Engineering Education Research Briefs 2.0: Scholars and Scholarship

The importance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to engineering education in the U.S. and globally with Dr. Trina Fletcher

Summary

Dr. Trina Fletcher shares with us the origins and continued relevance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) on STEM more broadly and engineering, specifically. Dr. Fletcher shares her journey in engineering education, from her path through UAPB’s STEM academy to her graduate experiences where she found a purpose-focused, people-centric approach to graduate engineering. The conversation delves into the history and purpose of HBCUs, the current landscape for minority-serving institutions, and the impact of funding and policy decisions on HBCUs. We discuss ABET accreditation, program models like 2+3 pathways, and the opportunities and challenges facing HBCU engineering programs today. Dr. Fletcher offers perspectives on the future of engineering education at HBCUs, potential pathways for collaboration, and the scholars and initiatives to watch.

 

Fletcher, T. L., Jefferson, J. P., Boyd, B., Park, S. E., & Crumpton‐Young, L. (2023). Impact of COVID‐19 on sense of belonging: Experiences of engineering students, faculty, and staff at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Journal of Engineering Education, 112(2), 488-520.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/jee.20512

 

Name Drop

Dr. Monica F. Cox

Dr. Erin Lynch

Dr. Shaun Harper

Dr. MaryBeth Gasman 

Dr. Walter Kimbrough

Dr. Jelani M. Favors 

Dr. Ivory Toldson 

Dr. Robert T. Palmer

QEM - QEM Heros - https://qem.org/project/heroes-program/

Institutions to watch:

Morgan State University

University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff

Report:

CMSI The MacKenzie Scott Donations to Historically Black Colleges and Universities:Exploring the Data Landscape

https://cmsi.gse.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/ScottHBCU_Report%20Final.pdf

Exploring Engineering Education in India: Conversations with Dr. Rucha Joshi

Join us as we discuss engineering education in India, with a focus on the career path of Dr. Rucha Joshi, an Associate Professor at Plaksha University. Dr. Joshi shares her journey into engineering education, her current research projects, leadership role, and her perspective on the focus of the engineering education community in India. We also discuss the importance of collaborations, priorities in the community, and conferences in India that may be of interest to the broader engineering education community. 

Name Drop

Dr. Rohit Kandakatla 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rohitkandakatla/?originalSubdomain=in

Dr. Preethi Baligar - 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-preethi-baligar-18596415a/?originalSubdomain=in

Dr. Bill Oakes (William Oakes) - 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-bill-oakes-12072113/

Dr. Shannon Chance -

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonchance7/?originalSubdomain=ie

Siara Isaac -

https://people.epfl.ch/siara.isaac?lang=en

Dr. Joelyn de Lima - 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelyndelima/?originalSubdomain=ch

Recommended Conferences in India:

https://ictiee.org/ictiee2026/

Compute : https://isigcse.acm.org/compute/2025/

IIT Bombay, IIT Chennai

https://www.et.iitb.ac.in/

For Engineering Education Research & Pedagogy:
IUCEE is the most established choice in India. https://iucee.org/annual-conference/

For Education Technology Research

International Conference on Technology for Education (T4E): Technology For, Of, In, Across Education, 13th. Sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Organized by the EdTech Society, India and hosted by IIT Madras. T4E 2025 will be held in Chennai, India. https://etsociety.org/t4e-2025/ or https://etsociety.org/product-category/event/ 

iSIGCSE conference - Compute - https://isigcse.acm.org/compute/

https://isigcse.acm.org/compute/2025/

Other broader engineering conferences with Educational Tracks often happen at IIT Bombay, IIT Delhi, IIT Chennai, and IIT Gandhinagar, etc. premier institutes.

Intergenerational Perspectives on Navigating Turbulent Times: A Candid Conversation with Dr. Bevlee Watford & Dr. Walter Lee Pt. 2

Summary: This beautiful conversation was so rich we have split it into two episodes. Thank you in advance for your patience.

Join us for a conversation between a recently retired mentor, Dr. Bevlee Watford and their recently promoted mentee, Dr. Walter Lee. While their faculty careers at Virginia Tech started decades apart, their stories are woven together by a shared interest in developing the systems and programs that support engineering students who hold marginalized identities. In this episode, they share what led them to careers that center student support and their unique approaches to decision making while leading CEED. Their enviable mentoring relationship includes strategies anyone can adopt; and their wisdom on navigating the shifting landscape is timeless.

