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Underrepresentation of African Americans in master’s engineering programs

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Underrepresentation of African Americans in master’s engineering programs

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Underrepresentation of African Americans in Master’s Engineering Programs

Curtis Ferguson II

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
A dissertation submitted to the faculty
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Education

May 2023

© Copyright by Curtis Ferguson II 2023
All Rights Reserved

The Committee for Curtis Ferguson II certifies the approval of this Dissertation

Anthony Maddox
Courtney Malloy
Kathy Stowe, Committee Chair

Rossier School of Education
University of Southern California
2023
iv
Abstract
This qualitative study aimed to investigate the factors that impact the recruitment of African
American students into master’s engineering programs. Drawing on Clark and Estes’ (2008) gap
analysis framework, the study focused on understanding the knowledge, motivation, and
organizational factors that might contribute to the underrepresentation of African American
students in these programs. While previous research has explored African American recruitment
at the undergraduate and PhD level, this study is unique in its focus on the master’s level, except
for MBA programs. Through interviews with ten admission counselors, the study found that
more could be done to increase African American enrollment in these programs and identified
organizational culture as a major factor impacting recruitment. Based on these findings, the study
recommends strategies to increase enrollment and address the workforce shortage, highlighting
the potential long-term benefits of increased post-baccalaureate education for African
Americans.
v
Dedication
To my parents, who have always been my unwavering source of support and encouragement,
thank you for your love and for instilling in me the values of hard work, determination, and
perseverance.

To my sister, the best person in the world, thank you for always being there for me and inspiring
me to be the best version of myself.

To my husband, who is the best partner anyone could ask for, thank you for your love,
encouragement, and unwavering support. Your belief in me has been the fuel that has kept me
going.
vi
Acknowledgments
I sincerely thank my committee members for their insightful feedback, guidance, and
support throughout my dissertation journey. Your expertise and mentorship have been invaluable
to me in shaping my research and writing.
I would also like to thank my colleagues and friends in the field of undergraduate
admission, where I have been working for over 15 years. Your support, camaraderie, and
dedication to promoting access to higher education have inspired me.
I am incredibly grateful to the admission professionals who participated in my study,
sharing their experiences and insights. Your contributions have been instrumental in shaping the
findings and implications of this work.
Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends for their unwavering love and
support and for being my inspiration and motivation throughout my academic journey. Your
belief in me has driven my success, and I could not have done this without you.
Thank you to everyone who has played a part in my academic journey. Your support,
guidance, and encouragement have been instrumental in helping me achieve my academic goals,
and I am forever grateful for that.

vii
Table of Contents
Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... iv
Dedication ....................................................................................................................................... v
Acknowledgments.......................................................................................................................... vi
List of Tables .................................................................................................................................. x
List of Figures ................................................................................................................................ xi
Chapter One: Overview of the Study .............................................................................................. 1
Background of the Problem ................................................................................................ 2
Field Context ....................................................................................................................... 4
Importance of the Study ...................................................................................................... 5
Description of Stakeholder Groups ..................................................................................... 6
Stakeholder Group for the Study ........................................................................................ 7
Purpose of the Project and Research Questions .................................................................. 8
Overview of Theoretical Framework and Methodology .................................................... 8
Definitions........................................................................................................................... 9
Organization of the Dissertation ....................................................................................... 10
Chapter Two: Review of the Literature ........................................................................................ 11
General Review of the Literature ...................................................................................... 11
Clark and Estes Framework .............................................................................................. 21
Stakeholder Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational Influences .............................. 22
Conceptual Framework: The Interaction of Stakeholders’ Knowledge, Motivation,
and the Organizational Context ........................................................................................ 36
Chapter Three: Methodology ........................................................................................................ 39
Research Questions ........................................................................................................... 39
Overview of Design .......................................................................................................... 39
viii
The Researcher.................................................................................................................. 40
Data Sources ..................................................................................................................... 41
Interviews .......................................................................................................................... 42
Documents and Artifacts................................................................................................... 44
Data Analysis .................................................................................................................... 44
Validity, Reliability, Credibility, and Trustworthiness ..................................................... 44
Ethics................................................................................................................................. 45
Chapter Four: Results and Findings .............................................................................................. 48
Participant Stakeholders.................................................................................................... 48
Document Analysis ........................................................................................................... 52
Findings for Research Question 1: What Types of Knowledge and Motivation Do
Admissions Counselors Need to Recruit and Enroll African American Students to
Master’s Engineering Programs? ...................................................................................... 54
Summary of Findings for Knowledge Influences ............................................................. 67
Summary of Findings for Motivation Influences Findings............................................... 71
Findings for Research Question 2: How Do Organizational Culture and Context
Support or Hinder Admission Counselors From Recruiting African American
Students? ........................................................................................................................... 71
Summary of Findings for Organization Influence Findings ............................................. 78
Summary ........................................................................................................................... 79
Chapter Five: Discussion and Recommendations......................................................................... 81
Discussion of Findings ...................................................................................................... 81
Recommendations for Practice ......................................................................................... 87
Limitations and Delimitations ........................................................................................... 94
Recommendations for Future Research ............................................................................ 95
Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 97
References ..................................................................................................................................... 99
ix
Appendix A: Interview Protocol ................................................................................................. 103
Appendix B: Document Analysis Protocol ................................................................................. 106

x
List of Tables
Table 1: Summary of Knowledge Influences on Graduate Admission Counselors .....................26
Table 2: Summary of Motivation Influences on Graduate Admission Counselors .......................30
Table 3: Summary of Organizational Influences on Graduate Admission Counselors .................35
Table 4: Research Questions and Data Collection Method ...........................................................41
Table 5: Participant Characteristics ...............................................................................................51

xi
List of Figures
Figure 1: Conceptual Framework ..................................................................................................37

1

Chapter One: Overview of the Study
According to the United States of America (U.S.) Department of Labor (DOL) (2018),
jobs that require a master’s engineering degree are expected to double within the next 10 years.
In 2018, one million vacant engineering jobs requiring or preferring a candidate with a master’s
degree in engineering went unfilled in the United States (U.S. Department of Labor, 2020). In
terms of pay and demand, a master’s engineering ranks as the third-best master’s degree, and the
average pay for mid-career professionals with a master’s engineering degree is $121,000 per year
(Craig, n.d.). In 2018, 93,559 students were enrolled in master’s engineering programs across the
United States, comprising 58% of non-U.S. residents.
Since the 1990s, there has been a steady increase in colleges offering master’s
engineering degrees. According to the National Council of Examiners for Engineering and
Surveying (NCES) data (2017), in the 1990s, there were only 362 master’s engineering programs
offered in the United States. In 2018, the number grew to 431. Furthermore, there has been an
increase in Americans enrolling in and earning a master’s degree from engineering programs,
growing from 21,529 in 1990 to 93,559 in 2018 (American Society for Engineering Education,
2019).
The growth of Americans enrolling in master’s engineering programs has not been equal
among all racial groups. Enrolled African American master’s students comprise 1.5% of all
master’s students compared to 30% Whites, 15% Asian American, and 11% Latino (American
Society for Engineering Education, 2019). In raw numbers, this translates into an average of two
African American students enrolling at each engineering school with a master’s program per
year. This dearth of African American master’s student enrollment highlights the need for
colleges and universities to intervene.
2

This study aimed to understand admission counselors’ knowledge, motivation, and the
organizational influences that impact the recruitment of African American students to a master’s
engineering program. This chapter will provide a brief background of the problem of practice.
Next, the field context is detailed. Then, the stakeholders are described, along with a brief
overview of the methodology.
Background of the Problem
There has been an increase in bachelor’s and master’s degrees attainment; however, there
is a disparity between bachelor’s degrees and master’s degrees attained by African American
adults. In 1980, only 20.9% of the U.S. adult population had a college degree (i.e., 22.7 % of
White adults and 7.7% of African American adults). In 2019, the number grew to 38% of the
U.S. adult population with a college degree, while African American adults remained in the
bottom percentile (U.S. Census, 2021). Similarly, in 1980, 6.5% of the U.S. adult population had
a master’s degree (i.e., 8.2% of White adults and 3.4% of African American adults).
Furthermore, in 2018, the overall number had grown to 13.1% of the U.S. adult population (U.S.
Census, 2021). Despite the increase in the U.S. adult population receiving master’s degrees, there
continues to be a gap between African American adults receiving this degree and Whites and
Asians (Baum & Steele, 2017).
The literature regarding African American students’ recruitment and enrollment at the
master’s level is limited compared to that of African American students on the bachelor and
doctoral levels. Nevertheless, the research suggests that in the recruitment and enrollment
process, African American students are impacted by academic preparation, exposure to and
knowledge of engineering, and financial resources (Nettles,1990; Scott-Clayton & Li, 2016;
Melendez, 1994).
3

Much research on African American students in higher education focuses on the pre-
college and undergraduate years, strongly emphasizing academic readiness. The research
conducted by Cokley et al. (2017) highlights the recurrent educational disadvantages faced by
African Americans, often resulting in insufficient preparedness for the rigorous demands of
graduate school. Allensworth and Clark (2019) contend that many African American students
face an automatic elimination in the college and graduate school admission process due to years
of educational inequalities that prevent competitive admission scores: under-resourced K–12
schools frequently lack resources, test-taking skills, and knowledge of materials. According to
the Council of Graduate Schools (2020), African American test takers earn an average score of
146.9 Verbal and 144.4 Quant on the GRE compared to 153.3 Verbal and 150.8 Quant for White
and 152.0 Verbal and 152.9 Quant for Asian American test takers (Educational Testing Service,
2016). Miller and Stassun (2014) assert that African American achievement on the GRE is the
lowest of all racial groups, limiting the number of African American candidates in the admission
process as some colleges use minimum GRE scores to filter applicants.
In addition to high standardized test scores, the graduate admission process favors
applicants with solid work experience. The literature suggests that African American employees
encounter many barriers in the workplace (McKinsey & Company, 2018). McKinsey &
Company (2018) found in a survey that African American engineers are in jobs with less
opportunity for advancement. The study suggests that African American engineers encounter a
representation gap at management levels, making it challenging to develop mentoring
relationships in the workplace. It limits their opportunities to receive letters of recommendation
or references often required for the graduate admission process.
4

Even when African American applicants can gain admission to graduate school, they face
increased financial hardship compared to White and Asian students (Nettles, 1990). In the NSC
Research Center (2017), student loans discouraged 53% of African American students from
enrolling in higher education and forced them to acquire full-time jobs instead. The Urban
Institute (2018) found that a person pursuing a master’s degree borrows about three times the
amount of student loans than the typical undergraduate student. While there has not been any
research regarding financial resources for engineering programs, the literature from other
graduate programs shows that African American students need more financial resources to pay
for graduate education (Nettles,1990).
Field Context
This field study focused on master’s engineering programs in the United States. In the
United States, there are approximately 400 master’s engineering degree-granting institutions.
These institutions operate in a primarily decentralized fashion, both private and public
institutions. Nongovernmental agencies oversee private institutions, while public institutions are
controlled by state governments and are paid for primarily by public funds (National Center for
Education Statistics, 2020). Institutions with master’s engineering programs can be called
universities or colleges (American Council on Education, 2019). Given the different kinds of
master’s engineering programs in the United States, each program’s mission varies and is
complex. Nevertheless, all master’s engineering programs contain three essential components:
teaching engineering, generating new knowledge, and engaging with society (American Council
on Education, 2019). This study focused primarily on the last aspect of the master’s engineering
program’s mission: its goal to engage with society.
5

Importance of the Study
It is crucial to understand African Americans’ enrollment in master’s engineering
programs in the United States for various reasons. First, addressing this problem will likely
positively impact African American incomes. African Americans with a master’s degree are
employed at higher rates than those with bachelor’s degrees (Joint Economic Committee, 2020).
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2013) found that African Americans with a master’s degree
have a wage premium between 10 and 12%. African Americans with a master’s engineering
make 30% more than those with a bachelor’s degree.
Second, addressing this problem may have a drastic effect on the lives of African
Americans. A study by Krueger et al. (2015) found that African American adults with post-
baccalaureate education lived longer than those with bachelor’s degrees. In another study,
African American adults with advanced degrees have decreased incarceration rates (Joint
Economic Committee, 2020). Hence increasing African American student enrollment in master’s
engineering programs may have long-term positive impacts on the African American
community.
Third, more African Americans completing master’s engineering programs can fill job
vacancies in the United States. The demand for engineering professionals is on the rise.
Engineering contributes to 3% of all U.S. jobs, and engineers were responsible for 2.8% of the
GDP in 2020 (Blau & Weinberg, 2016). In 2018, only 7.4% of U.S. engineers were African
American compared to 71.3% White and 11.2% Asian (NSF, 2019). Based on the statistics and
evidence previously mentioned, understanding African American enrollment in master’s
engineering presents a high level of urgency that must be examined. The consequence of not
understanding African American student enrollment is the diminished capacity to effectively
6

matriculate African American students and impeding educational excellence and social and
economic progression.
Description of Stakeholder Groups
Organizations such as institutions with master’s engineering programs are complex, with
many different stakeholders. Nevertheless, the stakeholder groups most impacted by the
enrollment of African American students are senior leadership, faculty, students, and admission
counselors. A dean or a president usually heads senior leadership teams in universities and
colleges and includes vice deans, vice presidents, provosts, vice provosts, and other less senior
roles that are indicated by the prefixing of “assistant,” “associate,” and “senior associate”
(American Council on Education, 2019). A leadership team is responsible for defining the vision
and mission of the institution, executing the strategic objectives derived from the vision and
mission, and doing so in a fiscally responsible manner (American Council on Education, 2019).
The leadership team also can mandate the institution to increase diversity efforts to recruit more
African American students to their programs.
Faculty are another critical stakeholder group. Faculty are responsible for teaching
students and researching (American Council on Education, 2019). Faculty members also assist
with the administration of an institution by holding memberships in committees, councils, and
advisory bodies. Faculty help to support the organization’s performance goal by advocating for
the increase of African American student enrollment.
The third stakeholder impacted by the enrollment of African American students is
students. Students attend classes and participate in co-curricular activities. In graduate school,
students spend a considerable amount of time together, and research suggests that diverse
interactions are essential to the well-being of student development. Additionally, students,
7

specifically African American students, benefit from the organization’s goal of increasing
African American student enrollment by having a greater chance of being accepted for
admission.
The final stakeholder group is admission counselors. Admission counselors are
responsible for interacting with prospective students, providing them with information, guiding
the application process, evaluating applications for admission, and managing yield strategies for
admitted students. For admission counselors to perform their duties to the best of their abilities,
they need to develop constructive relationships with faculty, students, and senior leadership, as
well as with external stakeholders such as potential customers (i.e., aspiring students) and alums
(Gibbs & Kharouf, 2020). Admission counselors will also oversee goal management to increase
the enrollment of African American students.
Stakeholder Group for the Study
While the collective efforts of the stakeholders contribute to the achievement and success
of the overall organizational goals of master’s engineering programs, the stakeholder group of
focus for this study is the admission counselors. Admission counselors are tasked with recruiting,
reviewing, and yielding students for the organization, and admission counselors are charged with
implementing policies to increase the diversity of master’s engineering programs. The target of
the admission counselors is to understand their recruitment process of African American students
to identify best practices so that the field of master’s engineering programs can increase African
American student enrollment. The consequence of not achieving the goal is diminished capacity
to matriculate African American students impacting the pipeline of master’s engineering
graduates to the workforce.
8

Purpose of the Project and Research Questions
This project aimed to understand admission counselors’ knowledge, motivation, and the
organizational influences that impact the recruitment of African American students to master’s
engineering programs. The following questions guided this study:
1. What types of knowledge and motivation do admission counselors need to recruit and
enroll African American students to master’s engineering programs?
2. How do organizational culture and context support or hinder admission counselors
from recruiting African American students?
Overview of Theoretical Framework and Methodology
This study aimed to conduct a needs analysis utilizing Clark and Estes’ (2008) gap
analysis model to understand admission counselors’ knowledge, motivation, and the
organizational influences that impact the recruitment of African American students to master’s
engineering programs. The analysis began by generating a list of assumed needs with systematic
validation. While a complete needs analysis would focus on all stakeholders, for practical
purposes, the stakeholder group of the focus for this study is admission counselors. Once the gap
is identified, this conceptual framework describes three main components influencing
performance: stakeholders’ knowledge, motivation, and the organizational environment.
The methodological framework was a qualitative study using one-on-one semi-structured
interviews with admission counselors and document analysis of existing diversity and inclusion
recruitment initiatives of master’s engineering programs. Knowledge, motivation, and
organizational influences on admission counselors that impact organizational goals will be
generated based on admission counselors’ personal knowledge and related literature. Interview
transcripts, literature reviews, and document analysis were assessed to determine these
9

influences. Recommendations based on research will be recommended and evaluated
comprehensively.
Definitions
Admission counselor refers to a person’s job responsibility at work at a college or
university to recruit, enroll and establish outreach programs to promote their school.
African American generally denotes descendants of enslaved Black people from the
United States. Nevertheless, recent Black immigrants or their children may also identify as
African American.
Master ’s engineering programs refer to engineering colleges that award professional
master’s degrees in engineering.
Polytechnic University refer to a type of higher education institution that focuses on the
practical application of technical and vocational subjects. It offers a range of undergraduate and
graduate programs in engineering, science, technology, and other applied fields. Polytechnics are
designed to prepare students for careers in industry, business, and the public sector.
Recruitment refers to identifying, attracting, and enrolling prospective students in a
college or university. The recruitment process typically involves a variety of strategies, such as
college fairs, campus tours, and targeted marketing campaigns.
Selection refers to choosing which students to admit from a pool of applicants.
Admissions officers typically use a variety of factors to make their selection decisions, including
academic performance, standardized test scores, extracurricular activities, essays, letters of
recommendation, and other criteria.
10

TRIO programs refer to a set of federally-funded programs in the United States designed
to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds, including low-income individuals, first-
generation college students, and individuals with disabilities.
Yield refers to the percentage of admitted students who choose to enroll at a particular
institution. It measures the attractiveness of a college or university to admitted students and is
calculated by dividing the number of enrolled students by the number of admitted students.
Organization of the Dissertation
Five chapters are used to organize this study. This chapter provides the reader with the
key concepts and terminology commonly found in a discussion related to African American
recruitment and enrollment in master’s engineering programs in the United States of America. In
addition, the organizational mission and goals were introduced along with key stakeholders and
their aligned goals, particularly developing recruitment plans to recruit more African American
students. Chapter Two reviews the current literature surrounding the root causes of the low
enrollment of African American students in master’s engineering programs. Chapter Three
details the assumed needs for this study and the methodology regarding the choice of
participants, data collection, and analysis. Chapter Four details the findings of the study. Finally,
Chapter Five provides solutions based on data and literature to address the needs and
recommendations for the implementation plan and ongoing evaluation.

