Who enrolls in electrical engineering? A quantitative analysis of U.S.A. student trajectories

Electrical Engineering (EE) is one of the largest engineering disciplines. Analysis of the student population specifically within EE provides insights into a large segment of the undergraduate engineering population. Using a dataset from universities in the United States of America that includes over 70,000 students who majored in engineering, this work considers the subset of that population matriculating in EE. The rates of EE matriculation and six-year graduation vary by race and gender. The relevant findings are that males out number females at all levels of undergraduate EE. EE is the most popular choice for Asian and Black males at matriculation and the second choice (after ME) for Hispanic and White males. EE is much more popular for Asian and Black females than Hispanic and White females at matriculation and graduation. In fact, more Black females graduate in EE than in any other engineering discipline. The six-year graduation rate of EE matriculants is higher than that of students of other engineering disciplines. These findings suggest the importance disaggregating by engineering subdiscipline and examining how such information is useful in improving recruitment and retention overall.