Co-curricular experiences link to nontechnical skill development for African-American engineers: Communication, teamwork, professionalism, lifelong learning, and reflective behavior skills

We present an analysis of the influence of co-curricular experiences on the development of communication, professionalism, lifelong learning, teamwork, and reflective behavior skills for African-American engineering students. Astin´s Inputs-Environments-Outputs, or I-E-O, model and the modifications made by Terezini and Reason provide the conceptual framework for this study. This framework supports out-of-class experiences as environments that develop student outcomes. While many studies have shown that co-curricular experiences are linked to student outcomes, this research offers specific insight into outcomes on African-American engineering students. With pervasive calls for diversity, investigating student outcomes for specific ethnic groups is imperative for educators to ensure that all students are properly prepared to enter the workforce. Driven by the National Academy of Engineers´ Engineer of 2020 recommendations, our research utilizes two distinct data sets to investigate students´ perceptions regarding five learning outcomes. This research offers nuanced insight into co-curricular experiences given broad categories of involvement (e.g. university-level organizations) and specific experiences (e.g. National Society of Black Engineers, NSBE). Results show that students who only participate in one type of experience may miss opportunities to develop additional skills. Additionally, results suggest that skill development enhances as the level of involvement increases.