"I Haven’t Really Made Those Connections That Maybe Most Would Their First Year": A Qualitative Study of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Student Social Capital among 3 Cohorts of First-Year Engineering Majors

Authors

Patricia Wonch Hill, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Lance C. Pérez, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Sohrab Asgarpoor, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
David Jones, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow
Zachary George Short, University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Jennifer N. Rutt, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

Date of this Version

2023

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Citation

Paper presented at the 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland, USA, June 25–28, 2023.

doi: 10.18260/1-2--42319

Comments

Copyright © 2023 American Society for Engineering Education. Used by permission.

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the education of students of all ages and challenged teachers and academic support services to make major adaptations to continue to support student learning while also limiting the spread of the virus. Our team received an NSF grant in the Fall of 2018 to broaden participation in engineering by recruiting and retaining students who have been historically marginalized in engineering. We focused our research on first-year students who participated in pathway programs which provided peer and formal mentoring, success coaching, shared classes, and social activities, that would provide a sense of community and shared engineering identity for participants. We sought to conduct interviews at the end of their first year. Our interviews had been set to begin in April of 2020. This paper is a qualitative study of our unanticipated research on student experiences from three different cohorts of first-year engineering students and their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic (n = 32). Using a theory of social capital, we contrast the different experiences of students who entered their freshman year and experienced the pathway program at different stages of the pandemic. The experiences of students within and between these cohorts varied considerably, however themes emerged among the three distinct cohorts. Using qualitative methods, we demonstrate how the pandemic impacted first-year engineering students at different points of entry during the pandemic. Many students reported “loss of connection” and deep feelings of “isolation” associated with the pandemic precautions meant to stop the spread of the virus. Pandemic precautions taken by the university negatively impacted all students academically and socially to some extent, but there were also unique challenges for first-year students who entered college during the fall of 2020. We conclude by sharing how pathway programs helped to buffer student social isolation and how students found resilience to overcome social and academic obstacles.