Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Education

Abstract

Career and Technical Education is a significant part of many high school curricula. Technology courses offer hands-on learning and problem-solving skills to prepare students to be both college and career ready. The teachers who obtain a degree in this field are often referred to as Technology and Engineering Educators (TEE). TEE majors in the state of Indiana can choose from four-year programs at three different universities within the state. Indiana has seen a large jump in the number of TEE job openings over the past five years but is struggling to find candidates interested in majoring in the area. There is a shortage of TEE teachers in middle and high schools as well as a shortage of candidates majoring in this degree. The purpose of this study was to review current recruitment methods in the state of Indiana for TEE programs. The 3 four-year institutions that offer the major were invited to participate in the study. Both university faculty and current TEE students had the opportunity to voice their opinions as to what they perceived and what they experienced when they were recruited into the major. Four faculty chose to participate in the survey, with three of them participating in the interview portion of this study. There were eight survey responses from students, and no students chose to participate in the interview portion of this study. Surveys were completed, and interviews were conducted with those who were willing to participate. Themes were analyzed and the following results were found: faculty and students both agreed that the most influential factor in choosing the TEE major was a current or former high school teacher. Faculty work closely with current high school teachers since they are viewed as the best recruitment method. Faculty participants use mixed methods of recruitment such as volunteering at student events, posting flyers, sending emails, and hosting campus visits. Student participants indicated that these recruitment methods had little to no influence on their decisions to choose the TEE major. Participating faculty indicated that they give students individualized attention and help them to be successful in their coursework as a means of retaining them in the major; the student participants agreed that they remain in the major because of the individualized attention but also because they have an interest in the coursework.

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