Inspiring Academic Engagement and Motivation of Minority College Students through Transformative Success Stories on Social Media (Work-in-Progress)

ABSTRACT

This Work-in-Progress paper presents an alternative approach to use social media not only to engage students but also to motivate them academically by showcasing success stories of graduating senior students. The U.S. Department of Education sponsored the Yes She Can program at The University of Texas at El Paso to contribute to the education of women students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines. The use of social media became a key component of the Yes She Can program, especially during the COVID 19 pandemic. The Yes She Can program has published four types of social media posts, namely 1) Quote of the week, 2) Announcements of events and opportunities, 3) Stories of famous people, and 4) Student success stories. While the content of the first three social media posts is self-explained, the 'student success stories' posts were generated from information provided by senior students through an online survey, specifically graduating women students. By showcasing 'student success stories' posts during the spring of 2021, our social media disseminated information of 14 internships, 20 scholarships, 23 conferences, 34 student organizations, 16 research programs, and 27 community service opportunities that are available at our university. From this study, the 'student success stories' posts were identified as a promising strategy to not only increase students' engagement but to inspire and motivate younger students to succeed academically in STEM education. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022