Reimagining an Integrated Pathway to Engineering Careers

The Fresno K-16 Collaborative is a signature initiative of the California Governor’s Council on Postsecondary Education that aims to increase college degree attainment in high-demand industries, align educational preparation with the needs of regional employers, and close race and equity gaps by developing an integrated system and seamless set of educational experiences across the region’s K-12 districts, community colleges, and four-year universities. During the initial pilot period (July 1, 2020, to March 31, 2022), regional education leaders received state funding to advance four priority industry pathways, including engineering.

To support the engineering pathway, JFF was charged with engaging leaders in developing a first-of-its-kind prototype for horizontal integration across four K-12 districts, three community colleges, and the engineering schools at Fresno State University and the University of California, Merced (UC Merced).

The overarching question driving this engagement was:

1. What would it look like for partner institutions to operate as a fully integrated K-16 engineering pathway designed to meet the K-16 Collaborative’s goal of increased bachelor’s degree completion?

Through a student journey mapping exercise and asset mapping process, JFF and the Engineering Pathway leaders identified critical milestones for student achievement and surfaced a wide range of existing resources supporting student success. The analysis found, however, that many of these resources remain siloed and that the partner institutions need to develop new ways of working together to address shared needs. Additionally, leaders expressed a need to identify shared targets, baselines, and consistent processes for data-driven planning.

At the conclusion of the participatory design process, JFF distilled findings and developed a set of recommendations for moving beyond isolated efforts toward an integrated, co-designed, and co-owned K-16 engineering pathway.

(This report is 45 pages in length and was published in 2022.)

Select findings and recommendations for pathway design include, but are not limited to, the following:

Enhancing K-12 math preparation is critical to expanding access to engineering.

• Recommendation: Identify successful models that can be scaled to enhance K-12 STEM curricula and align course content with college math requirements and key student journey milestones.

Supporting students of color and female students requires population-specific outreach and program design that addresses systemic inequities.

• Recommendation: Design intentional outreach, support, and cohort programs for specific student populations at all phases of the student journey.

Tutoring resources are currently underutilized and may be seen as inaccessible.

• Recommendation: Develop and pilot an embedded tutoring model for high school math courses to provide accessible support within students' everyday learning environments.

A regional employer engagement strategy is needed to integrate work-based learning intentionally.

• Recommendations: Develop a clear continuum of work-based learning opportunities.

Ensure engineering pathway fields are aligned to labor market needs and provide students with opportunities for living-wage jobs.

• Recommendation: Convene industry advisory boards and develop a process for regularly incorporating labor market information into pathway planning.

Select findings and recommendations for Engineering Pathway leadership and decision-making include, but are not limited to, the following:

Collaborative partners need shared long-term goals and consistent definitions to enable data-informed decision-making.

• Recommendations: Adopt a shared goal for increasing engineering degree completion in the Fresno region by 2035.

Gaps in information and resource sharing constrain partnership-building efforts.

• Recommendations: Building on the governance structure developed by the Fresno K-16 Collaborative, establish clear roles, responsibilities, and accountability mechanisms for sustained work of the K-16 Engineering Pathway; develop a shared set of communication strategies, practices, and engagement principles.

Building and sustaining an integrated system requires dedicated capacity and funding.

• Recommendations: Allocate funds to support dedicated release time for key institutional leaders to advance K-16 engineering pathway work; identify opportunities to braid funding by leveraging multiple state and system-level initiatives with aligned goals.

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2022
• Author(s): Uhl, K.; Bentley, S.; Zawatski, J.; Gutierrez, A.
• Resource Availability: Publicly available
• Posted by: Wesley Peterson
• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies