Valuing Diversity and Enacting Inclusion in Engineering (VDEIE): Validity Evidence for a New Scale

Authors

Karen E. Rambo-Hernandez, Texas A&M University
Rebecca A. Atadero, Colorado State University
Christina H. Paguyo, University of Denver
Melissa Morris, University of Nevada, Las VegasFollow
Seoyeon Park, Texas A&M University
A.M. Aramati Casper, Colorado State University
Blaine Austin Pedersen, Texas A&M University
Jeremy Schwartz, West Virginia University
Robin A.M. Hensel, West Virginia University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2021

Publication Title

International Journal of Engineering Education

Volume

37

Issue

5

First page number:

1382

Last page number:

1397

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to detail the initial validation of a scale to assess engineering students' attitudes toward the value of diversity in engineering and their intentions to enact inclusive behaviors. In study 1, we administered the scale four times. Wesubjected the first administration to exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and the remaining three administrations to both confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and tests of longitudinal measurement invariance (LMI). All tests indicated strong evidence for the internal structure of the factor structure of the survey. The four factors were: Engineers should value diversity to (a) fulfill a greater purpose and (b) serve customers better; and engineers should (c) challenge discriminatory behavior and (d) promote a healthy work environment. In study 2, we again assessed the structure of the data as described in study 1 and then used the scale to assess potential differences between undergraduate students who participated in activities designed to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) (n = 116) and those who did not (n = 137). Students in the intervention classes demonstrated a small statistically significant increase in their intention to promote a healthy team environment in reference to the comparison classes. No differences were observed between the classes on the other factors. Future directions and implications are discussed.

Keywords

Diversity; Engineering students; Instrument development; Measurement; Survey

Disciplines

Engineering Education | Teacher Education and Professional Development

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Repository Citation

Rambo-Hernandez, K. E., Atadero, R. A., Paguyo, C. H., Morris, M., Park, S., Casper, A., Pedersen, B., Schwartz, J., Hensel, R. A. (2021). Valuing Diversity and Enacting Inclusion in Engineering (VDEIE): Validity Evidence for a New Scale. International Journal of Engineering Education, 37(5), 1382-1397.