scholarly journals Female Mechanical Engineering Students’ Career Decisions and Development: A Case Study of University Undergraduate Students

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Luis M. Dos Santos
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Social Stigma ◽  
Career Decisions ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Social Stereotypes ◽  
The Social

Mechanical engineering is one of the popular university majors for engineering students, particularly female students. However, due to the social stereotypes and social stigma, female mechanical engineering students and professionals may face difficulties and discriminations due to their gender. Although women are always encouraged to apply for mechanical engineering programmes, only approximately 20% of the mechanical engineering student populations are women. There is a need to increase the student population, particularly for women students. Based on the Social Cognitive Career Theory, this study sought to understand why women would decide to join the mechanical engineering study and join the field for long-term development. The results indicated that the personal, academic, and career interests in engineering and science always drive their decision-making process. This study’s results enable engineering school leaders and department heads to reform their curricula and instructions for female students and their internship directions for students, from multiple perspectives.   Received: 9 February 2021 / Accepted: 30 March 2021 / Published: 10 May 2021

Can Undergraduate Students Help Change Older Adults’ Confidence for Making Nutrition-Related Decisions in a 45-Minute Nutrition Workshop?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Rakhshan Kamran ◽  
Giulia Coletta ◽  
Janet M. Pritchard
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Cognitive Theory ◽  
Outcome Expectations ◽  
Community Members ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Dietary Choices ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact

Purpose: The Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) suggests health behaviour can be modified by enhancing knowledge of health benefits and outcome expectations of changing behaviour, improving self-efficacy (confidence), and developing goals to overcome barriers to behaviour change. This study aimed to determine the impact of student-led nutrition workshops on participants’ confidence related to SCT constructs for making dietary choices that align with evidence-based nutrition recommendations. Methods: Level-4 Science students developed and delivered 9 workshops on nutrition recommendations for the prevention and management of age-related diseases. Participants attending the workshops completed pre- and post-surveys to assess SCT constructs. For each SCT construct, participants rated their confidence on a 10-point Likert scale. The number (%) of participants who rated their confidence as ≥8/10 on the pre- and post-surveys were compared using the χ2 test. Results: Sixty-three community members (60% female, mean ± SD age 71 ± 7 years) attended the workshops. The number of participants rating confidence as ≥8/10 for each SCT construct increased after the workshops (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Undergraduate students can positively influence community members’ confidence for making nutrition-related decisions. Involving students in interventions where SCT-structured workshops are used may help conserve health care resources and reach older adults who may not have access to dietitian services.

How Depression Stigma Affects Attitude Toward Help Seeking: the Mediating Effect of Depression Somatization

2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (6) ◽  
pp. 945-953 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xia Wang ◽  
Shun Peng ◽  
Huang Li ◽  
Yunshi Peng
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Help Seeking ◽  
Social Stigma ◽  
Mediating Effect ◽  
Chinese College Students ◽  
Clinical Scales ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Relationship

We investigated the relationships among the social stigma associated with depression, somatization of depression-related symptoms, and help seeking. Participants were 357 Chinese undergraduate students. Stigma, somatization, and help seeking were measured with a neuropsychological assessment and validated clinical scales. We performed a path (principal components) analysis of the role of somatization as a mediator in the relationship between depression stigma and help seeking, and found that the hypothesized mediation model fit the data well. Our results confirm previous findings on the mediating role of depression somatization in the relationship between depression stigma and attitude towards help seeking. The identification of mediators contributes to the understanding of the mechanisms that prevent help seeking among Chinese college students.

scholarly journals UNDERGRADUATE WRITING ASSIGNMENTS IN ENGINEERING: TRACKING ATTRIBUTE 7 IN TWO ACCREDITATION CYCLES

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Marcynuk ◽  
Anne Parker
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
National Study ◽  
Writing Assignments ◽  
The Social ◽  
Course Syllabi ◽  
University Of Manitoba ◽  
The University ◽  
Written Assignments

This paper reports on two iterations of our study of course syllabi in the Faculty of Engineering, University of Manitoba. The first iteration was part of a national study investigating the writing demands placed on students in a variety of disciplines, including those in the Social Sciences and the Humanities as well as Engineering. This first iteration followed an accreditation visit and the Faculty’s introduction of the C.E.A.B. graduate attributes and outcome-based assessment. Although one would expect Engineering to have far fewer written assignments than these other disciplines, such was not always the case. For example, the national study captured results for Political Science that closely matched those for Mechanical Engineering; Political Science students typically wrote, on average, 2.3 written assignments in year 2 of their program, 2.4 written assignments in year 3, and 4.2 written assignments in year 4, while Mechanical Engineering students wrote 4, 3 and 4.2 written assignments in those same years. Such a finding suggested that more writing was happening in the Faculty of Engineering than we might realize – and quiteapart from that done in the mandatory communication class. So, our second iteration of the study followed another accreditation cycle, but this time we focused solely on the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Manitoba. In this second iteration, our goal was to refresh the data so that we could clarify how Attribute 7, “communication skills,” is being met in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Manitoba.  

