Engineering Identity: Provide Role Models With Diverse Demographic Characteristics
Students learn from diverse role models in context-setting narratives, videos, and their community. Each unit introduces role models who reflect the diversity of individuals involved in engineering.
“STEM Careers Playlist”
This playlist showcases a variety of engineers from different engineering subdisciplines. Watch & Reflect:
Related Engineering Practices: Communicate Effectively, Identify as Engineers
Featured Units: Engineering Medicine Coolers, Engineering Antivirals
Reflection Questions
Students may discover a type of engineering that they did not know existed. They also may reconsider engineering as “for them” by seeing someone who shares a common background, demographics, or history.
Students’ perspectives on engineers may shift as they see how many different types of engineers there are in the world.
Invite family members who work in the sector of your engineering design challenge. For example, first responders make great visitors in the Engineering Rescue Shuttles or Engineering Safety Vests units. They do not need to be engineers to use related technologies.
Ask local businesses that connect with the design challenge context to volunteer time to discuss their needs.
Contact local colleges to see if their engineering students would be willing to talk with your classroom. Interviews can be conducted using video conferencing if distance is a problem.