Introducing minority students to technological careers through computer programming

This paper describes a program for minority students which is being implemented by the College of Engineering at the University of Notre Dame. The intent of the program is to motivate minority students toward professional careers in engineering, technology and related areas. This is being accomplished by having the students come into contact with interesting elementary engineering problems at an early stage in their secondary education while there is still an opportunity to enroll in courses which will broaden their career choices. The particular tool being used is computer programming which is introduced at the junior high school level. The major expense items of the program include teacher training and the acquisition of equipment; both of which have a useful life of many years. One significant feature of the program is that once its feasibility is demonstrated, it can be easily transferred to other engineering schools.