Stories of self-doubt are common amongst engineering students, a key finding of a recent study conducted by a team of researchers at Boise State University.
The students surveyed doubted their abilities. They were convinced that everybody else understood the fabric. They said they wouldn't slot in. They wondered in the event that they should quit their engineering studies and find one other major.
Many students who’ve the aptitude for a profession in engineering select to not proceed their major due to stories they tell themselves – that they don’t belong, that they will not be the “type” who might be an engineer. This shouldn’t be just an issue for college students and the engineering or STEM culture. Due to the necessity to fill a growing variety of STEM-related jobsit affects society as a complete.
We – an interdisciplinary team of researchers with backgrounds in Materials Science, Engineering training, Educational Technology And Consumer psychology – are exploring a brand new approach to supporting students who’re unsure whether studying engineering is correct for them.
With the assistance of Funded by the National Science Foundationwe've been testing a straightforward idea for 2 years. We hypothesized that the stories students tell themselves about whether or not they belong in engineering are related to their negative beliefs about their abilities. And then we asked educators at Boise State University to check a novel approach to vary those stories. While our research remains to be under review, preliminary results suggest that storytelling might be a game changer.
New task: Tell a story
Through a partnership with The Story Collidera nonprofit organization that teaches people the art of storytelling, BSU engineering faculty have begun giving engineering students a brand new task: telling stories about how they solved an issue.
Students write their stories, receive feedback to assist them develop their ideas, after which record themselves telling their work.
Towards the tip of the semester, some students present their stories in a professionally produced storytelling show. The last shows, available online, have featured stories about Exploiting potential, New starting And volunteer for unwanted work.
We conducted before-and-after surveys with 113 students and in-depth interviews with 22 students throughout the first two years—or 4 semesters—of this system. Students who participated within the storytelling project identified more strongly as engineers, had a stronger sense of belonging to an engineering community, and were more prone to report that they intend to proceed their major. The research team remains to be collecting data to search out out whether more students are literally sticking with their major and completing their engineering degrees.
One student said that writing a few time she “freaked out” in a research lab helped her prove herself as an engineer. “Yes, mistakes can happen. But that's OK.”
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Positive effects of making a narrative
The storytelling exercise had several advantages. Telling a story about overcoming a challenge improved students' perceptions of their very own abilities – measured using empirically validated self-report scales.
Studies show that the dearth of diverse representations of scientists promotes a stereotypical view of engineers. Reading the scholars’ stories also reduced listeners’ stereotypes of engineers as competent, but nerdy and without empathy. Audience members surveyed after the presentations said they found engineers to be more personable and trustworthy.
Like many stories, this project has an ethical: The change in students' self-image after telling their stories, our research shows, underscores the facility of something so simple as sharing a story to create change. When educators recognize this power and encourage students to take control of their personal narrative, they will ultimately help more students succeed.
image credit : theconversation.com