Understanding Opportunities and Barriers to Engineering Student Success and Persistence

Abstract

The objective of this work was to determine what opportunities and barriers exist for University of Saskatchewan engineering students that may affect persistence and/or academic success. A systematic literature review analyzing factors impacting student retention and attrition provided a framework to guide this study. As the factors identified by the systematic review include both cognitive and non-cognitive factors, a convergent mixed methodology study was chosen. Data was collected from a pilot survey, engineering student demographic databases, a final (full) survey, interviews, and a focus group to assess each factor in the framework. A pragmatic epistemological approach was employed, allowing the researcher to utilize constructivist and post-positivist stances as appropriate, based on the type of data collected/analysis conducted, with corresponding quality criteria indicated explicitly. Upon completion of the convergent analysis of these data sources, the framework was corroborated, suggesting that the factors that impact student attrition/retention include: institutional climate, curriculum, mentorship, peer influence/sense of belonging, faculty engagement, student access to professional role models, a student’s academic achievement history, learning style, intrinsic motivation and attitude, self-efficacy, and demographics (gender, Indigenous ancestry, rural/urban, etc.). Those factors most pronounced in this study’s context were peer influence and sense of belonging, faculty engagement, and student workload/curriculum, and it is recommended that these issues are further investigated by the College of Engineering in order to identify what actions may be taken to optimise student experience with regard to these three factors.