Work in progress - first year engineering student responses on exit surveys as indicators of program effectiveness

Improving student retention rates in first year engineering courses is of critical importance, especially considering the one-way migration pattern out of engineering. Our program retains approximately 70% of new students in engineering disciplines. Students who choose to leave engineering by the end of their first year at our institution voluntarily complete a survey with questions regarding their certainty upon entry, motivating factors to enter and to leave engineering, and what appeals to them about their new majors. We have analyzed nearly 400 surveys over a five-year period to examine correlations between reasons for leaving and how students come to that decision, with changes in program resources, specifically refining career information, personality profile assessment, and mastery assessment. Open-ended survey responses were categorized based on concerns about the profession, the curriculum, self-awareness and institutional (or programmatic) issues. Using career theory as a framework, the survey responses were evaluated in light of programmatic changes that have been implemented.