11

Chapter Two: Review of the Literature
To understand the context for this study, an overview of the existing literature relating to
African American students in master’s engineering is presented. The chapter begins with an
overview of engineering education in the United States. and a brief history of African American
student attainment in higher education. Next, the review describes the challenges and barriers
African American students face in higher education when applying to master’s engineering
programs. Following the literature review, this chapter will look at Clark and Estes’s (2008) gap
analysis conceptual framework that explains how knowledge, motivation, and organizational
influences work together to impact the stakeholder group’s ability to recruit African American
students to master’s engineering programs.
General Review of the Literature
The Mission of Engineering Education in the United States
Engineers and engineering education have been an essential part of U.S. history. During
the American Revolution, George Washington appointed the first engineer officers to the Army
on June 16, 1775 (Grayson, 1980). In 1802, Congress established the Corps of Engineers and
gave engineers responsibility for founding and operating the U.S. Military Academy at West
Point. During the 19th Century, the United States expansion drove the need for engineers
because most American engineers started as apprentices on the canal and railroad projects such
as the Erie Canal and transcontinental Railroad (Grayson, 1980). Early American colleges
offered classes such as surveying to help supplement apprentices’ experiences. Around the
1850s, some colleges started following the French model of higher education—the
polytechnics—and engineering officially became part of the university. In 1862 with the passage
of the Morrill Act, the number of U.S. universities grew, and more engineering colleges were
12

established. At college, hands-on learning dominated early engineering programs. In 1885,
Robert Thurston of Cornell University pushed to reduce “shop” hours and added basic science to
the classroom. While other schools started to follow Cornell’s model, progress was slow.
In 1893, the formation of the American Society for Engineering Education symbolized
the shift from apprenticeship to more classroom experiences in learning engineering (ASEE,
2020). Nevertheless, substantial change came in World War II. The radar and atomic weapons
brought home the importance of technology, and scientists were given all the credit.
Furthermore, during the cold-war and Sputnik prompted federal military funding to support the
transformation of more theoretically based engineering. By the late 1960s, the pendulum of
engineering education swung heavily toward science. However, during the 1970s and 1980s,
federal funding to universities decreased due to the recession. In the late 1990s and early 2000s,
U.S. universities took a more active role in engineering education and shifted engineering
education from science to applied work (ASEE, 2020).
Historical Perspective of African Americans in Higher Education
Since the establishment of the United States, the education of African Americans has
been marked by exclusion and segregation in higher education. Discrimination against African
Americans was established in law. Such discriminatory practices to prevent any formal education
for African Americans directly reflected the inhumane treatment of the significant population to
deprive racial minorities of their human rights (Naylor et al., 2015). While Harvard University
was founded in 1636, the first African American did not receive a degree until 1823 (Delaware
News Journal, 2021). According to Weinberg, by 1870, there were over 1200 colleges in the
United States, with little evidence of African American attendance (cited in Wharton, 1992).
Wharton argues that African American students and historically Black institutions were excluded
13

from much writing about U.S. higher education. After the Civil War, missionaries established
schools in the South to educate enslaved people formerly, and the Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890
expanded agricultural and vocational training for advanced education for African American
adults. Education for African American students was separated from Whites. Black institutions
had fewer resources like books, poor facilities, and lower instructor pay.
Wharton (1992) cites 1910 to 1930 as a critical time for African American students in
higher education. During this time, African Americans had limited admissions to engineering
schools. Of the 200,000 engineers in the United States in 1930, 500 were African American; of
the 66,000 engineering students nationwide, only a hundred were African American students
(Wharton, 1992). There were over 150 accredited engineering schools during that time, but none
at historically Black institutions, where most African American students attended. In 1906, Yale
University awarded an engineering degree to Lawrence DeWitt Simmons after he completed 4
years at Talladega College, a historically Black college or university (HBCU) in Alabama
(Wharton, 1992).
Standards and conditions in college were improved for African American students
through court cases financed by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored
People (NAACP), which reversed Plessy v. Ferguson of 1985 that denied equal educational
opportunities to African American students (Delaware News Journal, 2021). Only with the
passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964 did the United States see a significant change in the
treatment of African American students in education. Institutions of higher learning began to
actively recruit African American students for graduate programs in the 1960s and early 1970s
(Blackwell, 1990). The Civil Rights Act of 1964 established TRIO programs, such as Upward
Bound, Special Services, and Talent Search. While the civil rights movement significantly
14

eliminated legal barriers for African American students, educational inequalities still existed. For
example, in 1970, 94% of all African American students still attended segregated schools
(Beasley, 2011). In response to the workforce and economic demands for greater participation of
African Americans, Minority Engineering Programs (MEP) were established in the 1960s
(Slaton, 2010). Other engineering programs were established to strengthen Black institutions and
to support African American students.
During the 1980s, under President Ronald Reagan’s administration, federal funding for
higher education, including graduate education, plummeted, forcing African American and other
low-income students to depend heavily on loans to finance their education. According to
Melendez (1994), after 3 decades of increased minority presence in higher education institutions,
the groups with the lowest family and income per capita still relied heavily on loans to pay for
their education, while more affluent populations, including Whites, received a higher proportion
of grants and assistantships relied on fewer loans (Delaware News Journal, 2021).
In an effort to increase African American students’ participation in the engineering fields,
national organizations and campus support programs emerged. The National Society of Black
Engineers (NSBE), the National Action Council for Minorities (NACME), and the National
Association of Minority Engineering Program Administrators (NAMEPA) became advocates for
African American engineering students. Outreach programs to encourage STEM interest of
African American youth were established on campuses like MIT and Georgia Tech. In the 1990s,
there was considerable growth in the number of African American students enrolled in
postsecondary education (DeSousa, 2001).
15

African American in the Engineering Profession
African American population remains stagnant in the United States at 13%. Nevertheless,
there has been little growth in African American students enrolling in master’s engineering
programs. The proportion of bachelor’s degrees in engineering awarded to African American
graduates declined from 5 to 4% from 2001 to 2016 (National Science Foundation).
Furthermore, the college-going trends during the pandemic threaten to lower these proportions
even further. Total African American undergraduate enrollment at universities and colleges is
down by more than 7% this semester from where it was last spring (National Student
Clearinghouse Research Center, 2021).
This decline in prospective African American engineers is occurring even as demand for
Higher Education increases. According to DOL (2020), there were about 2.4 million engineering
job openings in the United States, expected to double by 2030. The DOL indicates there is an
engineering shortage in the United States, and the pipeline of engineers from undergraduate
schools needs to be more robust to address the shortage. This shortage is compounded by the
lack of engineering master’s students. According to U.S. News and World Report (2018), the
lack of individuals with master’s engineering degrees in the United States may cost the country
its competitive advantage in the global market. The dearth of master’s engineering graduates is
perpetuating the leadership shortage in the United States.
African American in Master’s Engineering Programs
African American students apply and enroll in master’s engineering programs
disproportionately fewer than other minority groups (ASEE, 2019). Often African American
applicants need more academic preparation, more knowledge of the field of engineering, and
more financial resources (Cooley & Smith, 2017). In addition, African American students in
16

master’s programs report social isolation, racial discrimination, and less support leading to more
graduation delays and attrition than other racial groups.
Academic Preparation
Research suggests that African American students experience many academic barriers in
the graduate application process. First, African American students graduate with lower grade
point averages. Data from the U.S. Department of Education (2012) shows a vast racial disparity
in the grade point average of engineering bachelor’s degree recipients. According to the U.S.
Department of Education, 75% of White bachelor’s degree recipients had a grade point average
of 3.0 or higher. For African American students, 55.3% of graduates had a grade point average of
3.0 or higher. White students were more than twice as likely as African American to graduate
with a grade point average higher than 3.5. Two out of every five Whites graduates but less than
one in five African American graduates achieve a GPA greater than 3.5. The data shows that
African American graduates were nearly three times as likely as Whites to graduate with a GPA
less than 2.5. Some 14.5% of African American graduates and 5.5% of Whites graduates had a
GPA of less than 2.5.
In addition to lower college GPAs, African American test takers score lower on
standardized tests. The Graduate Record Exam (GRE) is a barrier to graduate admission for
African American applicants (Cooley & Smith, 2017). A study by the Council of Graduate
School (2013) found that African American test takers tend to have lower GRE scores. Up to
40% of graduate engineering programs in the United States use cutoff score requirements. The
cutoff scores give preference to international students, who experience standardized testing more
frequently than U.S. students (Cokley et al., 2017). African American students planning to study
engineering scored on average 187 points below Whites who plan to pursue a graduate degree in
17

engineering (ETS,1996). Subsequently, addressing the barriers in the workplace can help to
increase African American student enrollment in master’s engineering programs.
Work Experience
The graduate admission process favors applicants with solid work experience, and the
literature suggests that African American employees encounter many barriers in the workplace
(McKinsey & Company, 2018). A 2010 U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
workgroup found significant barriers exist for African American engineers in the workplace,
including nepotism, cultural mismatch, perceptions of under-qualification, lack of peers, lack of
overall workplace diversity, and lack of support for minorities. A study conducted by Pew
Research found that 62% of African American employees who work in STEM-related jobs said
they had experienced workplace discrimination because of their race compared to 44% of Asians
and 42% of Latinos. African American engineers experience more racial discrimination, less
satisfaction with their work environment, social networking, and the level of support received
(Cooley & Smith, 2017). According to Gibbs (2016), African American engineers expressed the
need to outperform Whites three to five times to be considered equally qualified. In another
study, Dupuy et al. (2018) found that African American engineers are consistently made to feel
they do not belong and must prove they have the talent and skill necessary to be employed. A
survey conducted by the Society of Women Engineers (2017) found that African American
engineers reported less access to equal pay, fair and honest performance evaluations, and
advancement opportunities. Still, Burt et al. (2019) suggest that when African American
engineers are employed, they contribute to the nation’s technological advancements and
infrastructure and serve as valuable mentors and models. All these studies suggest that Cooley
18

and Smith (2017) describe an impostor syndrome that limits the opportunities for African
American engineers.
Financial Resources
The lack of financial resources discourages African American students from enrolling in
graduate school. While there has yet to be research regarding financial resources for engineering
programs, the literature from other graduate programs shows that African Americans need more
financial resources to pay for graduate education. Ohio State University National Student
Financial Wellness Study (2015) found that 80% of African American college students reported
feeling stressed about finances; nearly 60% stated they were concerned about being unable to
pay for school, and 40% were worried about having to pay their monthly expenses. As a result,
26% of African American students reported they frequently neglected their studies due to
financial stress. In another report, Scott-Clayton and Li (2016) found that African American
graduates have, on average, $23,400 loan debt compared to $16,000 for White peers. In the NSC
Research Center (2017), student loans discouraged 53% of African American students from
enrolling in higher education and forced them to acquire full-time jobs instead. The Urban
Institute (2018) found that a person going for a master’s degree borrows about three times the
amount of student loans than the typical undergraduate student. These findings suggest that more
financial resources can help African American students enroll in master’s engineering programs.
Higher Education Innovation That Increases African American Student Enrollment
The literature regarding African American students’ recruitment and enrollment at the
master’s level is limited compared to that of African American students on the bachelor’s and
PhD levels. Nevertheless, the research has noted factors that may contribute to the persistence of
19

African American students in engineering programs, including financial support, mentoring,
advising, and networks (Nettles, 1990; Stolle-McAllister et al., 2011; Tinto, 1993).
Financial Support
Providing financial support to African American students has increased the number of
students enrolling in graduate engineering programs. Much of the financial assistance for
graduate education is rendered through fellowships, research, teaching assistantships, and
personal financing (Nettles, 1990). Much of institutional aid is merit-based, often relying on
standardized examination scores and other culturally biased factors (Nettles, 1990).
Assistantships often depend on faculty with research grants to dole out to students. African
American students still need to receive a proportional share of such funds. For example, a study
of 1,352 doctoral students at large public institutions reported that 54% of White students
received a teaching or research assistantship, while only 38% of African American students
received them (Nettles, 1990). African American students also received proportionately fewer
tuition waivers compared to White students. In a focus group at Virginia Tech, African American
students mentioned that financial concerns created additional challenges to achieving their
academic and professional pursuits. Students also reported feeling that the reliance on student
loans versus family support disadvantaged them compared to students from dominant groups
(Odom et al., 2007). African American students identified scholarship opportunities as necessary
for attendance and success in graduate school.
Institutional Support
Compared to other racial and ethnic groups, African American students in master’s
program experience more racial discrimination and less satisfaction with their learning
environment and level of support received (Orom et al., 2013). A multi-center study from 1996
20

showed that 68.4% of African American students reported discrimination in their graduate
coursework compared to only 3% of White students who reported experiencing racial
discrimination. African Americans are less likely to continue their studies if they feel excluded,
isolated, or have discouraging academic experiences (Lee et al., 2020).
Strong networks of faculty and peers have been shown to help African American students
address frustrations and influence the persistence of African American students in graduate
engineering programs (Lewis et al., 2004). Peers influence persistence, and same-race peers are
critical in fostering a sense of belonging. Some graduate schools have incorporated mentorship
programs to provide support and guidance through master’s programs. At Stanford, faculty
members serve as mentors to African American students, and the school has seen an increase in
the graduation rate for African Americans in its master’s engineering program. Academic and
cultural support networks created through programs and organizations like the Meyerhoff
Scholars, the Louis Stokes Alliances for Minority Participation, and the National Society of
Black Engineers aid in creating a sense of belonging for African American graduate engineering
students. Social acceptance is critical for academic persistence, and minority students often
thrive when involved in engineering and non-engineering community-building activities (Litzler
& Young, 2012).
In engineering, prestige is linked to research funding rather than teaching and mentoring.
Engineering programs tend to attract people interested in “things” rather than people, which may
discourage women and African American students from solving societal problems (National
Science Foundation, 2007). African American students are often interested in improving their
communities’ conditions, leaving science to pursue fields more relevant to social concerns
(Hurtado et al., 2010). In 2007, Johnson contended that the customs and norms inherent in the
21

