Multirater Feedback of Leadership of Underrepresented Groups in a Civil Engineering Capstone Design Course

Abstract

This study examined self, peer, and instructor ratings of leadership behaviors in four areas: collaboration, creativity, organization/control, and competition for 98 students in one civil engineering capstone design course. There was no significant difference between ratings of students based on gender identification within or across all three rater groups. However, peer ratings for all four leadership behaviors for underrepresented race/ethnicity minorities (URM) were lower than for non-URM students. Instructor ratings were lower for international students than for domestic students. Even with low sample sizes, these results warrant further research on implicit bias in leadership ratings within engineering education, with a special focus on the bias against URM and international students.