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The Importance Of Collaborative Design For Narrowing The Gender Gap In Engineering: An Analysis Of Engineering Identity Development In Elementary Students, Mandy Mclean, Jasmine M. Nation, Alexis Spina, Tyler Susko, Danielle Harlow, Julie Bianchini

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

Research suggests that, to narrow the gender gap in engineering, we should focus on helping young girls identify with engineering both because gendered attitudes emerge around kindergarten and because identity is more predictive than performance on persistence in the field. This qualitative study sought to understand the impact of collaborative engineering design on the development of engineering identities in elementary-school students and compared the findings across gender. We focused on three tiers of collaboration embedded into the engineering design process: peer groups, role models, and shared goals. More specifically, the elementary students worked in small teams and partnered with undergraduate …