Engineering Attrition: Student Characteristics And Educational Initiatives

Roughly fifty percent of the students who begin in engineering leave the field before receiving their engineering degree. Typically half of this attrition occurs during the first year. Its causes may vary widely from student to student (e.g. disinterest in the field of engineering, lack of fundamental preparation, lack of confidence to succeed). However, before we can develop more effective initiatives to reduce this high rate of attrition, we must first determine its underlying causes. As a result of an in-depth analysis of the attrition and retention issues at one school, several curricular and evaluation-based efforts have been introduced that are aimed at improving retention not only at the freshman level, but also at the sophomore and junior levels. This paper discusses results from the in-depth analysis and provides an overview of the curricula and evaluation changes made. We also suggest additional methods to examine.