Volume 14 Number 2
January 1975

ESTIMATES of the number of American Indians who are engineers range from fewer than 1,000 to about 5,500, and in 1973 only 0.1% of Bachelor of Science degree in engineering graduates were Indians, a small fraction compared to both blacks (1.5%) and women (1.4%). (See Reference 1.) Furthermore, there are only about 400 American Indians enrolled in engineering on college campuses nationwide (see Reference 2) with only eight at the University of Oklahoma at Norman. Not only are the number of Indian engineers small, but the needs and opportunities for those engineers are great in a number of areas including resource development and community development among others.

In recognition of these facts, a two-week summer program was conducted last summer for American Indian high school students under the joint sponsorship of the University of Oklahoma and the Minority Introduction to Engineering (MITE) program sponsored by the Engineers Council for Professional Development (ECPD).

The purpose of the program, entitled "First Americans—Tomorrow’s Engineers" (FATE) was to introduce the participants to engineering by informing them of the variety of engineering activities that exist, giving them experience in the engineering process, introducing them to successful American Indian engineers, and giving them a view of the university experience which is necessary for them to become successful engineers.

There were two goals for this program. The first was to introduce the participants to engineering as a possible career choice, and the second was to learn what techniques are effective in increasing the number of American Indian engineers. This article describes the program carried out at the University of Oklahoma.

Two thousand copies of a brochure to publicize the program were prepared, and were sent to: tribal leaders of all of the tribes in Oklahoma (see Note 1); Indian business leaders; all math and science teachers in high school in counties with more than 200 Indian residents; all Indian high schools in the state; Oklahomians for Indian Opportunities (OIO) youth counselors; and coordinators of the Oklahoma Engineering and Technical Guidance Council, a group sponsored by the Oklahoma Engineering Societies. In addition, press releases were sent to all the daily newspapers in the state, and the program was mentioned on an Oklahoma City television program for Indians. Letters were sent to high school counselors asking for the names of Indian students who would qualify for the program, and lists were received from about eight high schools. All of the students on those lists then received a letter of invitation to the conference with a brochure.

The sources of information about the program identified by the students who attended are shown in Table 1.

Acceptance of student into the program was based upon information obtained from a reference named by the student. Students who had already completed high school were not accepted. Students whose grades were too low for them to qualify for college acceptance were only accepted when their reference material provided extenuating comments. Of about 32 applications received, 24 students were accepted in the program and 23 attended. Of those attending, 9 were girls and 14 boys. The tribes represented are shown in Table 2.

The program content included four major activities, each of which was intended to address the goals set for the program. These activities were engineering projects, experiments and tours, speakers, and a "university experience." The majority of time during the two weeks was spent with the students involved in four separate groups of six each working on an engineering project. The project titles were Solar Energy, Vehicle Aerodynamics, Air and Noise Pollution, and Water Quality.

*Total will not be equal to number of students as
some students are from more than one tribe.

The solar energy group looked at the problem of energy production and consumption in the U.S. and then considered how solar energy could be used to satisfy part of the demand. The students constructed a solar-heated still for distilling salt water, and made efficiency measurements on two solar heaters used for heating water.

The vehicle aerodynamics group looked at the various factors which affect automobile and truck gas consumption. They took measurements of aerodynamic drag and gas consumption for a test vehicle owned by the University and drew conclusions about the effect of some of the factors they had identified.

The air and noise pollution group learned the causes of air and noise pollution, and then measured carbon monoxide levels at a busy intersection in Norman, and drew conclusions about the degree of carbon monoxide pollution and the nature of noise pollution in the city.

The water quality group learned about the various pollutants which can be present in water, and the nature of water and disposal. They took samples of water from various sources around the city and measured the levels of various pollutants in them. They compared these to the allowable levels for this area.

Before any of the projects started, the entire group went through two exercises to introduce them to the nature of the environment in which engineering problems must be solved and engineering problem solving technique. To address the first problem, the entire group spent the second day of the conference playing a game called CLUG, Community Land Use Game. CLUG is the development of a community from the points of view of industry, residential, commercial and office interest groups, and gives each of these groups an opportunity to participate in that development. Each group is given a certain amount of capital, and must make decisions about how to use that capital within constraints which are reasonable for a developing community.

