Project Grant 2605828

The National Science Foundation Division of Engineering Education and Centers awarded Northeastern University $200,000 on September 1, 2026, under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) to investigate how recognition from K-12 students strengthens engineering identity formation in first-year undergraduate engineering students.

The research will examine an established Northeastern service-learning program in which first-year undergraduates lead hands-on engineering, science, and building activities with elementary and middle school children over a semester. The project explores whether the recognition undergraduates receive from K-12 students—who often view the undergraduates as engineering experts despite the undergraduates' own uncertainty about their professional identities—supports the undergraduates' developing sense of themselves as engineers and increases persistence to graduation.

The work addresses documented attrition in undergraduate engineering degree programs: approximately half of students who enroll in accredited engineering programs do not complete them, and research shows that undergraduates who do not identify as engineers persist to graduation at lower rates than those who do. First-year students face particular vulnerability during identity formation.

Performance occurs at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, from September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2028.