Engineering Pathways Study (PEPS), examined junior and senior students at six institutions through their graduation and into their first year using a survey and follow-up interviews [2]. This study found that students’ beliefs about their ability to succeed in engineering and their value of engineering tasks had a significant influence on career selection. Fewer studies have investigated how students conceptualize their future careers and how they make decisions about which industry sectors and to which companies they apply. In addition, these factors are likely different by engineering discipline–student pathways post-graduation and disciplinary norms are varied [3]. Additionally, studies in engineering education research, broadly, and in chemical engineering education, specifically, indicate that students' beliefs about ability to succeed and career values may differ by gender [3-5]. Often, women have lower expectancy beliefs than their male peers and different career values. These differences are often attributed to both gender socialization as well as valued norms in engineering [5]. Together, this prior work points to a need to better understand how students consider future careers and which factors they consider in the job search, particularly in a chemical engineering context.

This study investigated upper-level chemical engineering students’ beliefs about their abilities to succeed in engineering careers and their values of particular factors in choosing specific engineering careers in their first entry level job through the following research questions:

1. Which factors are most important for upper-level chemical engineering students in selecting their first position after graduation?
2. How does particular company values, expectancies, and prior work experience influence these factors? And, do these factors differ by gender?

We used the framework of expectancy-value theory to understand how students may be motivated to set particular goals in a job search and how beliefs about ability to succeed (i.e., expectancy) and personal values may affect actions taken towards goal setting and the job application process. Expectancy-value is a motivation theory that frames motivation for a given behavior, action, or goal is defined by expectancy (i.e., beliefs about ability to succeed on the task) and value (i.e., how much the individual values the desired outcome) [6].

The data for this study come from a survey of 85 junior and senior chemical engineering students at a large, public Midwestern university. Students were asked to complete an online survey without incentives for participation (the study was approved by the IRB). Items measured their expectancy on chemical engineering tasks both in and outside of the classroom on a five-point Likert scale. In addition, students were asked to rate a list of factors that were important to them in a future job including: Mentorship/Role Models at the Company, Compensation, Company Culture, Location, Company Benefits, Job Expectations, Promotion Opportunities, Future Higher Education and Professional Development Opportunities, Travel Opportunities, and Other (write-in if selected). Students were also asked to rate the company values that were important when considering a company in an application process, which included: Integrity, Commitment to Diversity/Equality, Respect, Loyalty, Honesty, Trust, Collaboration, Service in the Community, Safety, Other (write-in if selected). The rating lists for both personal values and company values were generated from a literature review, examination of company websites, and pilot qualitative discussions with students. Students were also asked to self-report career interests; interest in job sectors in chemical engineering; co-op or internship experiences; and demographics. Demographic measures included non-binary gender and multi-select race/ethnicity options.

Multiple linear regression models were used to examine how students’ expectancy beliefs and value of particular company values shaped their rankings of the most important factors in a future job. Interaction effects by expectancy and company values as well as gender and expectancy were also included in these analyses based on prior literature emphasizing that women, in particular, may have different career goals and lower expectancy beliefs in engineering contexts [3]. A stepwise modeling approach was used, where all hypothesized factors were added into the model and backwards deletion was used to remove non-significant results (alpha value set at 0.05). We first modeled the main effects of company values, gender, expectancy, and participation in an internship or co-operative education experience. Then, we modeled the theorized interaction effects for gender and expectancy.

The results indicated that the most highly rated factor for chemical engineers when considering their entry level job was perceived company culture (mean rank = 3.133). The company values of Service in the Community (B =.366, p < .001), Trust (B =.308, p =.012 ), Respect (B =.309, p =.012), Commitment to Diversity/Equity (B =.197, p =.024), and Safety (B =.211, p =.025) significantly predicted higher rankings of company culture. Students’ confidence in their abilities to secure their dream job after graduation was also a significant negative predictor of ranking company culture highly (B =-.454, p =.046). Additionally, students who had prior co-op or internship experiences were significantly more likely to rank Compensation as an important consideration in their careers (B =1.371, p =.009). We found several interaction effects between students' expectancy beliefs in chemical engineering work both for undergraduate education and securing a future job and company values for predicting the most important factors for consideration in future careers, particularly in relation to Respect as a company value for predicting the importance of company culture in students job seeking.

Additionally, the only significant interaction effect by gender and expectancy was in predicting the ranking of promotion opportunities highly in consideration of a job search. Men who indicated a higher confidence in their ability to understand their chemical engineering core classes were less likely to rank promotion opportunities as important in their list of job search priorities (B=-.738, p =.0140). In contrast, women who indicated a high expectancy in becoming a successful chemical engineer were more likely to rank promotion opportunities as important in their list of job search priorities (B=.612, p =.0195). These results indicate how one job factor, promotion opportunity, had different priorities by both gender and expectancies in chemical engineering curricular contexts versus a larger set of career successes.

Together, these results emphasize how particular company values may shape students’ perceptions of and motivation to pursue particular jobs in their application processes. Additionally, the may highlight particular gaps between the current graduating cohorts from chemical engineering programs and existing companies. These conclusions can be used by companies to attract the best possible chemical engineering candidate that provides a fit for both the company and employee. These results also provide information on a transition that is less often studied in chemical engineering education.

Literature Cited

[1] Gilmartin, S. K., Antonio, A. L., Brunhaver, S. R., Chen, H. L., & Sheppard, S. D., “Career Plans of Undergraduate Engineering Students: Characteristics and Contexts,” Freeman, R. B. & Salzman, H., eds., “U.S. Engineering in a Global Economy,” University of Chicago Press. (2018).

[2] Brunhaver, S., Streveler, R., Carrico, C., Matusovich, H., Boylan-Ashraf, P., & Sheppard, S., “Professional engineering pathways study: A longitudinal study of early career preparedness and decision-making,” Proceedings of the IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference, El Paso, TX (Oct. 21-24, 2015).

[3] Verdín, D., Godwin, A., Kirn, A., Benson, L., & Potvin, G., “Engineering women’s attitudes and goals in choosing disciplines with above and below average female representation,” Social Sciences, 7(3), pp. 44-69 (2018).

[4] Brawner, C. E., Lord, S. M., Layton, R. A., Ohland, M. W., & Long, R. A., “Factors affecting women’s persistence in chemical engineering,” International Journal of Engineering Education, 31(6A), pp. 1431-1447 (2015).

[5] Godwin, A., Verdín, D., Kirn, A., & Satterfield, D., “The intersection of gender and race: Exploring chemical engineering students’ attitudes,” Chemical Engineering Education, 52(2), pp. 89-97 (2018).

[6] Brown, P. R., McCord, R. E., Matusovich, H. M., & Kajfez, R. L., “The use of motivation theory in engineering education research: A systematic review of literature,” European Journal of Engineering Education, 40(2), pp. 186-205 (2015).