scientific culture align predominantly with the cultural competencies of White middle-class men.
According to Johnson, success in this realm is typically achieved by those who have mastered
navigating through the complex and often unwelcoming environment prevalent in engineering
departments. Offering financial support, mentoring, and institutional support could help increase
the enrollment of African American students in the master’s engineering programs and help
increase graduation rates. This could help reduce the engineering shortage in the United States.
Clark and Estes Framework
The conceptual framework for this study is based on Clark and Estes’s (2008) gap
analysis model. The gap analysis framework identifies, validates, and provides solutions for gaps
among critical stakeholders. The fundamental principle of the theoretical framework is that a gap
exists between current performance and desired future performance. Gap analysis offers
guidance on how to bridge this gap. Once potential gaps are identified, this framework examines
the stakeholder knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences that may underlie
performance gaps (Clark & Estes, 2008).
Each of these knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences will be addressed in
Chapter Three regarding graduate admission counselors meeting their performance goal of
increasing African American enrollment in master’s engineering programs. Assumed knowledge
influences will be examined to determine performance goals that impact recruiting strategies of
admission counselors at engineering schools. Assumed motivational influences will be addressed
by examining what motivational factors are needed for graduate admission counselors to see
tremendous success in meeting their individual goals of increasing African American student
enrollment rates. Finally, assumed organizational influences will also be addressed as to how
22

these organizational influences impact graduate admission counselors in recruiting African
American students to master’s engineering programs.
Stakeholder Knowledge, Motivation, and Organizational Influences
Knowledge and Skills
For graduate admission counselors to enroll African American students in master’s
engineering programs, graduate admission counselors must know what factors prevent African
American adults from going to graduate school and then implement best practices to improve
recruitment. Grossman and Salas (2011) detailed that ongoing learning leads to relevant changes
within the workplace; therefore, once admission counselors learn what factors prevent African
American adults from enrolling in graduate programs, they will begin to change their behavior to
meet their goals. Daly (2006) suggests that rearranging factors within the environment is
necessary to establish more adaptive functional relationships. In other words, factors must be
altered within one’s environment to produce change. In this case, best practices within graduate
admission offices must be altered to focus on this underrepresented group that promotes
increased admission rates for African American students. Thus, the ultimate goal for the
admission counselor is to implement the best practices for increasing the enrollment of African
American students. This study, therefore, focused on knowledge, motivation, and organizational
influences that impact graduate admission counselors to improve the African American
admission rate.
For change to occur, graduate admission counselors must be able to do several key
things, according to the research literature. The following section will explore these knowledge
types that impact admission counselors to change recruiting strategies through effective learning.
As discussed, Krathwohl (2002) discussed four knowledge types, including factual, procedural,
23

conceptual, and metacognitive knowledge. These types clarify the knowledge a graduate
admission counselor needs to make organizational changes.
Graduate admission counselors know that there are factors that prevent African American
students from earning a master’s engineering degree. Knowing these factors is vital so that
admission counselors can implement the best practices for increasing the enrollment of African
American students. According to Fears-Hackett (2012), the lack of African American adults
earning a master’s degree is often attributed to society’s false assumption that this population’s
group lacks intelligence; however, environmental factors that inhibit this group from earning a
master’s are often overlooked, including factors such as discrimination, quality of local job
availability, and self-efficacy. Bensimon (2005) suggested that assumptions educators make
about minorities and underrepresented groups lead to the problem of unequal educational
outcomes within the United States. In addition, Gorski (2008) discussed the mindsets of people
in poverty and how these groups view education as essential but not attainable to them. This
study details how educators often neglect this theory and must focus more on changing this
societal misconception. Fears-Hackett (2012) further suggested that due to years of
discrimination experienced by African American adults, this group has spent decades trying to
overcome these environmental and social barriers. As a result, this group often has to forgo
educational goals to provide for their families financially. Therefore, graduate admission
counselors must learn that earning a master’s degree for this population group would mean
blurring the lines of separation between the generational chains of poverty. Improving
communication tailored around these issues to increase college enrollment for this population
group is necessary.
24

Understanding factors that prevent African American students from enrolling in master’s
engineering programs and tailoring admission communication around those factors are pertinent
knowledge admission counselors must know to meet their goal of increasing African American
student enrollment. According to Krathwohl (2003), factual knowledge is the fundamental
element one must know to solve problems. Thus, as admission counselors seek to implement best
practices to recruit African American students, they must first know the primary factors that
prevent this population group from earning a master’s degree.
Graduate admission counselors must know how to attract African American students to
master’s engineering programs. They must understand how to recruit and retain African
American students to graduate programs effectively. Thus, admission counselors need to learn
what this population group is interested in and emphasize those attributes to attract this
population group. McKeemer (2006) observed that African American adults tend to develop self-
identity through their peers when a lack of positive role models directly influences them.
Graduate admission counselors must know how to speak to these peer-related activities
that may attract this population. They also need to know how to highlight reputable African
American professors and administrators who work at the university and can be a resource for this
population group.
To improve communication surrounding these issues that prevent African American
students from enrolling in master’s engineering programs, procedural knowledge is needed.
Krathwohl (2002) concluded that procedural knowledge helps determine how and when to use
appropriate procedures. Furthermore, Rueda (2011) described procedural knowledge as knowing
how to apply a theory. Once graduate admission counselors learn and understand these factors,
and they will be better equipped on how and when to tailor admission communication to begin
25

pushing through some of these hurdles that prevent African American students from enrolling in
master’s engineering programs.
Graduate admission counselors need to understand how their behavior impacts the
success of or their efforts to recruit African American students. After learning about factors that
prevent African American students from enrolling in master’s engineering programs, admission
counselors need to assess the success of her efforts. Grossman and Salas (2011) pointed out that
effective assessments measure overall competence, ability to understand complex ideas,
adaptation to changing factors, learning from experiences, and formation of appropriate
reasoning from acquired learning. Once admission counselors have adequately assessed their
success in factors that contributed to helping them reach their goal of developing an enrollment
plan dedicated to increasing African American student enrollment, they can adequately assess
what more they can do or change to be more cognitively aware of growth opportunities.
This type of self-assessment falls under metacognitive knowledge. Metacognitive
knowledge is a process where one becomes more responsible for intellect and thinking (Rueda,
2011). In addition, Krathwohl (2002) described metacognitive knowledge as knowledge of
oneself, including self-awareness and cognition. According to Grossman and Salas (2011), with
proper self-assessment comes learning and understanding, which gives birth to motivation.
Table 1 below highlights the type of knowledge influence that must be used for an
admission counselor to recruit African American students.

26

Table 1
Summary of Knowledge Influences on Admission Counselors
Assumed of knowledge of successful on admission counselors General literature
Knowledge
Factual Admission counselors can name the factors that
prevent African American students from
enrolling master’s engineering programs
(Bensimon, 2005; Fears-
Hackett, 2012; Gorski,
2008)
Factual Admission counselors need to know specific
resources for African American students
(Isaac, 2012; Perna &
Redd, 2003)
Procedural Admission counselors need to know how to
recruit African American graduate students

(Jackson, 2007;
Krathwohl, 2002;
McKeemer, 2006)
Metacognitive Admission counselors need to understand how
their behavior impacts the success of his or
her individual efforts to recruit African
American students
(Grossman and Salas,
2011; Krathwohl, 2002;
Rueda, 2011)

Motivation Influences
Motivation is the second component of the Clark and Estes (2008) three-pronged gap
approach used to evaluate performance problems and their solutions. Motivation is critical in
achieving goals because it impacts whether individuals start, persists, and exert effort to finish a
task. It elucidates their beliefs about themselves as learners (Mayer, 2011; Rueda, 2011).
27

Motivation drives individuals to engage in a process from start to finish to achieve the desired
outcome (Mayer, 2011).
Recognizing that several factors can impact motivation, this section reviews the literature
focusing on two motivation-related influences specific to the ones pertinent to achieving the
graduate admission counselor’s goal to recruit more African American students. First, admission
counselors need to believe that they can effectively learn how to recruit African American
students, which Bandura (1991) describes as self-efficacy. Second, graduate admission
counselors need to believe that being able to recruit more African American students is
professionally important and valuable.
Expectancy Value Theory
Expectancy value theory refers to how a task fits into one’s goals. By definition,
expectancy value theory is when a person can do a task and wants to do a task, and it is a strong
predictor of persistence, mental effort, and performance once a choice has been made to
complete a task (Clark & Estes, 2008). Eccles (2009) highlighted that one must want to do a task
for this motivation to exist. If one does not particularly want to do a task, one will unlikely
accomplish set goals.
Graduate admission counselors need to see the value of recruiting African American
students. Eccles (2009) stressed the importance of will as a key factor in motivation. For
graduate admission counselors to want to succeed in their goal of increasing the African
American enrollment rate, they must first learn the benefits of doing so. In addition, according to
Eccles (2009), expectancy-value is a type of motivational theory that explains the value placed
on obtaining immediate or long-term external rewards. Suppose Admission counselors need to
see the value in recruiting African American students. In that case, the value of devoting time to
28

this group may need to be higher to motivate their efforts. This concept reinforces the need for
admission counselors to be trained effectively to understand the factors that prevent African
American students from enrolling in graduate programs. When decision-makers such as
admission counselors and other school officials do not fully understand these factors, it can lead
to negative stereotypes. Unfortunately, negative stereotypes can lead school officials to
communicate low expectations of minority students resulting in differential interactions, inferior
educational support, subpar encouragement to accomplish educational aspirations, and failure to
provide quality educational experiences that promote self-confidence (Eccles, 2009).
Self-Efficacy Theory
Grossman and Salas (2011) found that learning is fundamental to any organization.
However, if one does not believe in their capabilities, all the learning achieved will not suffice.
Bandura (2000) defined this concept as self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is an individual’s belief about
his or her capabilities. Thus, self-efficacy is the foundation for motivation. Self-efficacy also
plays a role in what actions one will take, goals one sets forth, how much effort one puts into
completing a goal, expected outcomes, perseverance, and resilience in completing goals. If
people do not believe their actions will produce desired results, their motivation to succeed will
be low.
Graduate admission counselors need to believe they can recruit African American
graduate students. Graduate admission counselors will experience many challenges in meeting
their goals. However, graduate admission counselors with adequate perseverance and enough
confidence in their abilities will succeed. Grossman and Salas (2011) confirmed that those with
high self-efficacy have more confidence in their ability to learn and apply new concepts and are
thus more likely to show perseverance when completing challenging tasks. Therefore, graduate
29

admission counselors must be confident in recruiting prospective African American students.
This concept relates to Eccles (2009), who discussed expectancy-value theory in which the
question posed is if an individual believes he or she can complete a set task. This research
suggested that confidence in one’s ability strongly predicts achievement. To complete their
outlined goals, admission counselors must believe they can accomplish them.
In addition to graduate admission counselors seeing the value in recruiting prospective
African American students, they must also believe that all students, including African American
students, are capable of going to graduate school. Brown’s (2008) study of African American
students at a predominantly White higher educational institution suggests that African American
students’ disposition stems from a long history of racial oppression, discrimination, and legally
mandated segregation. When this population group interacts or takes heed to such stereotypes,
behavior can manifest these very expectations. In addition, these negative stereotypes will
continue to play a role in the African American psyche, resulting in low self-efficacy and low
academic performance of African American students. Society must change its negative
perceptions of African American students and create a climate that fosters academic success for
all students. Thus, graduate admission counselors must be an entity that works toward changing
these societal misconceptions of African American students. To successfully implement best
practices to recruit and retain African American students, they must first believe that this
population group is capable of going to graduate school.
Table 2 details the specific motivational assessment used to assess assumed targeted
motivational influence. It also highlights assumed motivational influences admission counselors
must possess.

30

Table 2
Summary of Motivational Influences on Admission Counselors
Assumed needs of successful admission counselors General literature
Motivation
Self-efficacy Admission counselors need to believe
they are capable of recruiting
African American graduate students
(Cambria & Wigfield, 2010;
Eccles, 2009)
Expectancy-value Admission counselors need to see the
value of recruiting African
American graduate students
(Cambria & Wigfield, 2010;
Eccles, 2009)
Expectancy-value Admission counselors need to believe
that all students are capable of going
to graduate school
(Cambria & Wigfield, 2010;
Eccles, 2009)

Organizational Influences
Organizational influences impact gaps within an organization. Clark and Estes (2008)
described organizational gaps as barriers in processes or equipment. These processes and
resources are often referred to as cultural settings. In addition to these material resources, the
organization must have the appropriate cultural environments, known as cultural models.
Cultural models are part of a complex group learning process that is hard to change; all members
share them; they are less tangible and visible, affecting all aspects of the organization.
Organizations exist within a tremendous cultural context and comprise individuals with unique
31

cultural backgrounds, which leadership can also affect (Schein, 2004). If change is made within
an organization’s knowledge or motivational level, the need for change within the organizational
processes will also need to be made. These factors make organizational change possible but
challenging (Clark & Estes, 2008). Agócs (1997) explained that resistance is inevitable when an
organization faces change. It is often active resistance in the form of denial or repression.
Organizational influences and direct resistance will be explored in the following sections.
Objectives that create the most change are met with the most resistance (Agócs, 1997).
However, Kezar (2001) described the organizational change as a natural and inevitable part of
organizational development. Change occurs because of the need to grow, learn, and modify
behavior. Thus, those organizational influences determine the degree and success of the change.
Agócs (1997) explained that change is often so heavily resisted by individuals because of formed
habits, absence of necessary skills, fear of the unknown, and fear of lost power. In addition,
organizational change is often resisted because of apathy, unrecoverable cost, scarce resources,
the threat to established lines of power, values, and beliefs, and the inability to consider
alternatives.
Fear of the Unknown Creates Resistance
Brightman and Moran (2000) confirm this by their findings that the risk of failure creates
resistance. As stated in the earlier section, knowledge influences are so important. Graduate
admission counselors must understand the benefits of increasing African American student
enrollment percentages, know how to impact enrollment, and have the proper organizational
support to meet goals, as discussed in Brown (2008). With the proper knowledge influences and
motivational influences brought on by organizational support and influences, the fear of breaking
habits and the fear of the unknown will decrease.
32

Admission Counselors Assumed Fear
Graduate Admission counselors work in an environment that poorly reinforces effective
recruitment to obtain a proportionate amount of African American student enrollment compared
to other racial groups. In admission counselors’ pursuit to meet their goal, there is assumed fear
that their organization does not support a proportionate number of African American students.
As graduate admission counselors are presented with a new organizational goal to increase
African American student admission rates, there is an assumed fear that they will be unable to
accomplish this goal. Hendry (2006) suggests the best way to tackle goal completion fears is to
take an educational approach to decrease the pressures under which instruction is given. In
addition, a new value system must be adopted entirely by all attributing parties so newly formed
goals can become attainable.
In the graduate admission counselor’s quest to meet their goal and eliminate the fear of
failure, Agócs (1997) also found that the best way to defeat fear is to immerse oneself in
education. As described earlier, this is also a contributing factor to knowledge influences. Senge
(1990) explains that humans are designed to learn and that no one wants to make a mistake.
While admission counselors are uncertain if they will be supported in their efforts to produce
change, new behavior must be learned for change and goals to be met. However, Brightman and
Moran (2000) explain that the best way to meet change is to align with a person’s sense of
purpose.
In addition to identifying and addressing stressors, admission counselors must have a
voice in assigned duties and expectations. Brightman and Moran (2000) stressed the importance
of individuals being able to express their fears and hopes and give their input on proposed
changes. While increasing African American student enrollment is an organizational goal,
33

admission counselors are the frontline personnel working to achieve this goal. Therefore, they
must be able to give their input on accurately accomplishing this goal while still meeting all
deadlines brought on by their other roles and responsibilities. As discussed above, Abbas et al.
(2014) mandated that individuals be committed to meeting particular goals. Thus, studies show
that communication and commitment are vital to goal completion.
Overwhelming Influences on Admission Counselors
Many engineering schools lack procedures such as reorganizing responsibilities that
allow admission counselors to invest time into recruiting African American students; thus,
helping to eliminate admission counselors’ feelings of being overwhelmed by other
administrative and recruiting responsibilities that keep them from investing increased effort into
recruiting African American students. With assumed feelings of being overwhelmed, this aspect
also plays a role in admission counselors being successful in completing their goal of increasing
African American student enrollment rates. Abbas et al. (2014) expressed that commitment to
change is one of the most critical factors in implementing change initiatives. Thus, graduate
admission counselors must be committed to meeting their goals regardless of other assigned
responsibilities. Abbas et al. (2014) also explained that it is essential for individuals to identify
stressors that make it troublesome to meet set goals and find ways to alleviate stressors to make
goal completion more realistic.
Support Given to Admission Counselors
Graduate admission counselors need recognition and communication to support them in
meeting their goal to boost African American student enrollment. There is an assumed influence
that graduates admission counselors feel there needs to be more support given by leaders within
the institution that help them outline how they are to meet their goal of increasing African
34

American student enrollment rates. Yukl (2008) stated that there must be participation from all
levels of leadership to implement change successfully. Specifically, all leaders must be flexible
and adaptable to change. In this context, engineering school leaders must provide guidance,
support, and direction to admission counselors as they work to meet their goals. In addition to
engineering school leaders supporting admission counselors, they must also be a leading force in
helping to increase the African American enrollment rate.
According to Brightman and Moran (2000), leaders must boldly state that they are the
champions of change, are committed to seeing change enacted, and will personally lead all
change efforts. Top-down influences are crucial in leading cultural change initiatives with any
organizational change initiative. In addition, Abbas et al. (2014) stated that organizational
leadership must ensure that change initiatives are efficient and effective for the organization’s
development. As Yukl’s (2008) study showed, when all parties are on board to meet
organizational goals, this is where change is most successful.
Table 3 highlights the type of organizational influence that should be used for an
admission counselor to implement the best practices for increasing the enrollment of African
American students to master’s in engineering programs.

