A qualitative case study of persistence of engineering undergraduates

• Autores: Matthew Meyer, Ning Fang
• Localización: The International journal of engineering education, ISSN-e 0949-149X, Vol. 35, no. 1 (Parte A ), 2019, págs. 99-108
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Recent years have seen a surging need for engineering undergraduates, as many countries have looked to such a group tospur economic growth and compete internationally. However, the retention rate of engineering undergraduates has been along-standing issue in the United States. Most often, literature provides aggregate results about student retention, but doesnot describe in sufficient detail how individual students make their decisions to leave or stay in engineering. This papercontains a qualitative case study of persistence of engineering undergraduates by describing the detailed narratives of fivestudy participants who recently dropped out of engineering programs at a large, public research university in the MountainWest region of the USA. Each participant had different family backgrounds and varying experiences within engineeringand education. Common themes expressed among the five participants included: a loss of connection and interest inengineering, and experiencing barrier courses that challenged them academically. Participants urged future engineeringstudents to understand the high level of commitment necessary to make it through the academically rigorous under-graduate engineering program before starting.