Familial Influence on Engineering Student Sense of Belonging and Identity

As social beings, humans are influenced by other individuals in the contexts in which they interact. From early childhood through young adulthood, the family is one of the most significant social contexts contributing to one's identity development and social capital as they relate to education and career goals. Students' intended career paths and decisions about college are impacted by familial and societal factors (Inchara, Gayathri, & Priya, 2019). Additionally, family members often act as a source of support and inspiration for college students when they are deciding on their major and future career (Meador, 2018). While current engineering education research has focused on the role that parental education attainment and profession play in engineering students' persistence, choice of major, and career pathways (Martin & Simmons, 2014), there has been little examination of how familial social capital influences students' sense of belonging and engineering identity. The purpose of the current study is to investigate the impact of familial influence, determined through parental education levels and professions, on undergraduate engineering students' sense of belonging in their engineering major, engineering identity, and academic performance. Results for this sample did not suggest that familial influence for undergraduate engineering students will significantly affect their sense of belonging and engineering identity. These findings and potential implications are discussed.