Name Drop:

Center for Engineering Excellence and Discovery (CEED)

Susan Lasser

Hassan Aref

Malcolm McPherson

Lynn Nystrom

Kamyar Haghighi

Rising Scholars and their scholarship:

Carol Geary 

      Peer Mentoring Programs Survivability: How Programs React When Bad  

           Things Happen

Tasha Zephirin

      Persistence through community: An exploratory study of student support in

           Purdue University's NSBE chapter

Malini Josiam

      An Investigation of the Perspectives of Women of Color on the Cultures of       Undergraduate Engineering

Taylor Johnson

      "You Have to Focus on School...You Can't Focus on Getting Paid": A Multi-

             Study Exploration of Perspectives on and Experiences of Engineering

             Students Who Work

Article mention:

Su, L. K. (2010). Quantification of diversity in engineering higher education in the United States. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 16(2).

https://www.dl.begellhouse.com/journals/00551c876cc2f027,69ab3d9d13586e06,0e19b121603f0805.html

Department of Education degree reclassification (referenced in Part 2) - 

https://azat.tv/en/degrees-redefined-nursing-engineering-and-more-lose-professional-status-under-new-federal-rules/

Intergenerational Perspectives on Navigating Turbulent Times: A Candid Conversation with Dr. Bevlee Watford & Dr. Walter Lee Pt. 1

Summary: This beautiful conversation was so rich we have split it into two episodes. Thank you in advance for your patience.

Join us for a conversation between a recently retired mentor, Dr. Bevlee Watford and their recently promoted mentee, Dr. Walter Lee. While their faculty careers at Virginia Tech started decades apart, their stories are woven together by a shared interest in developing the systems and programs that support engineering students who hold marginalized identities. In this episode, they share what led them to careers that center student support and their unique approaches to decision making while leading CEED. Their enviable mentoring relationship includes strategies anyone can adopt; and their wisdom on navigating the shifting landscape is timeless.

Name Drop:

Center for Engineering Excellence and Discovery (CEED)

Susan Lasser

Hassan Aref

Malcolm McPherson

Lynn Nystrom

Kamyar Haghighi

Rising Scholars and their scholarship:

Carol Geary 

      Peer Mentoring Programs Survivability: How Programs React When Bad Things Happen

Tasha Zephirin

      Persistence through community: An exploratory study of student support in Purdue University's

           NSBE chapter

Malini Josiam

      An Investigation of the Perspectives of Women of Color on the Cultures of Undergraduate

           Engineering

Taylor Johnson

      "You Have to Focus on School...You Can't Focus on Getting Paid": A Multi-Study

      Exploration of Perspectives on and Experiences of Engineering Students Who Work

Article mention:

Su, L. K. (2010). Quantification of diversity in engineering higher education in the United States. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 16(2).

https://www.dl.begellhouse.com/journals/00551c876cc2f027,69ab3d9d13586e06,0e19b121603f0805.html

Department of Education degree reclassification (referenced in Part 2) - 

https://azat.tv/en/degrees-redefined-nursing-engineering-and-more-lose-professional-status-under-new-federal-rules/

Amplifying the knowledge and practices of Hispanic Serving Institutions in the pursuit of asset-based approaches to engineering education with Dr. Meagan Kendall

Join us as we discuss life after grant terminations, keeping the work alive and relevant, and staying true to our values as researchers. Dr. Kendall shares with us her journey to engineering education and some insights into her ongoing work - The AMPLIFY Project,  a collaborative effort that leveraged participatory research to explore the knowledge and practices at Hispanic Serving Institutions in the U.S. to understand faculty development along a continuum between deficit-based and asset-based framing of the educational experience. She candidly shares with us the gems uncovered by this project and the subsequent challenges that disruptions in funding have created and how WE, as a community, can help each other keep these impactful efforts going. Dr. Kendall shares an inspirational story for all those engineering faculty considering a line of inquiry in engineering education and hope for the future of engineering education.

 

Name Drop

Amplify team: Alexandra Coso Strong, Gemma Henderson, Ines Basalo, and Henry Salgado

Engineering Leadership: Cindy Rottman, Meg Handley, Kim Wolfinbarger, and Brian Novoselich

UNIDOS: Monica Cardella

Engineering Identity: Maura Borrego & Cole Joslyn

Up and coming: Lori Houghtalen & Nichole Ramirez <- inspiration to keep going and to find joy in research again.

