Stigma Consciousness, Coping Efficacy, and Engineering Persistence Intentions Among Underrepresented Students

Guided by Social Cognitive Career Theory, this study examined racial/ethnic stigma consciousness and efficacy for coping with educational barriers in relation to engineering persistence intentions among a U.S. sample of 458 engineering students from underrepresented racial/ethnic groups in engineering. SCCT suggests that contextual barriers may shape persistence through self-efficacy and outcome expectations, yet less is known about how the specific contextual variables of stigma-related appraisals and confidence in managing barriers operate within these processes for underrepresented engineering students. Structural equation modeling tested whether stigma consciousness and coping efficacy were associated with persistence intentions through engineering self-efficacy and positive and negative engineering outcome expectations. Stigma consciousness was associated with greater negative outcome expectations but showed no direct association with persistence intentions, and no indirect pathways were significant. In contrast, coping efficacy showed significant indirect associations with persistence intentions through self-efficacy, positive outcome expectations, and their serial pathway. Overall, the findings suggest that anticipated racialized treatment may be more closely associated with the perceived costs of engineering, whereas confidence in managing barriers may support the socio-cognitive beliefs more proximally associated with persistence intentions.