Impact of Mentorship Programs on African-American Male High School Students’ Perception of Engineering

Authors

Cameron De'Leon Denson, University of Georgia

Document Type

Dissertation

Publication Date

2008

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of mentorship programs on African-American male high school students’ perceptions of engineering. In this study, indicators of students’ perceptions included students’ perceptions of engineering, their self-efficacy in the area of math, and their self-efficacy in the area of science. This study used a two-group, posttest only, experimental design with randomly selected participants. A survey was used to collect data from 20 participants attending the Middle College at A&T. Using an independent t-test to determine a difference of statistical significance, inferential statistics were provided to answer the following research questions; (a) Is there a significant difference in perceptions of engineering for students who participated in the NCETE/NSBE mentorship program when compared with non-mentored students?, (b) Is there a significant difference in self-efficacy in the area of math for students who participated in the NCETE/NSBE mentorship when compared with non-mentored students?, and (c) Is there a significant difference in self-efficacy in the area of science for students who participated in the NCETE/NSBE mentorship when compared with non-mentored students? The study did not produce significant findings in relation to the research questions. Nonetheless the study identified; a viable formal mentorship program, instruments for use in evaluating mentorship programs, and qualitative feedback used for the improvement of mentorship programs.

Comments

This dissertation was submitted to the graduate school of the University of Georgia in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree.