Cultivando Engineering Skills: Uncovering the Funds of Knowledge Among Engineering Students and Professionals with Migratory Backgrounds

Ulises Trujillo Garcia; Dina Verdín

doi:10.21061/see.198

Cultivando Engineering Skills: Uncovering the Funds of Knowledge Among Engineering Students and Professionals with Migratory Backgrounds

Studies in Engineering Education

Volume 7 (2026): Issue 2

By: Ulises Trujillo Garcia and Dina Verdín

Open Access

|Aug 2026

Abstract

Background: Latinx students from migratory farmworking families face unique challenges when navigating educational and professional engineering contexts. Yet, they are rich with funds of knowledge that can be applied to support their engineering journey.

Purpose/Hypothesis: This qualitative study identified how they developed and utilized their funds of knowledge in different engineering contexts.

Design/Method: This study used interview data to examine the funds of knowledge developed by individuals of migratory families and their use in engineering. Our goal was to uncover and document how these individuals developed and used their funds of knowledge in two engineering contexts, i.e., degree programs and industry.

Results: Our results demonstrate how our participants (both migratory engineering students and working professionals) bridged empathetic habits of mind, teamwork, organizational skills, work ethic, translational skills, and resourcefulness from their home lives into engineering practice.

Conclusion: By understanding and integrating the funds of knowledge that migratory individuals bring to the classroom, we can improve how we teach and practice engineering.