35

Table 3
Summary of Organizational Influences on Admission Counselors
Assumed needs of successful admission counselors General literature
Organizational influences
Cultural model
influence
Admission counselors work in an
environment that lacks resources
needed to increase African American
enrollment.
(Austin & Erastus, 2014;
Coleman, 2016; Johnson-
Elie, 2006)
Cultural model
influence
Admission counselors work in an
environment that poorly reinforces
effective recruitment to obtain a
proportionate amount of African
American enrollment compared to other
racial groups.
(Austin & Erastus, 2014;
Brannon, 2015; Fears-
Hackett, 2012)
Cultural setting
influence
Graduate schools lack procedures such as
reorganizing responsibilities that allow
admission counselors to invest time in
recruiting African American students.
(Abbas et al., 2014;
Brightman & Moran, 2000;
Yukl, 2008)
Cultural setting
influence
Graduate admission counselors lack
recognition and communication to
support them in meeting their goal to
boost African American enrollment.
(Brannon, 2015; Handle,
2013; Johnson-Elie, 2006)

36

Conceptual Framework: The Interaction of Stakeholders’ Knowledge, Motivation, and the
Organizational Context
The conceptual framework aims to explain the main things to be studied—fundamental
factors, concepts, or variables, and the presumed relationships among them (Maxwell, 2013;
Miles & Huberman, 1994; Robson, 2011). This study built upon the conceptual framework based
on Clark and Estes’s (2008) knowledge, motivation, and organizational (KMO) influences on the
problem of the practice of the lack of African Americans enrolling in master’s engineering
programs. While each potential knowledge and motivation influence is presented independently,
it is recognized that each influence does not remain in isolation.
Figure 1 is a graphical representation of this study’s conceptual framework that highlights
the relationships between the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences and their
impact on admission counselors’ ability to recruit African American students to master’s
engineering programs.

37

Figure 1
Conceptual Framework

Figure 1 shows that the conceptual framework’s knowledge, motivation, and
organizational influences operate together. The interactional relationship between knowledge and
motivation influences the admission counselor’s ability to recruit African American students,
which is enveloped with the organizational culture and context of the engineering school or
college. The grey box represents the school or college of engineering. This also includes the
cultural model and cultural setting.
38

The knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences are inextricably linked;
however, each influence must be assessed individually. The organizational influences interplay
between knowledge and motivational influences, and with influence from the organization,
knowledge, and motivation can sustain the organization’s ability to reach its goal (Clark & Estes,
2008). This research’s primary question includes whether admission counselors have adequate
knowledge and motivation to recruit African American students and whether the organizational
leaders’ careers are promoting and encouraging admission counselors to recruit African
American students to master’s engineering programs. Thus, this research needed to consider all
three influences experienced by admission counselors to help understand African American
student enrollment in master’s engineering programs.

39

Chapter Three: Methodology
Using a gap analysis model, this study aimed to understand admission counselors’
knowledge, motivation, and the organizational influences that impact the recruitment of African
American students to master’s engineering programs. This chapter describes the methodology for
this research study, including the data collection and data analysis procedures. This section
begins with an overview of the design, the researcher, data sources, validity, and reliability and
acknowledges the limitations and delimitations of the study.
Research Questions
1. What types of knowledge and motivation do admission counselors need to recruit and
enroll African American students to master’s engineering programs?
2. How do organizational culture and context support or hinder admission counselors
from recruiting African American students?
Overview of Design
This qualitative study sought to understand the above research questions using document
analysis and semi-structured interviews. Qualitative research is often used when the researcher
seeks to know more about what is occurring within a specific organizational context (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016). Qualitative research focuses on how and why questions and this study sought to
understand questions of this type. This study analyzed the knowledge, motivation, and
organizational influences that impact admission counselors’ recruitment of African American
students to master’s engineering programs through the lens of the Clark and Estes (2008) gap
analysis.
40

The Researcher
This study not only contributed to the research on African American students in master’s
engineering programs, but it also informed the researcher’s work as an associate director of
multicultural recruitment at a highly selective research institution. Maxwell (2013) noted the
importance of personal experience as a source of motivation. I have had the privilege of
dedicating my professional life to recruiting African American students to higher education, and
this study has not only contributed to the research on African American students in master’s
engineering programs but has also informed my work as an associate director of multicultural
recruitment at a highly selective research institution. As Maxwell (2013) noted, personal
experience can be a powerful source of motivation. I am driven by the belief that increasing the
number of African American students on college campuses can challenge the current paradigm
that college is only for the elite and force society to value pluralism.
Although my experience has primarily involved working with African American students
in undergraduate education, this research builds on my commitment to developing new
knowledge that can help African American students navigate higher education. It was my
authentic spirit of passionate curiosity and the absence of knowing any African Americans with
master’s engineering degrees that motivated me to explore the enrollment of African American
students in master’s engineering programs with the hope of increasing access to a population that
has historically and systematically been excluded.
As an African American with many interactions with African American students in
higher education, my perceptions and bias may have influenced the study’s outcome. To ensure
that my assumptions and biases did not affect the gathering and analysis of the data during the
study, I needed to be mindful of my role as an observer-participant. Any affiliation to the
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participants being studied was secondary to my role as an information gatherer (Merriam &
Tisdell, 2016), given that my experiences enrolling in a master’s program may differ from the
experiences of African American adults enrolling in master’s engineering programs.
Data Sources
Two data sources were utilized for this study. First, interviews were utilized in most
qualitative research forms, and the primary purpose of an interview is to gain information and
expertise from a select group of individuals (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). The researcher
interviewed 10 admission counselors who worked in the admission office at ASEE member
institutions and recruited students for master’s engineering programs. This study also used
document analysis to understand organizational influences. Document analysis added credibility
to the study by allowing for a “holistic interpretation of the phenomenon being investigated”
(Merriam & Tisdell, 2016, p. 161). The data sources (interviews and document analysis) helped
answer the research questions (Table 4).

Table 4
Data Source and Methodology
Research questions Document analysis Interview
1. What types of knowledge and motivation do
admission counselors need to recruit and enroll
African American students to master’s engineering
programs?
X X
2. How do organizational cultural and context
support or hinder admission counselors from
recruiting African American students?
X X

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Interviews
The researcher for the study interviewed 10 admission counselors to obtain perspectives
about their experiences recruiting African American students to master’s engineering programs.
Merriam (2009) posits that employing open-ended and semi-structured questions in interviews is
particularly effective. This approach allows researchers to adapt to the situation as it unfolds,
attune to the evolving perspectives of the respondent, and uncover fresh insights on the topic at
hand.
Participants
Interviews offer detailed descriptions and deep insight into the individual perspectives of
admission counselors (Creswell, 2014). Participants were selected through purposeful sampling.
In a qualitative study, purposefully selecting and deciding on participants and places, which
include (a) the setting, (b) the actors, (c) the events, and (d) the process, helps researchers obtain
rich information to address the study questions (Creswell, 2014; Merriam, 2009). The
participants for this study met specific criteria to participate in the study. The qualitative
phenomenon study purposefully sampled individual participants using the criteria below.
Criterion 1. Admission counselors who worked in ASEE members institutions.
Criterion 2. Admission counselors who worked in master’s engineering admission offices
and had multicultural recruitment job responsibilities.
This study used two forms of non-probabilistic sampling techniques: convenience and
snowball. Convenience sampling involved the available participants (Merriam, 2009). The most
common form of purposeful sampling is snowball interviews of key participants, during which
they refer other admission counselors to be interviewed (Merriam, 2009). Snowball sampling
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generated interest from other admission counselors who, at first, might not be interested in
participating in the study.
Instrumentation
Patton (1999) contends that an interview protocol (Appendix A: Interview Questions) is
necessary to ensure the validity and reliability of the interview questions. The interview protocol
will consist of 16 questions, with a number of probing questions associated with each interview
question. The questions were intended to understand admission counselors’ perspectives on the
knowledge, motivation, and organizational factors influencing their recruitment of African
American students to master’s engineering programs. The interview protocol was created to
phrase the questions so that the participants would likely understand and respond to them while
ensuring the interview questions aligned with the research questions for the study.
The interviews occurred on Zoom. This study interview protocol (Appendix A) began
with introductions and an overview of the goal of the interview. The researcher then engaged the
participant in interview questions linked to all of the potential knowledge and motivational
influences on the problem of practice and tied to the research questions as outlined in the
conceptual framework. The interview questions were organized to flow from less intimidating
general questions, creating a comfortable rapport, to more probing yet non-threatening questions,
respecting and purposefully soliciting answers reflective of the life and experiences of each
participant. The questions were direct, open-ended, and descriptive, not “test-like” or leading,
and were written in clear, concise, and familiar language to encourage elaboration about specific
experiences (Bogdan & Biklen, 2007; Merriam & Tindell, 2016). The interview protocol
includes 16 questions in a semi-structured format. Each interview lasted about 45 minutes and
was recorded with the participants’ permission.
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Documents and Artifacts
Documents and artifacts are other means to collect ready-made qualitative data
unobtrusively and can be collected in physical and online/electronic formats (Merriam & Tisdell,
2009). Documents and artifacts were collected from university websites. Material sent to
prospective students’ college and university’s official websites is often used as the starting place
for prospective students to learn about a school (NACAC, 2020). Websites told prospective
students about statistics, research, and campus life. It also highlighted the organizational values
of an institution. The websites allowed the researcher to understand what organizational
influences were present at master’s engineering admission offices that impacted the recruitment
of African American students.
Data Analysis
Data analysis is making meaning from the data (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). For this
study, the researcher conducted qualitative data analysis of documents and interviews. Document
review yielded background facts and materials used for directed questioning and contextual
observation of participants. The researcher reviewed transcripts of the interviews and notes taken
during the interviews. To document the entire analysis process, a codebook was developed to
capture and document emerging patterns and themes, and counterexamples, allowing for holistic
and representative exploration of the research questions.
Validity, Reliability, Credibility, and Trustworthiness
The two different methods of data collection, interviews, and document analysis, were
used to increase the credibility and trustworthiness of this study. Merriam and Tisdell (2016)
affirm that multiple methods help determine if the data is congruent with reality and that the
study measures what it is intended to measure. The interview questions and protocol were peer-
45

reviewed by admission counselors within higher education to maintain credibility. This study
utilized online documentaries with admission counselors’ professionals to strengthen the design
before collecting data. After data collection from the interviews, discrepant answers, such as
participant response patterns, were closely reviewed during the data analysis phase.
Professionals, specifically graduate admission counselors, reviewed the findings to ensure
credibility and trustworthiness.
Creswell (2009) contends that, in qualitative research, the researcher can influence the
study results when involved in the data collection and analysis process. To increase the
credibility and trustworthiness of this study, the researcher applied multiple strategies. The
researcher focused on interviews with participants with experience recruiting African American
students. This method provided data-generated insight into the experience of admission
counselors in recruiting African American students (Maxwell, 2013). Additionally, the
researcher interviewed admission counselors and used document analysis to triangulate the data.
Triangulation is a “method of cross-checking data from multiple sources to search for
regularities in the research data (Patton, 1999). Triangulation is a technique that facilitates data
validation through cross-verification from two or more sources to reduce bias by increasing the
certainty rate and bringing neutrality.
Ethics
In qualitative research, the burden of producing a study conducted and disseminated
ethically lies with the individual investigator (Merriam & Tisdell, 2016). Institutional review
boards (IRBs), mandated by the federal government, try to ensure ethical research behavior, but
a qualitative researcher’s obligations go beyond compliance and governmental and
organizational rules (Krueger & Casey, 2009; Rubin & Rubin, 2012). A core requirement of the
46

IRBs is informed consent to ensure that the research participants understand the nature of the
research and the risks it poses and that they are not forced or coerced to participate (Rubin &
Rubin, 2012). The researcher submitted this study to the institution’s IRB and followed their
rules and guidelines regarding protecting the rights and welfare of the research participants.
Regarding informed consent, to help admission counselors decide whether to participate
in this research study, the researcher noted the following items: (a) explained to them who I am
(my background, investigator role); (b) what was the purpose of the research, and (c) what I am
asking of them (Rubin & Rubin, 2012). The researcher assured the participants as part of the
initial informed consent process. The researcher reminded them periodically throughout the
process that their participation was voluntary and that they could drop out at any time during the
project or refuse to answer questions (Rubin & Rubin, 2012). Before the interviews, the
researcher asked permission to audio record the session and allowed participants to review
transcripts. This allowed participants to verify accuracy and paraphrased responses during the
interview to ascertain that the researcher understood what was being told (Rubin & Rubin, 2012).
In addition, and especially as the first tenet is always not to harm, the researcher reassured
interviewees that (a) because they own the work product of their interview, requests for
retractions from collected being, and (c) data would be securely stored in a safe environment
with locked or encrypted access (Glesne, 2011; Rubin & Rubin, 2012). No incentives existed so
as not to exert coercive pressure. At the end of the study, the researcher sent each participant a
thank you card as a token of appreciation for their participation (Rubin & Rubin, 2012). As
stated in Glesne (2011), participants have a right to expect that when they give the researcher
permission to observe and interview, their confidences will be protected and their anonymity
preserved. To protect the confidentiality of the interviewees, the researcher used pseudonyms in
47

the notes and the transcripts (Rubin & Rubin, 2012). Finally, the researcher allowed participants
to view the aggregate findings (Creswell & Creswell, 2018).

48

Chapter Four: Results and Findings
Utilizing Clark and Estes’ (2008) gap analysis model, this project aimed to understand
admission counselors’ knowledge, motivation, and the organizational influences that impact the
recruitment of African American students into master’s engineering programs. This chapter
presents the data generated from participant interviews and document analysis. Results from the
interviews are outlined by recurring themes based on interviewee responses. The following
research questions organize this chapter:
1. What types of knowledge and motivation do admission counselors need to recruit and
enroll African American students to master’s engineering programs?
2. How do organizational culture and context support or hinder admission counselors
from recruiting African American students?
Various themes emerged from the interview responses highlighting the different types of
knowledge, motivation, and organizational elements needed for admission counselors to recruit
African American students into master’s engineering programs.
Data collection for this study included a 16-question semi-structured interview protocol
used to interview admission counselors (Appendix A), a literature review, and a document
analysis protocol (Appendix B). The document analysis included admissions website reviews to
understand better what the organization is doing and saying related to its recruitment program
that otherwise may not have been gathered from the interviews (Creswell & Creswell, 2018).
Participant Stakeholders
Purposeful sampling was used to identify the 10 participants for this study. Additionally,
the participants for this study met the following specific criteria to participate:
Criterion 1. Admission counselors who work in ASEE member institutions
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Criterion 2. Admission counselors who work in master’s engineering admission offices
and have multicultural recruitment job responsibilities.
Participant pseudonyms were selected to protect their identity. Their positionality is significant
in understanding their perspectives, perceived, and acknowledged strengths, limitations
regarding their performance, and the organization’s performance in recruiting African American
students (Clark & Estes, 2008; Bolman & Deal, 2017). All 10 participants agreed to complete a
45-minute interview.
The first participant interviewed was Joe. Joe is a Black male and serves as an admission
counselor at a private engineering college. Joe works to recruit students for his college’s online
master of engineering program. He has been working at his institution for 3 years and 3 months.
Jamie is a director of admissions at a selective private engineering college. She has been
in this position for over 12 years, and Jamie identifies as a Black female. As director, she
oversees three staff members in charge of recruiting and selecting undergraduate and master’s
students at her institution’s engineering college.
Trey is an associate dean, and he has worked at his institution for 4 years, but he has been
in the field of multicultural recruitment for over 13 years. Trey identifies as a Black male. Trey
has a unique role because he does not work in the admission office; instead, he is in the provost’s
office and oversees the multicultural recruitment efforts for graduate admission.
Lisa has been at her institution for 8 years. Lisa identifies as a White female who works
at a public university. She started at her institution as an assistant director of admission, and after
4 years, she was promoted to associate director of admissions.
Chad has been working in admissions for 10 years and is currently an associate director
of admission at a public university engineering college. Chad identifies as a White male. Chad
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has had multicultural recruitment in his responsibilities throughout his professional career. In his
current position, Chad oversees recruiting and selecting students into the master’s engineering
program.
Nathan has the least professional experience of those interviewed who work in
admission. Nathan identifies as a Latino male. He has only been working in admission for 3
years, and during all those years, he worked at the same university. Currently, he is an assistant
director at a private university with a large engineering college. In his position, he works
primarily with undergraduate student recruitment, but he also has some responsibilities in
recruiting master’s engineering students. He attends college fairs on behalf of his university and
answers basic questions from prospective master’s students. However, he does not review
applications for the master’s engineering program.
Molly is an associate director of admission at a private university with a small
engineering college. Molly is multiracial, and she identifies as a female. Molly serves on the
university diversity council and is the staff advisor for the school’s diversity club. Molly has
been working in admissions for 5 years.
Rachel is an associate professor within an engineering college at a mid-sized public
university. Rachel identifies as an African American female. As an engineer, she is very
concerned with diversity in the academy and is a member of the admission committee at her
institution. As an associate professor, she often meets prospective master’s engineering students
and coaches them through the application process. She has been working for over 8 years in
administration and has been a professor in engineering for over 10 years.
Bob is new to graduate admissions but is familiar with admissions. He has been working
in undergraduate admissions for 3 years, and just over a year ago, Bob moved into graduate
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admissions for an engineering school. Bob identifies as multiracial, and he is a male. He only
works with students who are applying for master’s engineering programs that are online.
Shawn has been an associate director of admission in the engineering college for over 8
years. Her whole professional career has been at this highly selective engineering school. As a
White female, she takes diversity very seriously and oversees the recruitment and selection of
applicants to the master’s engineering program and the PhD program.
Table 5 provides an overview of study participants, including pseudonyms utilized to
preserve participant anonymity.

