Engineering Dropouts: A Qualitative Examination of Why Undergraduates Leave Engineering: Engineering Dropouts: Why Undergraduates Leave Engineering

Abstract

Background While spending to prepare precollege students for engineering at universities increases, the number of engineering graduates continues to decrease, and attrition rates for engineering undergraduates remain high. Universities are motivated to understand the factors contributing to low retention of engineering undergraduates. Purpose/Hypothesis This article explores the experiences of four undergraduates who chose to leave engineering and provides insight into their reasons for leaving. Through attention to their experiences, this study captures participants' points of view as they explain how they made their decisions. Design/Method Students who recently left engineering were interviewed and completed a journey-mapping exercise describing their motivations and experiences. Analysis identified institutional and individual factors that contributed to their decisions to leave. Results Common themes of nonpersisting engineering undergraduates included individual factors (such as poor performance, feeling unprepared for demands of the engineering program, difficulty fitting into engineering) and institutional factors (such as disappointment with engineering advising). Concepts uncovered in this article not present in existing research include an emotional attachment between participants and the concept of being an engineer, students' sense of loss and failure, and their easy transition from engineering to another major. Conclusions Individual factors leading to attrition include unwillingness of students to adapt to the rigor of the engineering program and loss of confidence due to poor performance. Institutional factors also contribute to attrition. The key to understanding why students leave engineering is at the confluence of institutional and individual factors.