Do We Unwittingly Exclude Students? A Case Study To Evaluate An Engineering Test For Inclusivity.

Engineering stereotypes can hinder different groups to identify with and choose for engineering. The stereotypical image, often characterised as male, white and harsh technical oriented, can negatively impact students' perception of engineering as a field to which they can belong. Recently, PREFER tests were designed to increase students' awareness of the different roles an engineer can take on and of the importance of professional competencies in engineering. Research indicated that the tests were gender-sensitive, meaning that females had other role preferences than males. These results inspired a follow up project to investigate how the tests can be used as instruments to increase attractiveness and retention in engineering. This paper reports on a study to evaluate whether the PREFER Explore test was designed in an inclusive way. To validate the test with different student groups, a survey was distributed among first year engineering students (N=802, October 2022) and final year secondary education pupils in science/math tracks (N=173, March 2023) in Belgium. After completion of the test, participants were asked eight additional questions about their experience with and perception of the test. Small but significant differences were found in the perception of female and male students, e.g., females identified less with the test and had more difficulties selecting their preference. Students with a migration background indicated that the test strengthened their interest in engineering. The study shows that the perception of different underrepresented groups should be included when validating educational tools if we do not want to unwittingly exclude students.