Table 5
Participant Characteristics
Participant Gender Race/Ethnicity Longevity Type of
institution
Joe Male Black 3y 3m Private
Jamie Female Black 12y 8m Private
Trey Male Black 13y 9m Public
Lisa Female White 8y 0m Public
Chad Male White 10y 2m Public
Nathan Male Latino 2y 0m Private
Molly Female Multiracial 5y 8m Private
Rachel Female African American 8y 2m Public
Bob Male Multiracial 4y 5m Private
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Document Analysis
The data analysis process also included reviewing college and university’s official
websites to help answer the research questions and assess the organizational influences
impacting the recruitment of African American students to master’s engineering programs. Each
website was reviewed for information regarding the school’s admission process, career and
education outcomes, student life, and the program’s mission statement. Eight admissions
websites were reviewed.
While college websites are primarily structured to cater to the needs of external
constituents, a comprehensive review was carried out to evaluate their representation of
diversity and inclusion, specifically within master’s engineering programs. This analysis aimed
to gauge the level of commitment toward fostering an inclusive academic environment
expressed by these programs. Simultaneously, an attempt was made to understand whether these
online platforms featured valuable information that could influence the knowledge and
motivational support offered to admission counselors.
In order to gather information about the admission process for each college, an
exploration of each respective website was conducted, focusing specifically on their explanation
of admission procedures. All eight admissions websites listed the materials required for the
application process, but none explained how the information was reviewed. Six of the eight
admission websites noted that they were test-optional, and the two websites that did require test
scores were public universities. One of the optional tests did require applicants to write an
additional essay if an applicant did not submit a test score. While all the websites explained the
material required for admission, none explained how the application would be reviewed. In
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particular, none of the websites describe if a faculty, staff, or community review the application.
None of the websites describe if they employ a matrix or holistic evaluation.
The examination extended to the websites for career and education outcomes data,
defined as any information related to job placement rates, average post-graduate starting salaries,
internships, co-op opportunities, and how the program facilitates students’ employment
opportunities. However, this data was only found on three private colleges’ websites, and they
listed companies that have employed their program graduates. No job placement rates or average
post-graduate starting salaries were mentioned on any of the private college websites. One
college that listed potential employers also mentioned a career fair for master’s students. Still, no
information was provided about which companies attended the fair or the number of job offers
made.
The pursuit of information further included a search for aspects of student life on the
college websites, which included photos of students, details about student clubs or organizations,
and any student support-related information. Yet again, only three private colleges provided such
information on their websites. Of these, two showcased photos of students, none of whom
appeared African American. One website included details about student organizations, noting a
club for African American students and providing only the club faculty advisor’s contact
information. Unfortunately, none of the websites featured information about student support.
Two public and three private schools had their mission statement on their website. All the
mission statements listed spoke about creating a learning community committed to educating
outstanding students in pursuing and publishing new research. None of the mission statements
mentioned diversity or described the type of students they seek to educate. Nevertheless, one of
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the mission statements stated that their mission was rooted in real-world needs, but the mission
statement did not define “real-world needs.”
Overall, the document analysis did not provide additional insight into the knowledge,
motivational, and organizational influences for admission counselors in recruiting African
American students to master’s engineering programs. While detailed in information, the websites
targeted a general audience and did not seem intentional in addressing the needs and concerns of
African American applicants.
Findings for Research Question 1: What Types of Knowledge and Motivation Do
Admissions Counselors Need to Recruit and Enroll African American Students to Master’s
Engineering Programs?
Findings in this section were drawn from significant themes assembled from the
interview transcripts of all 10 participants and document analysis. The research question focuses
on knowledge and motivational influences that admission counselors need to recruit and enroll
African American students to master’s engineering programs. Five themes emerged related to
knowledge, and two themes emerged for motivation. Additionally, this section is divided into
two parts. First, the knowledge-related themes will be addressed, followed by those related to
motivation.
Knowledge types include factual, procedural, and metacognitive, all identified through
the interviews. The first knowledge theme identified within the research question draws attention
to the fact that admission counselors had a robust understanding of knowledge factors that
influenced the recruitment and enrollment of African American students in a master’s
engineering program. The second knowledge theme focused on procedural knowledge that
admission counselors do not know or have a specific recruitment process for African American
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students. The third knowledge theme highlighted the metacognitive knowledge that admission
counselors need more time to reflect on the best recruiting practices for recruiting African
American students, which were compounded by the lack of training and educational resources
available to them.
Admission Counselors Had a Robust Understanding of Knowledge Factors That
Influenced Recruitment and Enrollment
When interviews were conducted with admission counselors, a common theme that
emerged was that admission counselors had a solid understanding of what factors influence
African American students’ enrollment in the graduate application process. In the individual
interviews, admission counselors spoke about two factors that impact the enrollment of African
American students in master’s engineering programs—the application evaluation process and
financial aid. This information helped the researcher understand what factual knowledge
admission counselors need to know to recruit and enroll African American students in master’s
engineering programs.
Admission Counselors Understand the Application Evaluation Process and How It Impacts
African American Applicants
In interviews, all admission counselors noted that African American applicants’ academic
preparation impacts their admissibility to master’s engineering programs compared to other
applicants. For example, Joe commented, “I often see Black applicants with low test scores and
GPA … and their [African Americans] applications are not competitive.” Jamie added, “it is
often heartbreaking to see Black applicants apply to graduate school and not being academically
prepared.” Joe and Jamie, who work at private schools, highlighted the significant difference in
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academic preparation that African American applicants have compared to other racial
populations.
Trey echoed Joe and Jamie’s sentiments when asked about the academic preparation of
African American applicants, and he goes on and offer insights on how holistic review allows
admission counselors to see an applicant as more than a GPA and test scores:
At my institution, we review applicants holistically, and we review the entire application
before making an admission decision. … For me, it is about understanding the whole
applicant, and Black applicants are much more than a test score and GPA.
Trey’s statement highlights that Trey’s institution uses a holistic evaluation process for
making admission decisions. Jamie concurred with Trey, and she noted,
When reviewing applications, I do not focus only on scores. I try to find a theme in the
application to kind of show me who this person really is more than just a single
experience or score.
Both Trey and Jamie, who have been working in admission for over 10 years, understand
that using holistic review applications positively impacts the admission of African American
students to master’s engineering programs. Furthermore, based on the interviews, all private and
two public universities employ holistic review in their application review process.
A holistic evaluation process allows admission counselors to consider additional factors
such as letters of recommendation, personal essays, and work experience when evaluating an
application for admission. Seven of the ten programs required work experience for admission to
the master’s engineering program. Shawn, Bob, and Nathan can waive the work experience for
applicants. Shawn noted that she rarely sees African Americans applying to her school with work
experience. Shawn stated, “I often waive the work experience for African American applicants
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because they are applying directly from undergraduate school.” Bob echoed Shawn’s statement
when asked about the work requirement for his school,
My school requires 2 years of full-time work experience. Most of the African American
applicants who apply have only internships. … These internships are with well-known
companies such as Google, Apple, Samsung, Meta, and Cisco … but these internships are
only for a summer or a semester.
Bob’s statement conveys that while many African American applicants can get
internships, internships are not valued equally as professional work experience because
internships are for a short period. Furthermore, Chad said, “The master’s program requires at
least 3 years of work experience, and many African American applicants do not have 3 years of
professional experience.” Chad, like Shawn, Bob, and Trey, discusses the types of African
American students who apply to his university for graduate school. Chad stated, “many of the
African Americans just graduated from college and may have only a summer internship as
professional experience.” Chad’s comment echoes admission counselors’ challenge when
recruiting African American students.
In addition to internships, six of the 10 admission counselors discussed leadership
experience. According to statements by the admission counselors, the holistic review process
also includes looking at an applicant’s leadership experience. Trey shared his experience with
African American applicants work experience,
Black applicants have a lot of leadership experience, but they often lack
professional experience. In college, many Black applicants are presidents of student
organizations or have part-time jobs to help pay for their education. … What I don’t see
in Black’s application is a lot of direct engineering experience … the lack of professional
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experience contributes to Black applicants being less competitive in the application
process.
In his comment, Trey describes that despite leadership experience, African American
applicants are still not as competitive as other racial groups.
It is important to note that three of the ten master’s engineering programs reviewed in this
study did not require work experience. Nathan commented, “we do not require work experience
to apply to our master’s program, but in order to receive a scholarship, the committee likes to see
work-related experiences.” Nathan’s statement suggests that while African American students
may be admitted to his master’s program, funding opportunities may be limited if applicants do
not have enough work experience.
While none of the admissions counselors could go into exact detail about how they
evaluate admission files, all of the admission counselors noted that to increase African American
enrollment in master’s engineering programs, African American applications needed to be
reviewed holistically. Even with a holistic review, admission counselors must be mindful that
due to societal factors, African American applicants may still be viewed as less competitive than
other racial groups.
Admission Counselors Know That Financial Aid Influence African American Students’
Decision to Apply and Attend Graduate School
All 10 admission counselors discussed financial resources for African American students.
While Rachel stated, “Cost keeps African Americans from applying to my institution,” she
quickly added that even when she can admit an African American applicant to her university, the
cost keeps African Americans from enrolling. Like the other admission counselors interviewed,
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Rachel was transparent that her university offers no institutional financial aid for master’s
students.
The need to offer financial resources to African American students is critical. Rachel’s
statement suggests that the lack of financial aid keeps African American students from enrolling
in master’s engineering programs, supported by evidence from Scott-Clayton and Li (2016).
Support for more financial aid resources to African American students will a positive increase in
student enrollment. Only two schools, which were both private, offered merit scholarships.
While all the schools accepted federal financial aid, most aid from the federal government is
loans on the graduate level. Six of 10 schools offered assistantships, but three admission
counselors admitted that these assistantships are prioritized for PhD students.
Shawn also described the need for more financial aid resources. She stated, “No matter
how smart or qualified a Black applicant is to my program, we do not offer any scholarships to
masters students … scholarships are only given to applicants on the PhD level.” Shawn’s
statement shows how critical financial aid resources are to recruiting African American students.
Admission counselors are hindered in recruiting and yielding African American students due to
the lack of scholarships and merit aid.
As an admission counselor, Jamie explains how she uses financial aid and merit
scholarships to recruit African American students. Jamie stated,
My school offers limited scholarships to students. … I often try to give some type of
merit scholarship to Black applicants. However, the scholarship amounts are usually
small and are not enough to make the master’s program affordable to many students.
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Jamie was candid in her interview about using financial initiative to recruit African American
students. The lack of funding was why many African American applicants did not choose to
attend her university.
Jamie also stated, “Just having the merit scholarships gets African American applicants to
apply to my university, but they did not enroll when they learned how expensive my school is
and how small the scholarship amount is.” Here, Jamie expresses her critical need for more
financial aid. Her statement highlights her belief that more merit money is needed and that
adverting these scholarships can help recruit African American students.
Collectively, admission counselors had a strong understanding of how the application
evaluation process and financial aid impact the recruitment and enrollment of African American
students to master’s engineering programs. This is significant for admission counselors to have
this understanding of their knowledge in the evaluation process and financial aid to encourage
more African American students to enroll in master’s engineering programs.
Admission Counselors Lack Procedural Knowledge on Best Practices to Recruit African
American Students
Procedural knowledge refers to how to perform a specific skill or task (Anderson &
Krathwohl, 2001). A common theme in interviews showed that admission counselors needed a
specific recruitment process for African American applicants. While all 10 interviewees could
describe their recruitment process, only two had specific recruitment processes for African
American students.
Rachel and Trey worked at public institutions with recruitment processes for African
American students. Each school that had a recruitment process for African American students
included a pre-application and special admission events. For the pre-application event, each
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school provided prospective students with an opportunity to speak to faculty members and
current students of the program. One school even invited alums to the pre-application event. Trey
stated, “it is important to alumni at admission events because they represent the outcomes of the
master’s program … and they talk to prospective students about their experience in the master’s
program.” Trey did add that while he wants African American alums to attend these events, it is
often difficult to achieve because there are only a few Black alums from his program.
Similarly to Trey, Rachel described her admitted student event,
Our Admitted Student Day is held in April before the deposit deadline. We invite all
Admitted African American students to campus for a day. … We do not pay for
transportation, but we do provide lunch for the students. … During the day, students can
attend a class, meet with current students and tour our facilities.
Rachel’s program illustrates an institution that has provided resources to enroll African
American students. Rachel said most African American students attending the Admitted Student
Day enroll in the master’s program. Nevertheless, she also noted that only a few African
American students are admitted to the master’s program, and thus the program is tiny.
While only two schools had specific recruitment events for African American applicants,
all 10 schools had virtual and in-person admission events. Jamie explained the process: “The
process is very simple. You just sign up for an event on the website and away you go.” Jamie
went on to state that due to her institution’s individualized program, each prospective student
receives one-on-one attention because:
The primary thing on the front end is that we make sure that people get their questions
answered. Always try to get them connected with faculty or a current student if they are
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beyond the point where they have acquired initial information from another admission
counselor or me.
In other words, Jamie highlights that while a person is assigned to respond with information to
prospective students, she believes the best recruitment is done by connecting prospective
students with other resources.
Bob mentioned that his school uses its website to recruit students. “The website is the
place of gathering inquiring information. So, I will make sure that the website contains up-to-
date information. I work with our communication department to get new information up there …
about alumni, faculty events, publications.” Bob went on to mention that he tried to make sure
that photos on the website were diverse. However, he admitted that since his school’s master’s
engineering program is not racially diverse, only international students appear on the website.
Three members mentioned that they do not actively recruit students for their master’s
program. Bob was one of these interviewees and stated that “only using the website and a few
admission events on campus will not increase the racial diversity of the master’s program.” Chad
said,
I wish my school did more to recruit students to our master’s program, but many of our
graduates come from the undergraduate program. … Our master’s program is small, so
we do not feel a need to recruit. I spend more of my time speaking to undergraduate
students.
Both Bob and Chad’s statement highlights the desire of admission counselors that universities
would be more deliberative in recruiting African American students.
Everyone noted that, in general, it is relatively easy to meet recruitment goals in terms of
bodies for their program. Bob made a point to mention, “The masters of engineering degree is a
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no-brainer, and most engineers understand the value of the master’s degree, so it is an easy sell.”
Nathan elaborated by saying:
I think it’s really straightforward and really easy. I have an online calendar so that
students can reach out to me and schedule an appointment. In addition, sometimes, I send
out emails to prospective students encouraging them to schedule an appointment with me.
During these appointments, I talk about the admissions process, financial aid, and answer
questions.
Nathan’s quote shows that he pays careful attention to the recruitment process. While several
interviewees described their recruitment process similarly to Nathan, four admission counselors
from private schools did not describe any additional email outreach.
Two admission counselors, both identifying as White, acknowledged that since the
“Black Lives Matter” movement, their institution has started to have conversations about
recruiting more African American graduates. Lisa said, “I never talked about diversity with my
boss until the death of George Floyd. ... Now my university has a diversity recruitment plan,
which includes increasing racial diversity for the master’s program.” However, Lisa admitted
there has been no update on creating a recruitment plan for the master’s engineering program.
Lisa’s comments show that while some at her institution have expressed commitment to
increasing the enrollment of African American students, that commitment has yet to become
action.
The interview data would suggest that admission counselors know their institution’s
recruitment process and want their institution to do more to create specific African American
students.
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Metacognitive Knowledge
Metacognitive knowledge is a process where one becomes more responsible for intellect
and thinking (Rueda, 2011). The interviewer asked the participants about their intentionality in
recruiting African American students, specifically about an example of when they were
intentional about recruiting African American students to their institution. Further, all
interviewees were asked about how often they think about recruiting African American students
as part of their job. The findings for metacognitive knowledge are grouped into two categories—
general self-reflection and professional development.
General Self-Reflection
The results and findings of this study indicated that graduate admission counselors
needed to reflect on their recruitment of African American students as part of their job. Jamie
considered her role in the recruitment of African American students. While she expressed
confidence in her ability to recruit African American, she noted that she does not have time to
reflect. Jamie said, “It has been slow for me, and I do not have time to reflect unless it is during
my yearly performance review.” In Jamie’s view, she can only self-reflect during her
performance review.
Chad demonstrated a different view than Jamie. Chad stated, “I am always constantly
checking my biases. Every time I talk to a prospective student, I ask myself why I am speaking
and if I am answering their question. ... As I learn about each prospective student, it’s a learning
process for myself as well.” Chad is constantly examining his communication style, and he tries
to put himself in the shoes of the prospective student. In making this remark, Chad illustrated
that he reflects on his behaviors.
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Like Chad, Lisa and Joe reflected on how they try to be aware of their biases using the
implicit bias tests. Lisa stated, “I learned a lot about my own personal biases, how to recognize
them, and be cautious of them by doing different implicit bias tests on the computer.” Joe
emphasized the importance of “making sure that everyone is up to a certain standard in terms of
understanding their own biases, the mission of the school, and are screening applications on an
equal basis.” Joe said,
Maybe put everyone through a bias test … put people through some self-reflection … I’m
a Black man, how could I be biased and then, with self-reflection doing the bias test ...
Oh, I didn’t realize I was doing that. … I knew I was biased; I just didn’t realize how
much. If someone went to the same college as me, I might give them a plus for that
because I know it was a good school because I went to it. Now I try to look more at who
they are and other factors. … It’s all about the person’s journey and their story, not
necessarily their scores or where they went to school.
Joe and Lisa’s statements highlight how they use technology to reflect on their bias.
Additionally, two other admission counselors mentioned using technology to help in their
reflection process. Joe, Lisa, and the other interviewees’ statements suggest that while one may
be aware of their own biases, it takes training and intentionality to remove bias from the
recruitment process.
Gaps in Professional Development
Metacognition is commonly called “thinking about one’s thinking,” well-developed
metacognitive thinking skills are associated with improved learning and transformative
outcomes. While some admission counselors may develop metacognitive skills independently,
research suggests that explicit instruction on metacognition could occur in professional
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development conferences or experiences. Throughout the interviews, admission counselors
mentioned a need for more professional development opportunities to learn about multicultural
recruitment. Joe, Jamie, Chad, Trey, Rachel, Bob, Shawn, Molly, and Lisa noted a need for more
professional development opportunities. Lisa stated,
For recruitment, but like, for instance, like we don’t have any conferences that focus on
recruitment or how to market to students. … I wish that were someone or someplace that
could tell me what to do.
In her comments, Lisa highlights a prevalent issue: she does not know of any professional
conferences or organizations focused on African American recruitment on the master’s level.
Shawn would further echo this sentiment in a somewhat sarcastic tone adding she “feels alone.”
Rachel acknowledged during the interview that as a faculty member, she had seen many
opportunities for professional development related to teaching. However, she had not seen any
professional development opportunities related to her role on the admission committee. Rachel
also added that even if she did find a professional development opportunity, she could not attend
because she does not have a professional development budget for admission.
Only one admission counselor attended a conference about recruiting African American
students. Molly said, “I have only attended one conference about recruiting African American
students. … The workshops were really basic, and I really did not learn much.” Molly’s
statement is significant as an admission counselor, she was able to find a resource, but she did
not find the resource helpful, resulting in Molly not learning new resources or skills needed to
recruit African American students.
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Summary of Findings for Knowledge Influences
Analysis of the interview data revealed that all 10 admission counselors had a robust
understanding of knowledge factors that influenced the recruitment and enrollment of African
American students in a master’s engineering program. The second knowledge theme focused on
procedural knowledge that admission counselors. Additionally, the analysis showed that many
admission counselors needed a specific recruitment plan or process for African American
students. While all the admission counselors appeared capable of reflecting on their ability to
recruit African American students, many counselors needed more time and professional
development opportunities to examine best practices for recruiting African American students.
The following section presents findings from the analysis of motivational influences.
Motivational Influences Findings
According to Mayer (2011), motivation is a significant driving factor that allows one to
achieve outcomes, even through the most tumultuous times. To that end, two themes emerged
regarding the admission counselor’s motivation to recruit African American students to master’s
engineering. The first theme that emerged was that admission counselors felt confident in their
ability to recruit African American students to master’s engineering programs. The second was
that admission counselors value recruiting African American students to master’s engineering
programs.
Admission Counselors Are Confident in Their Ability to Recruit African American
Students to Master’s Engineering Programs
Self-efficacy is an individual’s belief about his or her capabilities. Admission counselors
must confidently recruit African American students to master’s engineering programs. All 10
admission counselors appeared confident in recruiting African American students.
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Jamie’s response summed up most admission counselors’ feelings about their abilities to
recruit African American students: “I can do this.” Then stated, “actually, I know that there’s
more to it than just that … I like that I have the ability to impact the diversity of my institution.”
Jamie’s statement highlights that she understands that she influences student diversity on her
campus.
Unlike Jamie, Chad stated, “I think initially I felt a little bit of nervousness and anxiety
that I may somehow not do a good enough job where I might miss something or not make the
enrollment goal.” While Chad has been in the admission profession for over 10 years,
multicultural recruitment was not added to his portfolio until 3 years ago. His comment about
nervousness demonstrates that even a season admission counselor could feel nervous about
multicultural recruitment.
This nervousness was even evident among faculty members. Rachel stated, “There was
just this little bit of ongoing apprehension running through.” Furthermore, this nervousness
crosses racial lines. Bob stated,
I’ll admit I was a little nervous when I started because I wanted to do a good job. … I
took a long time speaking with each prospective student because I did not want the
student to leave without having all their questions answered.
Bob showed discomfort in the available knowledge of what works and what does not work
toward recruiting African American students. Admission counselors voiced nervousness when
recruiting African American students. This is significant as admission counselors must feel
confident recruiting African American students.
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Admission Counselors See the Value of Recruiting African American Students to Master’s
Engineering Programs
Two interview questions were associated with task value: What do they see as the value
of recruiting African American students, and how does their behavior impact the success of their
efforts to recruit African American students? The interviews generated similar answers. The first
question asked interviewees to think about the value of recruiting African American Students.
The second question attempted to understand how their behavior impacted the success of their
efforts to recruit African American students. The results and findings of this study indicated that
all admission counselors believe recruiting African American students is essential.
Chad stated, “I think there’s definitely value for recruiting African American students. I
think diversity equals excellence, and we cannot say that we have the best engineering program
without a diverse student body.” Shawn stated, “I don’t even know what the point of doing
recruitment without thinking about diversity. … I think that it’s really valuable.” Bob expressed
that “a lot of times when I talk about the diversity of the student body, African American
prospective students lose interest in my school because of the lack of diversity and don’t apply. I
think that diversity is important.” Jamie stated, “Having the ability to have that impact of finding
people who in many places would have been lost from the system and giving people
opportunities was my driving force.”
Nevertheless, four out of 10 admission counselors questioned whether African American
recruitment is important to senior leadership at their institution. For example, Joe believed that
recruiting African American students to his institution could only be done with support from his
school’s administration. He pointed out that his school still needs to have a diversity recruitment
plan.
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Chad stated, “But there is only so much I can do … and I need my boss to support me,
but diversity is not a priority for her.” Nathan and Molly shared similar concerns. Molly
described a situation when she tried to talk to her boss about diversity,
My boss would not talk to me. I went to his office about an African American applicant.
He said that he was too busy and that I should email him. … I sent him an email, but he
ignored it and never followed up with me.
Molly’s story and the other admission counselors’ comments suggest that senior leadership needs
to prioritize African American recruitment.
Interviewees were then asked to discuss how their behavior impacted the success of their
efforts to recruit African American students. Nathan mentioned, “I know that African American
is important, and I try my best to recruit Black students to my program.” Molly and Lisa noted
that they go out of their way to recruit African American students and always follow up with
prospective students for recruitment purposes. Bob indicated, “my efforts have brought some
Black students to my program, but I know that there is more to be done.” Molly mentioned, “I
wish I had more time to recruit African American students because I know that diversity is
important.” Molly’s statement illustrates that diversity is important to admission counselors, but
sometimes other work responsibilities and time limits admission counselors to think about
diversity and implement plans to increase diversity.
Overall, interviewees value the recruitment of African American students. Admission
counselors tried to recruit African American students but needed more time or organizational
resources to accomplish their goals. Nevertheless, each individual could articulate when
recruiting an African American student to their program.
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Summary of Findings for Motivation Influences Findings
Findings from the interviews show that admission counselors are very confident about
recruiting African American students. Additionally, all ten admission counselors saw value in
recruiting African American students, but four of ten admission counselors did not believe that
senior leadership at their university valued diversity. This is a significant finding because an
admission counselor needs support from their organization to recruit African American students
successfully. The next section will address the organizational culture that either supports or
hinders admission counselors from recruiting African American students.
Knowledge Influences and Motivation Supports: Document Analysis
This research’s second data collection method was document analysis, specifically the
admission websites. The admissions websites needed to contain information regarding
knowledge influences and motivation support for admissions counselors. The websites were
designed to serve outside constituents. Further, no admissions counselors mentioned their
school’s website during the interviews.
Findings for Research Question 2: How Do Organizational Culture and Context Support
or Hinder Admission Counselors From Recruiting African American Students?
Within the study’s conceptual framework, organizational influences provide the cultural
landscape from which knowledge and motivation themes are derived. This study’s second
research question focuses on themes gathered under organizational influences related to
admission counselors’ ability to recruit African American students. From the interviews, two
themes emerged, one related to the cultural setting and one related to the cultural model. The first
theme identified within the research question related to the cultural setting found that universities
provide limited resources for admission counselors to recruit African American students. The
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second theme tied to the cultural model identified a need for recognition for diversity work from
university leadership.
Universities Provide Limited Resources for Admission Counselors to Recruit African
American Students
The interviewees were asked about their understanding of their college recruitment
processes, procedures, policies, and experiences utilizing them. All 10 interviewees described the
recruitment process similarly. However, the findings revealed that universities provide limited
resources for admission counselors to recruit African American students. Four members
interviewed mentioned that they did not receive any professional development opportunities.
Bob, Shawn, Joe, and Rachel indicated they had yet to attend professional development
conferences. Rachel explained, “No professional organizations deal directly with the type of
work that I do.” Nathan and Lisa mentioned that they had attended a few conferences. However,
none of the conferences dealt with diversity in engineering or addressed ways to recruit students
from racially diverse backgrounds. Trey said that he had attended a NACAC conference, and
while there were many workshops about diversity, only one focused on graduate student
recruitment. Furthermore, Molly noted, “ASEE has a listserv, but I have never seen a question
about diversity recruitment posted on it.” This statement indicates that there is an organization
that is dedicated to engineering education—ASEE.
The limited resources available for admission counselors to recruit African American
students were further highlighted in the interviews. Three participants referred to the annual
ASEE conference, which is a helpful resource because it provides a space for people who work
at engineering schools to gather and discuss current topics. Nathan explained, “It is really
enlightening to see so many professionals together talking about a specific topic. ... I think that is
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a really helpful resource.” Molly mentioned, too, “The conference is super helpful to network
with other like-minded people about engineering recruitment.” However, the findings suggest
that these resources are not widely available to admission counselors. All but one member could
name at least one resource provided by the organization that was useful either personally or
professionally, highlighting the cultural setting of resources.
The impact of limited resources on diversity recruitment efforts was also discussed in the
interviews. Rachel said she did not feel supported to do diversity recruitment until the COVID-
19 pandemic: “I felt like there were a lot of conversations about diversity and how we could
increase Black enrollment last spring when everything shut down. I was very thankful for that.”
Joe also mentioned, “The COVID-19 pandemic gave me time to think and reflect on how we
recruit students … being virtual has allowed me to reach out to more students and recruit in
different areas of the country.” However, the pandemic has also had negative impacts on
diversity recruitment efforts. Both Jamie and Trey stated that their schools did not do any online
recruitment until the pandemic. Molly suggested that COVID-19 was going to have a long-
lasting impact on the recruitment of African American students. She explained that the pandemic
had impacted the pipeline, “We have kids that have been on computers for 2 years trying to learn
math and science” and suggested that African American students are falling behind academically
and thus will not be academically prepared for graduate school.
In conclusion, the interview findings highlight the need for universities to provide more
resources for admission counselors to recruit African American students. The limited access to
professional development opportunities, conferences, and networks suggests a need for
prioritization of diversity and inclusion efforts within institutions. The negative impacts of the
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COVID-19 pandemic on diversity recruitment efforts also underscore the need for continued
investment in these initiatives.
University Leadership Do Not Recognize Admission Counselors in Recruiting African
American Students
This study explored the importance of recognition and feedback in the cultural settings of
graduate schools. The interview protocol included specific questions about recognition and
feedback to gain insights into the practices and experiences of admission counselors. Participants
were asked how their organization recognizes their work and in what ways that recognition was
experienced. Eight of the 10 interviewees reported that recognition occurs within their
organization. However, most interviewees stated that they only receive recognition during annual
performance reviews, as Nathan explained, “Each year I have a performance review with my
manager. It lasted about an hour, and my boss mostly just summarized what I wrote in my self-
evaluation.” Other interviewees, including those in leadership roles, also reported receiving very
little recognition. Rachel stated, “Of course, being recognized is always nice and kind and
appreciated. But I would say that I don’t get a lot of recognition from my supervisor.”
In contrast, Shawn, who has worked as a director in her office for 8 years, was more
critical, stating, “There’s no recognition in my office.” Shawn’s statement is particularly
noteworthy because it indicates that leaders of a department only sometimes recognize their staff
for their work. These findings suggest that graduate schools must develop more effective
recognition mechanisms beyond formal performance reviews to motivate and support their staff.
During the interviews, all participants reported receiving gifts and tokens of appreciation
from their organization’s leadership. Nathan explained, “I think one thing that we’ve started
doing … is at the annual wrap-up meeting … is acknowledging by name and usually with like a
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$5 gift card or like a book or something … which is kind of nice.” Chad mentioned this
opportunity and added, “Department email highlights are also nice and useful in spreading
knowledge among counselors.” Bob added, “There’s an occasional email shout-out. ... So, I do
think there’s some effort.” However, Bob’s comments echoed the sentiments of other
interviewees that while there is some recognition in their organization, it is not always
meaningful. These findings suggest that while some organizations provide recognition in the
form of gifts or emails, there is a need for more meaningful recognition practices that can
motivate and support admission counselors.
The interviews made it clear that many graduate schools need proper procedures to
enable admissions counselors to dedicate time to recruiting African American students. For
example, Jamie stated, “I never had a conversation with my supervisor about diversity.” This
statement suggests a need for more emphasis on diversity within the organization and a lack of
support for admissions counselors to recruit a diverse student body. Rachel echoed this
sentiment, explaining, “It is not in my job description to do diversity work, but it is important, so
I do it anyway.” Rachel’s dedication to diversity highlights that graduate schools often need to
provide the necessary resources and support for admission counselors to recruit a diverse student
population effectively.
Additionally, her comment implies that the organization needs to prioritize diversity more
to include it in her job description. This lack of prioritization and support for diversity
recruitment could hinder the success of graduate schools in recruiting a diverse student body.
Therefore, graduate schools must implement procedures that enable admissions counselors to
recruit students effectively and efficiently from diverse backgrounds.
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After being asked about receiving consistent feedback, nearly all participants revealed
that there might be some formal feedback mechanisms, but they are still determining how to
access them or if it would be practical or useful. Jamie stated, “If I hear, it’s usually just like oh,
everything went great, so what I do hear isn’t substantive.” Nathan agreed, stating, “I don’t think
there’s any formal feedback I’ve ever received. I don’t know what I want either.” These
comments highlight the need for more clarity and direction counselors receive from their
organizations and the insubstantial nature of any feedback they receive. The lack of guidance and
direction from leadership means that counselors cannot determine if they are making a
meaningful impact in their recruitment efforts or what areas to improve. As a result, they need to
adjust their approach to increase their effectiveness in recruiting African American students.
Feedback mechanisms need to be implemented that are both substantive and easily accessible to
all counselors, enabling them to understand their strengths and weaknesses better and to improve
their recruitment techniques to increase diversity in graduate programs.
The lack of consistent and meaningful feedback mechanisms hinders the professional
development of admission counselors in diversity recruitment efforts. Participants were asked
about consistent feedback mechanisms in their organizations and, if received, what it generally
entailed. Most interviewees expressed uncertainty about formal feedback mechanisms, how to
access them, and whether they would be practical or useful. Jamie said, “If I hear, it’s usually
just like, oh, everything went great, so what I do hear isn’t substantive.” Nathan agreed, “I don’t
think there’s any formal feedback that I’ve ever received. I don’t know what I want either.” Joe
provided insight on the issue, stating that “formal feedback is there but doesn’t understand when
it is used: ‘When things go wrong, sometimes. So it doesn’t happen again. I give and get
informal feedback from coworkers but not really otherwise.’” Joe’s comment highlights how
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feedback only seems to occur when something goes wrong, rather than consistently. The lack of
consistent and meaningful feedback mechanisms hinders the professional development of
admission counselors in diversity recruitment efforts.
Lisa and several other interviewees expressed their dissatisfaction with the limited
feedback they received from their organization. Lisa stated, “I get a lot of emails from my
supervisor, but I don’t think there’s much feedback. If anything, there might be some surveys,
but I don’t know. I wish I could provide feedback more often because some programs don’t go as
well. Some people aren’t as qualified to do certain programs, so feedback might be useful.” This
comment highlights how feedback is important for individual growth and the success of
programs. Four other members shared similar sentiments, acknowledging that informal feedback
can occur among peers. Trey’s comment exemplified this: “I do receive feedback throughout my
time, but it’s not organized. It happens more informally through connections and networking
with other members.” Trey’s statement emphasizes the importance of informal feedback and
highlights colleagues’ role in providing feedback. Overall, interviewees desired more consistent
and organized feedback mechanisms within their organizations.
The findings of the interviews reveal that while some recognition and feedback on job
performance exist, the absence of recognition and feedback on diversity recruitment poses a
challenge for admission counselors. The lack of professional development opportunities geared
explicitly towards diversity recruitment and the absence of formal feedback mechanisms leaves
many admission counselors needing more clarity on how to recruit African American students
effectively. The interview data indicate a need for more resources and support provided to
admission counselors regarding diversity recruitment, which can increase their motivation to
continue recruiting African American students. This ultimately impacts their ability to recruit
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African American students to master’s engineering programs successfully, and it hinders their
capacity to foster inclusive environments in graduate schools. The implications of these findings
are significant for institutions seeking to increase diversity within their programs, as it highlights
the need for more comprehensive support systems and recognition strategies for admission
counselors who work to promote diversity recruitment.
Summary of Findings for Organization Influence Findings
An organization’s culture is a critical evaluation tool when trying to understand. Whether
the organization meets its goals or culture has a meaningful impact on all stakeholders’ groups
(Clark & Estes, 2008). Culture can be subdivided into both cultural models and cultural settings.
Cultural models represent the more nebulous forces that impact teams but can make an enormous
difference. Cultural settings represent the visible processes, tools, and resources that an
organization may or may not provide to its members. Examples of cultural settings in this
particular study include recognition, feedback, and resources.
All interviewees felt that their organizations could do more to recruit African American
students to master’s engineering programs. Interviewees felt that their leadership provided
limited resources to recruit African American students. Most participants spoke about the need
for recognition, feedback, and resources to recruit African American students. Three
interviewees noted that their organization needed a formal feedback mechanism.
Organization Influence: Document Analysis
The admissions websites did not contain information regarding the organizational
influences that impact recruiting African American students into master’s engineering programs
for admissions counselors. While the website provided a great deal of information about the
admission process, the website needed to provide more information specific to the needs of
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African American prospective students. Additionally, the websites needed to present information
about admission counselors.
Summary
This chapter has described the findings and results from interviews and document
analysis related to analyzing admission counselors’ knowledge, motivation, and the
organizational influences that impact the recruitment of African American students to master’s
engineering programs using a gap analysis model. This chapter identified that admission
counselors had considerable factual knowledge on recruiting and selecting African American
students. The data demonstrate that admission counselors had considerable procedural
knowledge that kept African American students from enrolling in master’s engineering
programs. However, admission counselors need more factual knowledge on best practices to
recruit African American students. All admission counselors were motivated to recruit African
American students to master’s engineering programs. However, many participants spoke about
the need for more time and resources to go out and recruit African American students.
The findings illustrate that colleges and universities do little to promote diversity in
master’s engineering programs. Furthermore, the data suggest that admission counselors need
more feedback and recognition in their recruitment efforts. This lack of organizational support is
reflected not only at the colleges and universities where the admission counselors are employed
but to the larger higher education community. The work of admission counselors to recruit more
African American students to master’s engineering programs is significant as it potentially leads
to an increase in the skilled labor workforce. The efforts to improve the critical mass of African
American students in master’s engineering programs is strenuous, evident by the barriers
identified both in Chapter Two and in the findings of this chapter. Despite the barriers
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acknowledged by admission counselors, it is possible to recruit more African American students
to master’s engineering programs. The following chapter will make recommendations based on
the data presented in this chapter.