Engineering problem solving was introduced by presenting an example for the students to work which illustrated problem solving structure. This structure included problem identification, identification of alternative solutions, acquiring information about each of the alternatives, and deciding which alternative to pursue. Each of the groups used this structure to introduce the problem they were to deal with in their project.

A number of experiments and tours were carried out for the students to provide them with information on fields of engineering other than the one being emphasized in their project. The group visited the nuclear reactor laboratory, the National Severe Storms Laboratory, a laser laboratory, and others.

Another major goal of the program was to provide to the students role models whom they might emulate in career decision making. Four American Indian engineers spoke during the program. The speakers talked about their experiences in becoming engineers and in engineering practice. One speaker was an environmental engineer, one an electrical engineer, and two civil engineers.

The other major activity was the "university experience," the unique experience of living on a university campus and developing a community with other people of similar interests and goals. Since the university drop-out rate nationally for American Indians is 10 times higher than for other students (see Reference 3) it is important that an Indian student on campus feel the support of a local community. An effort was made to cultivate that community in the quasi-university setting of the program. There were social events, campus tours, visits to faculty members’ homes, and a trip to a pow wow for the whole group. The staff as well was able to learn from this effort some of the considerations which must be included in a program to retain Indian students in engineering. (To provide a better idea of the time structure for the conference, a copy of the daily schedule is available from the authors.)

It was found that full-time faculty participation was required for the engineering projects. The teaching involved required more experience than our graduate students could provide, and the students clearly benefited from the participation of an enthusiastic faculty member.

The ultimate conclusions from an orientation program of this sort can only be drawn after two or more years, when all the participants in the program have at least had an opportunity to start college. It is possible that additional benefits from the program could be derived after that time as well in the way of better retention of the students who did enter engineering. The 23 students had a very narrow view of engineering at the beginning of the program. Four of them associated engineering with building houses. None of them had any idea of the breadth of experiences which engineering encompassed, and few if any thought that there was a serious possibility that they could become an engineer. The students’ views at the end of the program were an interesting combination of much more sophisticated views towards engineering and college, and some views which had hardly changed at all during the program. All of the students said they wanted the program to be longer in duration. Some said that they did intend to become engineers, although some still listed their primary career objectives as beauty operator or mechanic.

All 23 students who started the program completed it. Two boys went home during the program because of a death in the family, but they both returned the next day. It was much hard work for everyone involved, but the students were rich sources of learning for all of us.

Future plans for recruiting American Indians into engineering as a career need to include a number of activities. First, summer programs of this sort, for two weeks’ duration and for students who have not yet completed high school, need to be continued as part of a broader effort. Longer programs, hopefully with some opportunity for industrial experience, should be planned for students who have completed high school and are intending to start college.

Retention programs for students who have enrolled in engineering need to be highly sophisticated because of the very high drop-out rate for American Indians in college. These programs should include Indians on the faculty or staff who have as a designated part of their responsibility counseling and tutoring of Indian students. Community development activities need to be intense and well supported. Support should include the availability of an Indian staff psychologist for group and individual counseling. Summer employment should be available for all of the Indians enrolled, and scholarship assistance should be available to supplement BIA scholarship programs.

In addition, programs for younger high school students should be developed. Students in the FATE program were sometimes unable to obtain high school courses which are recommended for starting engineering because they were attending high schools too small to afford introductory analysis or second-year chemistry or physics. These courses should be made available on a regional basis with high school credit given so that students entering engineering are not immediately behind. Even earlier, tutorial and engineering appreciation programs should be developed for junior high students.

The FATE program represents an exciting beginning to a program for introducing more American Indians to engineering careers. It was an encouraging beginning, but much more is yet to be done.

1. The 1974 program was only advertised within Oklahoma Next summer’s program will be open to American Indians from any part of the country.

1 J. D. Alden, "Women and Minorities in Engineering," Engineering Education, 64, April, 1974, p. 501.

2 Engineers Joint Council, Engineering Manpower Commission, July 1974.

3 Indian Civil Rights Issues in Oklahoma, A Report of the Oklahoma State Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, January, 1974.