References

ABET. (2024). Criteria for accrediting engineering programs, 2025–2026. Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, Inc. https://www.abet.org/accreditation/accreditation-criteria/criteria-for-accrediting-engineering-programs-2025-2026/
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Anderson, L. M., Meredith, J., Schmidt, R. A., Pratt-Williams, J., Jonas, D. L., & Vandersall, K. (2019). Study of the Implementation of the “ESEA” Title I: Part C Migrant Education Program. Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Araujo, B. (2011). The College Assistance Migrant Program: A valuable resource for migrant farmworker students. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 10(3), 252–265. 10.1177/1538192711406282
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Bartlett, K. J., & Vargas, F. O. (1991). Literacy education for adult migrant farmworkers (ERIC Digest No. ED334873). National Clearinghouse on Literacy Education. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED334873
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Branz-Spall, A. M., Rosenthal, R., & Wright, A. (2003). Children of the road: Migrant students, our nation’s most mobile population. The Journal of Negro Education, 72(1), 55–62. 10.2307/3211290
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Carnevale, A. P., & Fasules, M. L. (2017). Latino education and economic progress: Running faster but still behind. Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED590640.pdf
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Darling, A. L., & Dannels, D. P. (2003). Practicing engineers talk about the importance of talk: A report on the role of oral communication in the workplace. Communication Education, 52(1), 1–16. 10.1080/03634520302457
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Denton, M., & Borrego, M. (2021). Funds of knowledge in STEM education: A scoping review. Studies in Engineering Education, 1(2), 71–92. 10.21061/see.19
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Denton, M., Borrego, M., & Boklage, A. (2020). Community cultural wealth in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education: A systematic review. Journal of Engineering Education, 109(3), 556–580. 10.1002/jee.20322
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Downey, G. L., & Lucena, J. C. (2004). Knowledge and professional identity in engineering: Code-switching and the metrics of progress. History and Technology, 20(4), 393–420. 10.1080/0734151042000304358
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Duron, S. B. (1995). Migrant farmworker students: Decisions involved in post-secondary participation and success (ERIC Document No. ED383506). [Authoring institution]. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED383506
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Escamilla, A., & Trevino, N. G. (2014). An investigation of the factors contributing to successful completion of undergraduate degrees by the students enrolled in the College Assistance Migrant Program. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 13(3), 158–176. 10.1177/1538192714527314
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Faulkner, W. (2007). “Nuts and bolts and people”: Gender-troubled engineering identities. Social Studies of Science, 37(3), 331–356. 10.1177/0306312706072175
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Free, J. L., Križ, K., & Konecnik, J. (2014). Harvesting hardships: Educators’ views on the challenges of migrant students and their consequences on education. Children and Youth Services Review, 47(3), 187–197. 10.1016/j.childyouth.2014.08.013
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Fung, W., Prado, K., Gold, A., Padovani, A., Carroll, D., & Finchum-Mason, E. (2023). Findings from the National Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS) 2021–2022: A demographic and employment profile of United States crop workers (Research Report No. 17). U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration. https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/naws/pdfs/NAWS%20Research%20Report%2017.pdf
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Gonzalez, G. G. (1990). Chicano education in the era of segregation (2013 ed.). Balch Institute Press.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
González, N., Moll, L. C., & Amanti, C. (2005). Funds of knowledge: theorizing practices in households, communities, and classrooms. L. Erlbaum Associates.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
González, N., Wyman, L., & O’connor, B. H. (2011). The past, present, and future of “funds of knowledge.” In B. A. U. Levinson & M. Pollock (Eds.), A Companion to the anthropology of education (pp. 479–494). Wiley-Blackwell. 10.1002/9781444396713.ch28
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Graff, C. S., McCain, T., & Gomez-Vilchis, V. (2013). Latina resilience in higher education: Contributing factors including seasonal farmworker experiences. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 12(4), 334–344. 10.1177/1538192713494212
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Green, P. E. (2003). The undocumented: Educating the children of migrant workers in America. Bilingual Research Journal, 27(1), 51–71. 10.1080/15235882.2003.10162591
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Jackson, N., & Shaw, M. (2006). Developing subject perspectives on creativity in higher education. In N. Jackson, M. Oliver, M. Shaw, & J. Wilson (Eds.), Developing creativity in higher education (pp. 89–108). Routledge.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Jiménez, F. (1997). The circuit stories from the life of a migrant child (1st ed.). University of New Mexico Press. https://www.unmpress.com/9780826317971/the-circuit/
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Jiménez, F. (2015). Taking hold: from migrant childhood to Columbia University. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Kier, M. W., & Khalil, D. (2018). Exploring how digital technologies can support co-construction of equitable curricular resources in STEM. International Journal of Education in Mathematics, Science and Technology, 6(2), 105–121. https://ijemst.com/index.php/ijemst/article/view/398
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Kiyama, J. M., & Rios-Aguilar, C. (Eds.). (2017). Funds of knowledge in higher education: Honoring students’ cultural experiences and resources as strengths (1st ed.). Routledge. 10.4324/9781315447322
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Leydens, J. A., & Lucena, J. C. (2018). Engineering justice: transforming engineering education and practice. John Wiley & Sons. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/book/10.1002/9781118757369
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Lincoln, Y. S., & Guba, E.G. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Sage. https://search.worldcat.org/title/11467836
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Maestri, L., & Wakkary, R. (2011). Understanding repair as a creative process of everyday design. Proceedings of the 8th ACM Conference on Creativity and Cognition, 81–90. 10.1145/2069618.2069633
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Mendez, J. J., & Bauman, S. (2018). From migrant farmworkers to first generation Latina/o students: Factors predicting college outcomes for students participating in the College Assistance Migrant Program. Review of Higher Education, 42(1), 173–208. 10.1353/rhe.2018.0037
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Moll, L. C., Amanti, C., Neff, D., & Gonzalez, N. (1992). Funds of knowledge for teaching: Using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. Theory Into Practice, 31(2), 132–141. 10.1080/00405849209543534
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
National Academy of Engineering. (2024). Extraordinary engineering impacts on society: Over seven decades of contributions from the National Science Foundation. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. https://www.nationalacademies.org/projects/NAE-NAE%20Prog-20-02