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Chapter Five: Discussion and Recommendations
This chapter examines and summarizes the results of the data collected in this study.
First, a discussion of findings will be presented, followed by recommendations derived from the
findings and based on the research literature. The chapter then discusses the limitations and
delimitations of the research study before concluding with recommendations for future research.
Discussion of Findings
This study explored the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences that impact
admission counselors’ ability to recruit African American students into master’s engineering
programs, using Clark and Estes’s (2008) gap analysis framework. Two research questions
guided the study:
1. What types of knowledge and motivation do admission counselors need to recruit and
enroll African American students into master’s engineering programs?
2. How do organizational culture and context support or hinder admission counselors
from recruiting African American students?
Based on interviews with 10 admission counselors, the study found that while all had a
strong understanding of knowledge factors that influenced the recruitment and enrollment of
African American students, many needed more procedural knowledge and a specific recruitment
plan for these students. Despite this, the admission counselors felt confident recruiting African
American students and valued their recruitment to master’s engineering programs. The study
also identified two themes related to organizational influences: limited resources provided by
universities and a need for recognition for diversity work from university leadership. These
findings highlight the need to prioritize diversity and inclusion initiatives, provide professional
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development opportunities for admission counselors, and ensure that university leadership values
diversity and recognizes its significance.
The following section will delve into the specific findings of this study, providing greater
detail on the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences that impact admission
counselors’ ability to recruit African American students into master’s engineering programs.
Knowledge Findings
Research has shown that African American applicants to graduate engineering programs
often face academic and financial barriers that hinder their ability to succeed in the application
process (Stolle-McAlister et al., 2011). The admission counselors interviewed in this study
demonstrated a robust understanding of these factors but needed more procedural knowledge on
recruiting African American students. Admission counselors must possess procedural knowledge
on recruiting African American students to enroll them in master’s engineering programs
effectively.
This knowledge can help admission counselors to develop strategies that address the
unique challenges faced by African American students, such as providing financial support and
mentorship programs. Furthermore, having a well-defined recruitment plan can help create a
more inclusive and diverse academic community, which has been shown to impact academic
outcomes positively (Hurtado et al., 2008). Cooley and Smith’s (2017) research has highlighted
the positive impact of having a specific recruitment plan for African American students.
However, despite the increasing emphasis on diversity and inclusion in higher education
institutions, only two admission counselors in the study had such a plan, which is surprising.
Furthermore, research indicates that having a targeted recruitment plan for underrepresented
groups can significantly increase enrollment rates.
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The Council of Graduate Schools (2010) reported that a recruitment plan that identifies
specific underrepresented groups and provides targeted strategies and resources can increase
these students’ representation in graduate programs. Additionally, Martinez (2013) found that a
comprehensive recruitment plan that includes outreach, financial support, and mentoring can
significantly increase the enrollment of underrepresented groups. Thus, graduate schools must
implement specific recruitment plans for African American students to increase diversity and
representation in master’s engineering programs.
Despite the acknowledged importance of financial aid in recruiting African American
students, admission counselors in this study appeared to need an adequate understanding of other
vital factors that could impact recruitment and enrollment rates. For instance, while only four
counselors discussed the importance of institutional support, such as faculty involvement and
mentoring programs, they still needed to speak about the labor shortage of engineers and its
relationship with African American recruitment (Lewis et al., 2004; Forbes, 2019). The critical
gap in admission counselors’ knowledge on these topics highlights a need for targeted training
and education to ensure that admission counselors possess a well-rounded understanding of the
factors that influence African American recruitment.
Motivation is also essential in determining performance, influenced by knowledge factors
(Clark & Estes, 2008). Forty percent of the admission counselors in this study perceived a need
for more training and resources on recruiting African American students, which impacted their
motivation to recruit these students effectively. This lack of knowledge is also related to
admission counselors needing to receive training from their employers on recruiting African
American students or sharing best practices (Clark & Estes, 2008).
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In conclusion, this study has highlighted the importance of procedural knowledge on
recruiting African American students in master’s engineering programs. Admission counselors
need to understand the factors influencing African American recruitment and success in graduate
engineering programs to overcome the academic and financial barriers these students face. The
lack of specific recruitment plans and training on best practices for African American
recruitment indicates a critical gap in admission counselors’ knowledge that needs to be
addressed. With this knowledge, admission counselors can develop effective strategies to address
the unique challenges faced by African American students.
Motivation Findings
Motivation is essential in determining performance and is influenced by knowledge
factors. In college admissions, admission counselors must be motivated to recruit diverse
students, including African American students. Although all interviewees acknowledged the
importance of recruiting African American students and expressed confidence in their ability to
do so, it is worth noting that some admission counselors did not believe that senior leadership at
their university valued diversity.
According to a report by the Association of American Colleges and Universities
(AAC&U), university senior leadership is crucial in promoting diversity and inclusion (AAC&U,
2015). The report notes that when leadership values diversity, it can create a welcoming and
inclusive environment for students, faculty, and staff from diverse backgrounds, which has been
shown to have numerous benefits (AAC&U, 2015; Hurtado et al., 2008). Additionally, the
AAC&U report suggests that when senior leadership values diversity, they are more likely to
allocate resources towards diversity and inclusion initiatives, such as scholarship programs,
mentorship opportunities, and cultural competency training for faculty and staff (AAC&U,
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2015). Furthermore, the report states that when senior leadership values diversity, they are more
likely to hold themselves and their staff accountable for promoting diversity and inclusion within
the institution (AAC&U, 2015).
The admission counselors’ perception of a lack of support from university leadership
indicates that external factors, such as the institution’s commitment to diversity, may influence
their motivation. To address this issue, colleges and universities should prioritize diversity and
inclusion initiatives and communicate their commitment to all stakeholders, including admission
counselors. By doing so, admission counselors may feel more motivated and empowered to
recruit African American students.
In conclusion, admission counselors must be motivated to recruit African American
students to master’s engineering programs. Although admission counselors understand the
importance of recruiting African American students and are confident in their ability to do so, the
finding that some admission counselors do not believe that senior leadership values diversity
highlights the impact of external factors on their motivation. Therefore, colleges and universities
must prioritize diversity and inclusion initiatives, communicate their commitment to all
stakeholders, and ensure that admission counselors feel motivated and empowered to recruit
African American students.
Organizational Findings
An organization’s culture is a critical evaluation tool when trying to understand whether
an organization meets its goals; culture has a meaningful impact on all stakeholders.
groups (Clark & Estes, 2008). Culture can be subdivided into both cultural models and cultural.
settings. Cultural models represent the more nebulous forces that impact teams but can make an
enormous difference. Cultural settings represent the visible processes, tools, and resources that
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an organization may or may not provide to its members. Examples of cultural settings in this
particular study include recognition, feedback, and resources. Findings from the interviews show
that admission counselors are very confident about recruiting African American students.
Additionally, all 10 admission counselors saw value in recruiting African American students. All
interviewees felt that their organizations could do more to recruit African American students to
master’s engineering programs. Most participants spoke about the need for recognition,
feedback, and resources to recruit African American students. Four of 10 admission counselors
did not believe that senior leadership at their university valued diversity. This is a significant
finding because an admission counselor needs support from their organization to recruit African
American students successfully. According to Brightman and Moran (2000), leaders must boldly
state that they are the champions of change, are committed to seeing change enacted, and
personally lead all change efforts. With any organizational change initiative, top-down
influences are crucial in leading cultural change initiatives. In addition, Abbas et al. (2014) stated
that organizational leadership must ensure that change initiatives are efficient and effective for
the organization’s development. As Yukl’s (2008) study showed, when all parties are on board to
meet organizational goals, this is where change is most successful. Graduate admission
counselors, in this space, will be most impactful in meeting their goal of increasing African
American enrollment rates.
To further understand the impact of organizational culture on admission counselors, it is
essential to consider what interviewees did not say. Although all interviewees recognized the
importance of diversity in recruitment efforts, they have yet to mention any formal training or
resources provided by their organization to recruit African American students effectively. This
suggests that the organization’s culture may not prioritize diversity recruitment, or there may be
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a lack of resources allocated to support these efforts. Furthermore, interviewees did not mention
any initiatives or efforts by their organization to actively address systemic issues and barriers to
diversity in master’s engineering programs. This may indicate a need for more awareness or
understanding of these issues at the organizational level.
In conclusion, this section highlights the critical role of organizational culture in
admission counselors’ ability to recruit African American students in master’s engineering
programs. The study reveals that admission counselors are confident in their ability to recruit
African American students and see value in their recruitment. However, the finding that most
admission counselors perceive a lack of recognition, feedback, and resources for diversity
recruitment, and some do not believe that senior leadership values diversity, suggests that the
organizational culture may need to prioritize diversity recruitment more adequately. This
indicates the need for top-down influences in leading cultural change initiatives and ensuring that
change initiatives are efficient and effective. The absence of mention of formal training or
resources for diversity recruitment and initiatives to address systemic issues and barriers to
diversity in master’s engineering programs further highlights the need for organizational culture
to prioritize diversity and inclusion. In summary, a solid organizational culture that prioritizes
diversity and provides resources and initiatives to support diversity recruitment efforts can
empower admission counselors to increase African American enrollment rates in master’s
engineering programs.
Recommendations for Practice
Based on the findings of this study, college and university leaders must address three key
areas to improve graduate admission counselors’ ability to recruit African American students to
master’s engineering programs. The first recommendation is to foster a shared belief among
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leaders that recruiting and matriculating African American students is a priority. This can be
achieved through intentional training and conversations around diversity and recruitment. The
second recommendation is to equip admission counselors with the necessary resources to recruit
African American students successfully, including access to databases, recruiting materials, and
funding for travel. The third recommendation is to create a workshop focused on best practices
for African American recruitment to master’s engineering programs. The workshop should
provide a space for university leadership and admission counselors to exchange ideas,
collaborate, and share best practices.
To implement these recommendations effectively, colleges and universities must take
concrete steps to prioritize diversity and inclusion in their organizational culture. For instance,
creating a diversity and inclusion committee, establishing regular training sessions on cultural
competency, and holding university leadership accountable for recruiting underrepresented
students are essential. Additionally, universities should create metrics to track their progress
toward diversity and inclusion goals and measure the effectiveness of the initiatives.
By following these recommendations, colleges and universities can increase African
American enrollment rates in master’s engineering programs and create a more inclusive
academic community. This, in turn, will prepare African American students for successful
careers in STEM fields and contribute to a more diverse and inclusive workforce.
Recommendation 1: Support the Development of the Shared Belief That it is Important to
Matriculate African American Students Through Intentional Training and Conversations
In light of the findings from this study, university leadership must foster a shared
belief that recruiting and matriculating African American students is a priority. One way to
achieve this is through intentional training and conversations around diversity and recruitment.
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These conversations should provide a space for university leadership and admission counselors
to exchange ideas, collaborate, and share best practices, to create a more communicative
environment.
To effectively facilitate these conversations, university leadership should be intentional
when creating a space for dialogue around diversity. They should be responsible for establishing
discussion guidelines and encouraging participants to suspend personal judgment and
assumptions about African American student recruitment. It is important to note that admission
counselors have significant power in the recruitment and selection process, which can impact the
number of African American students admitted to master’s engineering programs. Therefore, it is
essential for admission counselors and university leadership to be aware of their own biases and
to check their privilege in the room.
In order to ensure that these conversations are productive and inclusive, the
organization’s leadership should convene a group of stakeholders and work with a professional
facilitator to develop a structured conversation. Burrell’s (2016) nine steps for facilitating
diversity conversations in the workplace can serve as a guide to ensure that these discussions are
effective and productive. Burrell’s nine steps are as follows:
1. Establish discussion guidelines.
2. Make the conversation a brainstorming session.
3. Expect Different viewpoints and encourage humility.
4. Encourage participants to listen more and speak less.
5. Encourage participants to check their privilege in the room.
6. Do not shame or humiliate.
7. Encourage a lot of diversity and inclusion discussion questions.
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8. Address hesitancy in the conversation
9. Remind everyone of the common goal.
Talking about diversity can be one of the most intimidating and difficult conversations to have in
the workplace. To provide a learning environment, dissecting beliefs, mindsets, and behaviors
that harm workers’ ability to be effective in the workplace is necessary.
In conclusion, this recommendation highlights the importance of intentional training and
conversations around diversity and recruitment to foster a shared belief that recruiting and
matriculating African American students is a priority for university leadership. Creating a
dialogue around diversity and establishing discussion guidelines can provide admission
counselors and university leadership with a space to exchange ideas, collaborate, and share best
practices in creating a more communicative environment. To ensure that these conversations are
productive and inclusive, the organization’s leadership should convene a group of stakeholders
and work with a professional facilitator to develop a structured conversation, using Burrell’s
(2016) nine steps for facilitating diversity conversations in the workplace as a guide. These steps
can encourage humility and inclusivity and address hesitancy in the conversation. By creating a
safe space for these conversations, university leadership and admission counselors can work
towards understanding their biases and privilege and dismantle harmful beliefs, mindsets, and
behaviors to increase African American enrollment rates in master’s engineering programs.
Recommendation 2: Equipping Admission Counselors With Resources for Successful
African American Student Recruitment in Master’s Engineering Programs
Recommendation 2 of this study emphasizes the importance of providing admission
counselors with specific and actionable steps to recruit more African American students to
master’s engineering programs. To address the unique challenges and opportunities associated
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with African American student recruitment in master’s engineering programs, it is crucial to
suggest specific actions that universities can take to provide resources. This recommendation
aims to provide admission counselors with specific steps to recruit and retain African American
students. This section will provide specific steps that universities can take to support admission
counselors in recruiting and retaining African American students, including culturally responsive
financial aid packages, targeted recruitment events, and formal mentoring programs designed to
meet the unique needs of African American students.
Financial aid is crucial in recruiting and retaining African American students in master’s
engineering programs. Research shows African American students are more cost-sensitive when
paying for college than other racial groups. Admission counselors in this study emphasized the
importance of offering additional merit scholarships for African American students, as many
students’ most significant concern in the graduate admission process is cost. To recruit more
African American students, universities could create comprehensive financial aid packages
targeting African American students. Identifying scholarship opportunities can enable attendance
and recruiting more African American students.
Hosting specific recruitment events for African American students can be effective.
Research shows that allowing students to visit the campus is one of the best ways to recruit them.
However, only two institutions in this study had admission events for African American
students. Admission events allow prospective and admitted African American students to come
to campus and connect with staff, current students, and faculty. The study’s admission
counselors suggested that offering African American students an opportunity to determine
whether or not they fit in the program was critical in the recruitment process. To support the
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recruitment of African American students, universities could allocate more resources towards
hosting recruitment events that specifically target African American students.
Formal mentoring programs can be a critical support system for African American
students in master’s engineering programs. The relationship with faculty is key in the college
experience, and this is even more pronounced in graduate study, where students are directly
supported by faculty. However, published research on minority students asserts that African
American students often negatively interact with faculty. For this reason, it is recommended that
colleges and universities create a faculty and student mentoring program for African American
students. This program should focus on academic and professional development and be designed
to meet the unique needs of African American students. To support the retention of African
American students, universities should establish formal mentoring programs that pair African
American students with faculty mentors who can provide academic and professional support.
Effective communication and outreach to African American students are essential to
recruit and retain them in master’s engineering programs. To achieve this, universities can create
targeted marketing materials that address African American students’ unique challenges and
concerns. Partnering with community organizations can help identify and recruit qualified
African American students. Providing additional support to admission counselors who are
working to recruit African American students can also help improve communication and
outreach. Developing and implementing effective communication and outreach strategies can
ensure that the resources provided by universities are accessible and effectively utilized by
African American students.
In summary, colleges and universities should take intentional steps to provide financial
aid, targeted recruitment events, and mentoring programs to support the recruitment and
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retention of African American students in master’s engineering programs. These steps should be
culturally responsive and designed to meet the unique needs of African American students.
Effective communication and outreach strategies should be developed and implemented to
ensure that these resources are accessible and effectively utilized by African American students.
Implementing these steps can help create a more diverse and inclusive learning environment for
African American students in master’s engineering programs.
Recommendation 3: Support Admission Counselors’ Professional Development Training
on Best Practices for African American Recruitment
A critical recommendation arising from this study is to equip admission counselors with
the necessary training and skill sets to recruit African American students to master’s engineering
programs effectively. Prior studies indicate that admission counselors may need more knowledge
and best practices to recruit African American students successfully. A comprehensive
professional development training workshop is recommended to address this gap, tailored to the
unique challenges and opportunities associated with African American student recruitment.
The workshop should cover various topics, including culturally responsive recruitment
strategies, implicit bias, effective communication with African American students and families,
and building relationships with African American communities. Additionally, it should provide
practical tools and resources, such as sample outreach emails, successful recruitment campaign
examples, and a list of colleges with high African American enrollment rates in engineering
programs, including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other
institutions. Providing this resource can help admission counselors identify target schools for
recruitment efforts and develop relationships with these institutions to support better African
American students’ enrollment and success in master’s engineering programs.
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Collaboration and knowledge-sharing should be key focus of the workshop to promote
peer-to-peer learning among admission counselors. The small groups can facilitate in-depth
discussions and the sharing of strategies that have worked well in various contexts. For example,
participants can share their successful recruitment campaign experiences and discuss the most
effective tactics. They can also discuss any challenges they faced and how they overcame them.
By sharing their experiences, participants can learn from each other and better understand what it
takes to recruit African American students to master’s engineering programs successfully.
To ensure the workshop’s effectiveness, it is recommended that experienced
professionals in diversity recruitment or higher education deliver the training. Their expertise can
provide a more nuanced perspective on the challenges and opportunities of recruiting African
American students. Their extensive knowledge and experience can provide valuable insights into
effective strategies and best practices for recruiting and retaining African American students in
master’s engineering programs.
In conclusion, a comprehensive professional development training workshop that
addresses admission counselors’ specific needs and challenges can significantly improve their
ability to recruit African American students to master’s engineering programs. By providing
practical tools, resources, and knowledge, admission counselors will be better equipped to build
relationships with African American communities and increase the enrollment of African
American students, leading to a more diverse and inclusive learning environment.
Limitations and Delimitations
The present study acknowledges limitations and delimitations that may have affected its
outcomes. Limitations refer to factors outside the researcher’s control, while delimitations are the
researcher’s decisions, which may have had consequences for the study. One limitation of this
95

