July 17, 2025 10:00 AM
Title: Expanding Access to STEM Education: A Study of the Ghanaian Pre-Engineering Program
Committee members: Todd Pugatch, Elizabeth Schroeder, Allison Hurst, Dwaine Plaza, Gloria Crisp
Abstract: The growing global emphasis on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education highlights its importance for economic development, social mobility, and innovation. In Ghana, persistent low enrollment of students in STEM has led to recent policy innovations, including the launch of a national Pre-Engineering Program in 2021, designed to prepare students with a non-STEM background for engineering programs at the college level. This dissertation examines how such bridging initiatives can enhance STEM participation, foster academic success, and reshape educational trajectories. The first paper employs a mixed-methods approach to examine students’ motivation to study STEM and why students switch to engineering despite having made prior non-STEM choices. Results highlight the role of personal ambition, gender, and systemic barriers in shaping these pathways. Paper two employs a quasi-experimental design to evaluate the academic performance of pre-engineering students versus those who enter directly into engineering programs, revealing that pre-engineering students perform on par with their direct-entry peers, indicating that the program levels the academic playing field. Paper three draws on qualitative interviews to understand how students perceive the effectiveness of the program and the various challenges they encounter within it. Findings show the program builds not only foundational knowledge but also student confidence, STEM identity, and university integration. The findings demonstrate the potential of flexible and inclusive educational interventions, such as Ghana’s Pre-Engineering Program, in supporting the participation of non-traditional students in STEM.