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
National Center for Farmworker Health. (2021). Facts about farmworkers. https://www.ncfh.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/facts_about_farmworkers_fact_sheet_1.10.23-1.pdf
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
National HEPCAMP. (2024). CAMP projects. https://www.hepcampassociation.org/campprojects
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Oughton, H. (2010). Funds of knowledge—A conceptual critique. Studies in the Education of Adults, 42(1), 63–78. 10.1080/02660830.2010.11661589
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Passow, H. J. (2012). Which ABET competencies do engineering graduates find most important in their work? Journal of Engineering Education, 101(1), 95–118. 10.1002/j.2168-9830.2012.tb00043.x
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Ramirez, A. D. (2012). The impact of the College Assistance Migrant Program on migrant student academic achievement in the California State University System. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 11(1), 3–13. 10.1177/1538192711435557
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Rasoal, C., Danielsson, H., & Jungert, T. (2012). Empathy among students in engineering programmes. European Journal of Engineering Education, 37(5), 427–435. 10.1080/03043797.2012.708720
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Rios-Aguilar, C., & Kiyama, J. M. (2012). Funds of knowledge: An approach to studying Latina(o) students’ transition to college. Journal of Latinos and Education, 11(1), 2–16. 10.1080/15348431.2012.631430
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Rios-Aguilar, C., Kiyama, J. M., Gravitt, M., & Moll, L. C. (2011). Funds of knowledge for the poor and forms of capital for the rich? A capital approach to examining funds of knowledge. Theory and Research in Education, 9(2), 163–184. 10.1177/1477878511409776
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Rodríguez-Simmonds, H. E., Godwin, A., Langus, T., Pearson, N., & Kirn, A. (2023). Building inclusion in engineering teaming practices. Studies in Engineering Education, 3(2), 31–59. 10.21061/see.84
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Saldaña, J. (2021). The coding manual for qualitative researchers (4E [Fourth edition].). SAGE.
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Samuelson, C. C., & Litzler, E. (2016). Community cultural wealth: An assets-based approach to persistence of engineering students of color. Journal of Engineering Education, 105(1), 93–117. 10.1002/jee.20110
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Sheppard, K., Dominick, P., & Aronson, Z. (2004). Preparing engineering students for the new business paradigm of international teamwork and global orientation. The International Journal of Engineering Education, 20(3), 475–483. https://www.ijee.ie/articles/Vol20-3/IJEE1486.pdf
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Smith, J. M., & Lucena, J. C. (2016). Invisible innovators: How low-income, first-generation students use their funds of knowledge to belong in engineering. Engineering Studies, 8(1), 1–26. 10.1080/19378629.2016.1155593
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education, Office of Migrant Education. (2022a). HEP/CAMP FY 2022 Report to Congress, Washington, DC 20202. https://oese.ed.gov/files/2023/01/2022-Report-to-Congress-HEP-CAMP-.pdf
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
U.S. Department of Education. (2022b). Title VIII, Part F of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act: Equitable services for eligible private school children, teachers, and other educational personnel (Non-regulatory guidance). https://oese.ed.gov/files/2022/03/Draft-Title-VIII-Equitable-Services-Guidance.pdf
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Migrant Education. (2026). College Assistance Migrant Program (84.149 A). U.S. Department of Education. https://www.ed.gov/grants-and-programs/grants-special-populations/grants-migrant-students/college-assistance-migrant-program-84149a
Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Ulug, C., & Horlings, L. G. (2019). Connecting resourcefulness and social innovation: Exploring conditions and processes in community gardens in the Netherlands. Local Environment, 24(3), 147–166. 10.1080/13549839.2018.1553941
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Verdín, D. (2024). Examining the funds of knowledge that support Latinx students’ engineering identity development and career aspirations. In L. Pérez-Felkner, S. L. Rodriguez, & C. Fluker, (Eds.), Latin* Students in Engineering: An Intentional Focus on a Growing Population (pp. 69–88). Rutgers University Press. 10.36019/9781978838703-006
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Verdín, D., Smith, J. M., & Lucena, J. C. (2020). The influence of connecting funds of knowledge to beliefs about performance, classroom belonging, and graduation certainty for first-generation college students. 2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference. 10.18260/1-2--35343
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Verdín, D., Smith, J. M., & Lucena, J. C. (2021a). Recognizing the funds of knowledge of first-generation college students in engineering: An instrument development. Journal of Engineering Education, 110(3), 671–699. 10.1002/jee.20410
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Verdín, D., Smith, J. M., & Lucena, J. (2021b). Funds of knowledge as pre-college experiences that promote minoritized students’ interest, self-efficacy beliefs, and choice of majoring in engineering. Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research, 11(1), 192–213. 10.7771/2157-9288.1281
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Verdín, D., Smith, J. M., & Lucena, J. C. (2024). First-generation college students’ funds of knowledge support the development of an engineering role identity. Journal of Engineering Education, 113(2), 383–406. 10.1002/jee.20591
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Walsh, E., Anders, K., Hancock, S., & Elvidge, L. (2013). Reclaiming creativity in the era of impact: Exploring ideas about creative research in science and engineering. Studies in Higher Education, 38(9), 1259–1273. 10.1080/03075079.2011.620091
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Walther, J., Brewer, M. A., Sochacka, N. W., & Miller, S. E. (2020). Empathy and engineering formation. Journal of Engineering Education, 109(1), 11–33. 10.1002/jee.20301
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Willison, S., & Jang, B. S. (2009). Are federal dollars bearing fruit?: An analysis of the College Assistance Migrant Program. Journal of Hispanic Higher Education, 8(3), 247–262. 10.1177/1538192708326394
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Wilson-Lopez, A., & Acosta-Feliz, J. (2021). Transnational Latinx youths’ workplace funds of knowledge and implications for assets-based, equity-oriented engineering education. Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research, 11(1), Article 7. 10.7771/2157-9288.1289
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article
Zaharim, A., Yusoff, Y. M., Mohamed, A., Omar, M. Z., Muhamad, N., & Mustapha, R. (2010). Practical framework of employability skills for engineering graduate in Malaysia. 2010 IEEE EDUCON 2010 Conference, 921–927. 10.1109/EDUCON.2010.5492478
Open DOI Search in Google Scholar Back to article

Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21061/see.198 | Journal eISSN: 2690-5450

Journal RSS Feed

Language: English

Page range: 127 - 149

Submitted on: Dec 5, 2024

Accepted on: Jun 28, 2026

Published on: Aug 27, 2026

Published by: Virginia Tech Publishing

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Keywords:

Capital,

Higher Education,

Latinx,

workforce,

equity

© 2026 Ulises Trujillo Garcia, Dina Verdín, published by Virginia Tech Publishing
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 7 (2026): Issue 2