study is the lack of relationships with admission counselors who work in master’s engineering
programs, which could have affected the overall participation and honesty of the study. While
using the ASEE listserv to solicit interviewees, it should be noted that some engineering
programs are not part of the ASEE. There may be admission counselors from those programs
who could have provided insights into the lack of African American student enrollment in
master’s engineering programs. Another limitation of the study is the possibility of incomplete
honesty from participating admission counselors. Despite receiving informed consent forms that
ensured anonymity and confidentiality, some admission counselors may not have been fully
convinced that their answers would not be traced back to them, resulting in incomplete or less
honest responses.
On the other hand, delimitations are the decisions made by the researcher that may have
implications for the study. The primary focus of this study was to understand admission
counselors’ knowledge, motivation, and the organizational influences affecting the recruitment
of African American students to master’s engineering programs using a gap analysis model. Due
to time constraints, the researcher only interviewed 10 graduate admission counselors and
analyzed master’s engineering admission websites. Moreover, due to cost limitations, the
interviews were conducted on Zoom, and in-person interviews could have allowed for more in-
depth and robust conversations between the interviewer and interviewee.
Recommendations for Future Research
While carrying out this study, the researcher identified several areas that would
benefit from additional exploration. Future research topics could increase understanding of how
African American students choose to enroll in master’s engineering programs. The following
three future research topics offered for consideration include the role of faculty members in the
96

