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Pre-college experiences both inside and outside of the classroom inform students’ interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)-related activities, help them evaluate their knowledge and skills in various tasks, and shape their perceptions of themselves as individuals who can participate in STEM. Yet little empirical research examines the valuable pre-college knowledge, practices, and skills that minoritized students acquire through their home experiences and how they can support students’ transition into an engineering pathway. This study addresses this gap by investigating how students’ funds of knowledge support their interest in engineering, self-efficacy beliefs, and certainty of pursuing an engineering major. Data for this study came from a diverse group of first-year engineering students. A serial mediation analysis confirmed that first-year students’ tinkering knowledge from home supports their beliefs about doing well in their engineering coursework, which in turn helps their certainty of majoring in engineering. Seeing a connection between experiences at home and what is being taught in engineering coursework and the ability to draw from home experiences to solve an engineering task supported minoritized students’ self-efficacy beliefs, interest, and certainty of majoring in engineering. Our study demonstrates how diverse first-year engineering students’ everyday household knowledge and skills serve as assets for pursuing an engineering degree. Practical strategies are discussed to promote minoritized students’ funds of knowledge (i.e., tinkering knowledge from home, perspective taking, and mediational skills) to science practices and the engineering design process outlined in the Next Generation Science Standards.

Ethnic minorities, such as Latinx people of Hispanic or Latino origin, and women earn fewer engineering degrees than Caucasians and men. With shifting population dynamics and high demands for a technically qualified workforce, it is important to achieve broad participation in the engineering workforce by all ethnicities and both genders. Previous research has examined the knowledge of and interest in engineering among students in grades five and higher. In contrast, the present study examined elementary school students in grades K–5. The study found that older students in grades 4 and 5 had both greater knowledge of engineering occupational activities and greater interest in engineering than younger students in grades K–3. Moreover, Caucasian students had greater knowledge and interest levels than Latinx students. There were no significant differences between boys and girls, nor any significant interactions among gender, grade level, and ethnicity. A significant positive correlation between knowledge of engineering occupational activities and interest in engineering was also found. The findings suggest that early engineering outreach interventions are important. Such early interventions could potentially contribute to preserving the equivalent interest levels of males and females for engineering as students grow older. Also, ethnic disparities in engineering knowledge and interest could potentially be mitigated through early interventions.