Getting Students On The Right Track: A Study Of Exit Surveys In A First Year Engineering Program

The goals of a first year engineering program are to both provide students with a sound academic preparation for engineering study, and to allow them to explore various engineering disciplines. Through academic advising and career counseling, our program helps students discover the career path that is right for them. We find that about 30% of students choose to leave engineering by the end of their first year of study. These students voluntarily complete an Exit Survey, which includes questions on their level of certainty upon entering the program, people with whom the decision to leave was discussed, the primary motivating factors both to enter and to leave engineering, and what appeals to them about their new majors. We have analyzed over 400 of these Exit Surveys over a four-year period to examine correlations between gender, choice of new major, reasons for leaving, and the impact of different program resources. The study also demonstrates how the survey results can inform and enhance the different aspects of a first year engineering program. Survey responses show that students vary in their levels of a) understanding the robustness and diversity of engineering as a profession, b) comprehending the need for the foundational concepts presented by math, physics and chemistry, and c) willingness to immerse one’s self in a difficult course of study. A phenomenographic approach is being used to divide survey responses into categories, which can then be correlated to various survey parameters, such as gender, level of certainty upon entering the program, and reasons for leaving engineering.