recruitment of African American students to master’s engineering programs, the impact of the
Black Matter movement on the recruitment of African American students to master’s
engineering programs, and the role companies plays in the recruitment of African American
students.
The Role of Faculty Members in the Recruitment of African American Students
The first future research recommendation focused on the role of faculty members in
recruiting African American students in master’s engineering programs. One of the admission
counselors interviewed was also a faculty member. During her interview, she suggested that
faculty must be more prominent in recruiting African American students. Future research should
seek an understanding of faculty member’s involvement in the recruitment and selection process.
The findings from this research would ultimately identify strategies for colleges and universities
to collaborate with university staff and administration to recruit a more diverse class to their
graduate programs.
Impact of the Black Lives Matter Movement to Recruit African American Students
The second future research recommendation focuses on the impact of the Black Lives
Matter Movement and its impact on the enrollment of African American students in master’s
engineering programs. Two admission counselors mentioned the Black Lives Matter Movement
during this study. One admission counselor mentioned that African American recruitment was
not discussed in her office until the death of George Floyd, and another admission counselor
described how his institution created an African American recruitment plan as a result of the
Black Lives Matter movement. Future studies should include a quantitative study of
administrators in master’s engineering programs to understand if the Black Lives Matter
movement had an important on their recruitment strategy.
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The Role Companies or Corporate America Play in the Recruitment of African American
Students
Both the literature review and interviews suggest that work experience plays a vital role
in the admission process for the master’s engineering program, and based on the interview
responses, many African American applicants lack work experience. Thus, the third future
research recommendation focused on companies’ role in recruiting African American students in
master’s engineering programs. Alternatively, Strong work experience impacts the admission
process for African Americans. In other words, what responsibility do companies have in this
deficit of African American enrollment in master’s engineering programs, and can companies
remedy the situation?
Conclusion
This qualitative study aimed to understand admission counselors’ knowledge, motivation,
and the organizational influences that impact the recruitment of African American students into
master’s engineering programs. While some research has been conducted on African American
recruitment at the undergraduate and PhD level, very little of it has been on the master’s level,
except for MBA. Based on Clark and Estes’s (2008) gap analysis framework, the study
investigated the knowledge, motivation, and organizational factors that might contribute to the
lack of enrollment of African American students and strategies for its reduction. Ten admission
counselors were interviewed, and an analysis of the data confirmed that more could be done to
increase the enrollment of African American students. The analysis also suggested that factors
related to organizational culture are responsible for the low enrollment of African American
students.
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Using these factors as a guide, the study recommended increasing African American
enrollment in master’s engineering programs. Research has shown that African Americans with a
master’s degree are employed at higher rates than African Americans with bachelor’s degrees
only (Joint Economic Committee, 2020), and African Americans with post-baccalaureate
education lived longer than African Americans who just had a bachelor’s degree (Krueger et al.,
2015). Implementing the recommendations from this study, it is hoped that African American
enrollment will increase and thus have long-term positive impacts on the African American
community while also addressing the workforce storage.

99

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Appendix A: Interview Protocol
Hello, my name is Curtis Ferguson II, and I am a doctoral candidate in the Organizational
Change and Leadership program at USC. I am conducting a study to understand the recruitment
of African American students more deeply to masters of engineering programs in the United
States.
The interview includes questions that ask you to describe your perspectives and
experiences as an admission counselor. With your permission I would like to digitally record this
interview, which will later be transcribed. To qualify for this study, you must be over the age of
18 and an admission counselor at an ASEE member institution.
Your participation in this study is voluntary. You may stop this interview at any time.
Your responses will remain confidential and any identifiable information including your name
will be coded using a false name and will be securely stored. The data from this interview will be
destroyed after the study concludes.
If you have any questions regarding this interview, please contact me (XXX). Before we
begin, do you have any questions for me regarding your participation?
Demographic
1. How many years have you been working in admission?
2. Briefly describe your role as it relates to recruiting African American students to
master’s engineering programs.
Knowledge
Factual Knowledge
3. What factors do you believe influence African American students’ decisions to attend
your institution?
104

Procedural Knowledge
4. Please describe your current recruitment process for master’s students.
5. If anything, what do you do differently from general recruitment to recruit African
American students to your institution?
6. Please walk me through the last time you did a recruitment event.
Metacognitive Knowledge
7. Tell me about a time when you were intentional about the recruitment of African
American student to your institution.
8. How often do you think about recruiting African American students as part of your
job?
9. How do you reflect on how well you are doing?
Motivation
Task-Value
10. What do you see as the value of recruiting African American students?
11. How does your behavior impact the success of your individual efforts to recruit
African American students?
Self-Efficacy
12. How effective do you feel your abilities to recruit African American master’s students
to your institution?
Organization
Cultural Model
13. What learning opportunities or resources are available to recruit African American
students to your institutions?
105

Cultural Setting
14. What incentives or recognition is given to admission counselors for recruiting African
American students to your institution?
15. Tell me about a time when your supervisor provided feedback to you regarding the
recruitment of African American students.
Conclusion
16. Is there anything else I did not ask you that you think would be important for me to
know?
Thank you so much for some of your valuable time today. I appreciate you sharing your
thoughts and perspectives with me. As stated at the beginning, the recording of this interview
will be deleted immediately upon the completion of this study. Your participation was voluntary
and your identity will remain confidential and your answers anonymous. Should you have any
questions or issues related to this interview, the recording, or the transcription of the
conversation, do not hesitate to let me know (XXX). Thank you again!

106

Appendix B: Document Analysis Protocol
This study explored the knowledge, motivation, and organizational influences that impact
admission counselors’ ability to recruit African American students into master’s engineering
programs, using Clark and Estes’s (2008) gap analysis framework. Two research questions
guided the study:
1. What types of knowledge and motivation do admission counselors need to recruit and
enroll African American students into master’s engineering programs?
2. How do organizational culture and context support or hinder admission counselors
from recruiting African American students?
College of Engineering’s websites along with connected resources (e.g., marketing
material) and available links were examined to help answer the two research questions. The
following questions were used:
1. Does the organization’s website and marketing material illustrate its efforts to recruit
African American students?
2. Are there links connecting the site visitor to resources for African American recruits?
3. What resources does the College of Engineering provide for admission counselors to
use in their efforts to improve their website or marketing material related to the
recruit of African American students?
4. Indication of accountability in reducing disparities in recruitment based on
race/ethnicity?
5. Investment of resources to identifying recruitment disparities and have they increased
positive outcomes?

Abstract (if available)

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Organizational design for embedding corporate social responsibility

Asset Metadata

Creator Ferguson, Curtis II (author)

Core Title Underrepresentation of African Americans in master’s engineering programs

School Rossier School of Education

Degree Doctor of Education

Degree Program Organizational Change and Leadership (On Line)

Degree Conferral Date 2023-05

Publication Date 05/23/2023

Defense Date 05/23/2023

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag African American students,master's engineering programs,OAI-PMH Harvest,organizational culture,recruitment,underrepresentation

Format theses (aat)

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Stowe, Kathy (committee chair), Maddox, Anthony (committee member), Malloy , Courtney (committee member)

Creator Email curtis.ferguson@gmail.com,curtisfe@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-oUC113134817

Unique identifier UC113134817

Identifier etd-FergusonCu-11886.pdf (filename)

Legacy Identifier etd-FergusonCu-11886

Document Type Dissertation

Format theses (aat)

Rights Ferguson, Curtis II

Internet Media Type application/pdf

Type texts

Source 20230524-usctheses-batch-1048 (batch), University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright.

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA

Repository Email cisadmin@lib.usc.edu