 

Relevant websites:

NDSL Sourcebook on engineering leadership development: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/23733357/2022/2022/173

The AMPLIFY Project: https://www.utep.edu/engineering/amplify/

UNIDOS Center for Community Coordination: https://hsiunidos.org/

 

Insights from Chicana Feminist studies for supporting Latiné students and navigating the current times

Dr. Sarah Rodriguez shares with us her autobiographical influenced research inquiry that explores being rural, Latina, and pursuing engineering education. We are so thankful to have had Dr. Rodriguez with us to discuss her upcoming book, endorsement of Chicana Feminist scholars during these difficult times, and place-based approaches. She shares with us her journey as a rural Latina engineering education scholar and prolific author in engineering education. Dr. Rodriguez low key drops some tips on how to build unexpected connections that lead to opportunities.

 

Name Drop

Authored books:

Latin* Students in Engineering: An Intentional Focus on a Growing Population

Supporting Latina Students in Engineering and Computing: A Chicana Feminist Approach

Chicana Feminists - 

• Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza (Anzaldúa)
• This Bridge Called My Back: Writings by Radical Women of Color (Cherríe Moraga and Gloria Anzaldúa)
• Light in the Dark/Luz en lo Oscuro Rewriting Identity, Spirituality, Reality (Anzaldúa)

Dolores Delgado Bernal

Ruth López, Associate Professor, University of Arizona, College of Education

Joel Alex Mejia, University of Cincinnati

 

Blog - My Life as a Rural Latina Professor: A Journey in Finding Purpose and Place

Revolutions are built on hope: Our conversation with Dr. Alan Cheville on holding each other close to overcome change

Join us in our conversation with the revolutionary Dr. Alan Cheville of Bucknell University exploring his journey to and through engineering education from Physics to Photonics to revolutionary departmental efforts to transform engineering education. He shares with us his philosophy related to dealing with change in these uncertain times, but most notably he encourages us to hold onto hope and to each other. He’s a scholar after our own hearts with pithy quotes and words of wisdom. 

 

Name Drop

Jennifer Turns

Ron Ulseth

Becky Bates

What a year it has been: Reflection on the season, the year, and what's to come

Dr. London and Dr. Ross reflect on the season including our favorites and insights followed by some words of encouragement for our fellow scholars impacted by the change in priorities of the nation and subsequent grant terminations. We acknowledge the work of scholars who may feel devalued in this changing times, we call for the generational fight for academic freedom, and announce a change in the season to come.

As scholars who have received terminations in recent weeks, we offer below some resources. 

National Science Foundation PAPPG Informal resolution of award adminstration disputes

Code of Federal Regulations Termination and standard closeout costs

Center for the Defense of Academic Freedom Action Report #6

Action Plan & Appeal for Illegal NSF Grant terminations

Updates on NSF priorities

Bridge funding opportunities: Rapid Response Bridge Funding Program 

We'd also like to acknowledge the tireless, thankless, and often cruel work that our colleagues at federal agencies are enduring. We see you too.

Bringing it all together: Moving authentically in the academy by honoring your many selves in your research

Join us in listening to the ways in which Reverend Dr. Tamecia Jones honors her many talents, callings, and selves as she designs research and navigates the academy. She will share the ways in which her background, experiences, and core values shape her work. She will hip us to epistemic frames and the ways we can reimagine assessment of knowledge acquisition that is not punitive and painful.

Name drop:

Cindy Atman, University of Washington

Learning Sciences, Stanford

K-12, Tufts University - Trevion Henderson, Greses Pérez

Intersectionality and computing education: The journey of a scholar, Dr. Yolanda Rankin, towards a better computing future

Join us as we discuss Black feminist theory and intersectionality with Dr. Yolanda Rankin. She led us through the historical foundation and her hopes for the future of intersectionality, feminist scholarship, computing, and computing education. She discusses the messiness of the theory and challenges us to continue to muddle through that messiness so that we might do better as a discipline. The chat was both insightful and hopeful. Enjoy!

 

Name Drop

Dr. Jakita Owens, Auburn University

Dr. Shawna Erete, University of Maryland

bell hooks

Angela Y. Davis

Brittany Cooper

Patricia Hill Collins

Nicki Washington

 

Article mention

Ross, M. S. (2023). Let’s have that conversation: How limited epistemological beliefs exacerbates inequities and will continue to be a barrier to broadening participation. ACM Transactions on Computing Education, 23(2), 1-4.