A new white paper from a mechanical engineering association highlights how community colleges can expand opportunities in the field for students while addressing the country’s engineer shortage.
A two‑year initiative led by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and funded by the ECMC Foundation significantly expanded access to engineering education at community colleges, increased student persistence and scaled employer‑aligned experiential learning, according to the analysis. The Accelerating Engineering Pathways (AEP) initiative engaged 395 students and 27 faculty across 15 community colleges — more than 60% of which were minority-serving institutions — and produced measurable gains in enrollment, persistence and student confidence.
AEP targeted the widening gap between employer demand for engineering talent and the available workforce by centering community colleges as equitable entry points into high‑demand technical careers. The program combined hands‑on workshops, mentorship, scholarships, engineering competitions, faculty development and the EMPOWER work‑based learning program to align classroom learning with employer needs.
“Community colleges are essential to the future of the engineering workforce,” Kathleen Kosmoski, ASME’s director of workforce development, said in a release. “This research shows that when students are connected to industry aligned learning and real work experiences, they persist, succeed and enter the workforce with confidence.”
Addressing an issue
ASME noted that tapping underrepresented groups is critical to addressing the growing shortage of engineers. Between 2023 and 2031, the demand for engineering skills will increase 13%, yet one-third of positions will be unfilled each year, according to an analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Meanwhile, women comprise only 34% of the STEM workforce, and non-White employees make up about 37% of that workforce, according to the brief. (Hispanic workers comprise 15% of the total, followed by Asian workers at 10% and Black workers at 8%.)
With those figures in mind, ASME focused on recruiting historically underrepresented groups for its initiative, with positive results. Women comprised 53% of AEP participants — compared to the national average of about 20% in engineering fields — and Hispanic or Latino students made up 50% of participants.
Key results
The initiative provided workshops, scholarships, student competitions, faculty professional development and more. But a key component was the EMPOWER work-based learning program, which provided a replicable model for employers.
As a result of the initiative:
- There was a 37% overall increase — from 20,980 to 28,846 students — in engineering‑related enrollment from fall 2022 to fall 2024 among participating colleges.
- Persistence saw an uptick, from 46% to 62% by spring 2025.
- Completions and transfers to four-year institutions increased 13%.
- Colleges reported student placements increased 139% in the second year of the program.
“By improving access, creating and enhancing support structures, and providing relevant, employer-aligned experiences, AEP offers a scalable blueprint for cultivating a more inclusive and industry-ready engineering workforce,” according to the brief.
Looking ahead
The brief also identified persistent structural barriers common to community colleges: faculty turnover, inconsistent institutional data systems, limited local employer networks and student scheduling constraints. To address these, the report recommends short‑term actions such as expanding asynchronous learning and introducing digital credentials, and longer‑term strategies including regional employer‑faculty coordinators, multi‑pronged data strategies, and scaling through system‑level partnerships.
ASME said it aims to build on the initiative’s success by engaging more than 80 community colleges and more than 3,000 students by fiscal year 2028.