Sample Biomedical Projects Carried Out by Undergraduate Mechanical Engineering Students

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathleen C. Lifer ◽  
Jason S. VanAtta ◽  
Judson M. Bauman ◽  
Jed E. Marquart ◽  
Hui Shen
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Design Theory ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Heart Valves ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Task Force ◽  
Aircraft Design ◽  
Engineering Problem ◽  
Problem Solving Skills ◽  
Muscle Hernia

As reported by the ASME Center for Education Task Force [1], human health will be one of the major areas in which mechanical engineers will take the leadership position to develop innovative technologies in the future. To adapt to the transforming role of the mechanical engineering profession, undergraduate education of mechanical engineering needs to guide students to apply engineering principles in this area. In this paper, the development of an undergraduate biomedical course in a mechanical engineering major is introduced. Several course projects developed by mechanical engineering undergraduate students are described. These projects focused on the study of biomedical problems using engineering problem solving skills. The projects were started with the analysis of injuries or diseases of patients. Then, injuries and/or possible treatments were analyzed from the viewpoint of a mechanical engineer. All of these students’ projects are summarized in this paper and a few projects discussed in detail. Among these projects, the flow and pressure distributions of different types of heart valves were calculated using computational fluid dynamics; the consequence of injuries of joint cartilage was analyzed with bearing design theory; the treatment of a muscle hernia was calculated using the finite element method. These projects encouraged students to appreciate engineering applications in fields other than traditional fields such as automobile and aircraft design. The results of the projects are also useful in practice. The course model is applicable for engineering programs in other small teaching universities.

Design in the Thermal Fluids Engineering

2004 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sadegh M. Sadeghipour ◽  
Mehdi Asheghi
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Thermal Engineering ◽  
Engineering Curriculum ◽  
Job Market ◽  
Design Engineers ◽  
Thermal Fluids ◽  
Design Competition

Design is seen as the magic word and being a design engineer is considered to be the key to success in the job market by many of the mechanical engineering students. However, it is always assumed that the mechanical systems not the thermal engineers are indeed design engineers by education and practice. This notion probably stems from the fact that most of the thermal fluid courses in mechanical engineering curriculum seem to have been defined and developed to prepare undergraduate students for going to graduate school rather than the job market. The undergraduate courses usually emphasize on the theories with less attention to the design and application aspects. Perhaps, the responsibility of thermal engineering educators is to correct this notion by emphasizing more on the application and design in the existing courses or alternatively to develop and offer new courses on more applied topics. In this paper, we will report an integrated approach in teaching topics in fins and fin assemblies, which includes class lectures, laboratory experiments, ANSYS simulations and design competition. In this manuscript, we will report on the details of this approach including the procedures, methods, our observations, and the students’ feedbacks.

The Dark and Bright Sides of Self-Efficacy in Predicting Learning, Innovative and Risky Performances

2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 1123-1132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marisa Salanova ◽  
Laura Lorente ◽  
Isabel M. Martínez
Keyword(s):  
Field Study ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Self Efficacy ◽  
Social Cognitive ◽  
Cognitive Theory ◽  
Efficacy Beliefs ◽  
Construction Workers ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
The Social ◽  
Practical Implications

The objective of this study is to analyze the different role that efficacy beliefs play in the prediction of learning, innovative and risky performances. We hypothesize that high levels of efficacy beliefs in learning and innovative performances have positive consequences (i.e., better academic and innovative performance, respectively), whereas in risky performances they have negative consequences (i.e., less safety performance). To achieve this objective, three studies were conducted, 1) a two-wave longitudinal field study among 527 undergraduate students (learning setting), 2) a three-wave longitudinal lab study among 165 participants performing innovative group tasks (innovative setting), and 3) a field study among 228 construction workers (risky setting). As expected, high levels of efficacy beliefs have positive or negative consequences on performance depending on the specific settings. Unexpectedly, however, we found no time × self-efficacy interaction effect over time in learning and innovative settings. Theoretical and practical implications within the social cognitive theory of A. Bandura framework are discussed.

