Internships Designed for Engineering Autistic Students in Mind

This project aims to serve the national interest by establishing best practices in supporting a neurodivergent engineering workforce during their postsecondary education and early training. The project team plans to recruit and coach students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) on pre-employment and professional skills, such as communication, team dynamics, and creative problem solving. The team also plans to provide training and support to internship hiring and supervising managers in engineering internships to help them understand the assets of engineering interns with ASD, along with ways to support them. This project aims to measure the effectiveness and document the process of providing specialized career preparation for autistic engineering students. The team intends to measure and document strategies for supporting hiring and supervising managers to accommodate autistic employees. A greater understanding of both learning processes—that of the student with ASD and that of the prospective employer—will lead to improved practices in pre-vocational habilitation and cultivation of engineering identity, self-efficacy, and self-advocacy for engineering students with ASD. Research methods include pre- and post-surveying and qualitative interviewing of students and employers. The NSF IUSE: EDU Program supports research and development of projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.