scholarly journals What Motivates Students to Study Engineering? A Comparative Study between Males and Females in Saudi Arabia

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
pp. 147
Author(s):  
Wafa Labib ◽  
Amal Abdelsattar ◽  
Yasser Ibrahim ◽  
Abdelhakim Abdelhadi
Keyword(s):  
Saudi Arabia ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Considerable Effect ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Male Students ◽  
Engineering Majors ◽  
Male And Female ◽  
Engineering Programs

Motivation to study engineering in undergraduate study is of great importance to students. It encourages undergraduate students to enroll in an engineering program and continue their studies without dropping out. Male students enroll in engineering programs with large numbers compared to female students in many parts of the world. In Saudi Arabia, there were limited engineering programs for female students. In this research, the motivation to study engineering is studied and compared between male and female students in the College of Engineering at Prince Sultan University, the first private university in Saudi Arabia. The study was conducted through a detailed survey distributed to 41 male engineering management students and 45 female architectural engineering students. These students’ performance and experience were considered and compared considering their gender to evaluate their persistence toward engineering study. According to the results obtained, the highest degree of the parents had a considerable effect on the selection of engineering major for male and female students. Most surveyed male and female students select an engineering major because of its positive impact on the community and its role in improving the way of life. Male students may differ in that they considered engineering in order to start their own business after graduation with a higher percentage compared to female students. There was a very limited role of the school in selecting engineering majors according to the surveyed male and female students. This role should be enhanced and utilized to encourage more female students to consider engineering majors in their college study.

scholarly journals Social Intelligence as a Predictor of the Feeling of Happiness among Students of the Faculty of Educational Sciences and Arts/ UNRWA

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 201
Author(s):  
Nafez A. Bukaiei
Keyword(s):  
Grade Point Average ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Social Information Processing ◽  
Social Intelligence ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Female Students ◽  
Intelligence Scale ◽  
Grade Point ◽  
The Social ◽  
Educational Sciences

The current study aimed to determine the level of social intelligence and feeling of happiness among students of the faculty of educational sciences and arts / UNRWA as a function of gender, students’ seniority and grade point average (GPA). The study also aimed to investigate students’ social intelligence as a predictor of feeling of happiness. The study sample consisted of 219 male and female students that were selected randomly. To achieve the objectives of the study, the researcher used two scales; the social intelligence scale designed by Silvera, Martinussen and Dahl (2001). The scale was translated by the researcher. The feeling of happiness scale which was developed by Abdulkhaliq et a]. (2003) was also used. The results showed that undergraduate students’ social intelligence and feeling of happiness were at the average. The results showed that there were no statistically significant differences in social intelligence and feeling of happiness among students attributable to their gender, seniority and GPA. Results also showed that social intelligence in the two dimensions (social information processing and social interpersonal skills) were predictive of the feeling of happiness among students of the faculty of the educational science and arts / UNRWA. 

scholarly journals UNDERGRADUATE WRITING ASSIGNMENTS IN ENGINEERING: TRACKING ATTRIBUTE 7 IN TWO ACCREDITATION CYCLES

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Marcynuk ◽  
Anne Parker
Keyword(s):  
Political Science ◽  
Mechanical Engineering ◽  
Engineering Students ◽  
National Study ◽  
Writing Assignments ◽  
The Social ◽  
Course Syllabi ◽  
University Of Manitoba ◽  
The University ◽  
Written Assignments

This paper reports on two iterations of our study of course syllabi in the Faculty of Engineering, University of Manitoba. The first iteration was part of a national study investigating the writing demands placed on students in a variety of disciplines, including those in the Social Sciences and the Humanities as well as Engineering. This first iteration followed an accreditation visit and the Faculty’s introduction of the C.E.A.B. graduate attributes and outcome-based assessment. Although one would expect Engineering to have far fewer written assignments than these other disciplines, such was not always the case. For example, the national study captured results for Political.  Science that closely matched those for Mechanical Engineering; Political Science students typically wrote, on average, 2.3 written assignments in year 2 of their program, 2.4 written assignments in year 3, and 4.2 written assignments in year 4, while Mechanical Engineering students wrote 4, 3 and 4.2 written assignments in those same years. Such a finding suggested that more writing was happening in the Faculty of Engineering than we might realize – and quite apart from that done in the mandatory communication class. So, our second iteration of the study followed another accreditation cycle, but this time we focused solely on the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Manitoba.  In this second iteration, our goal was to refresh the data so that we could clarify how Attribute 7, “communication skills,” is being met in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Manitoba.  

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