Retention: are students good predictors? [engineering education]

The retention rates of engineering students, in general, are much lower than they should be. Of particular concern is the fact that women and underrepresented minorities are not only recruited in small numbers, but their retention rates are also low. Research has shown that there are many actions that can be done to help retain students. In order to better understand students and to design intervention programs that would improve their retention, the authors surveyed students enrolled in the ECE 100 class (Introduction to Engineering Design) at the end of the Fall 95 semester. The survey requested demographic data, reasons why engineering was chosen, recruitment participation and evaluation, and predictions about the student´s academic future and success. College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS), Arizona State University, USA, students were asked to give their best guess about their chances of graduating from the CEAS and of failing one or more classes. The results of the survey showed that students were quite good at predicting that they would likely be leaving the CEAS and whether they would fail at least one course. Men were more confident of graduating from CEAS than women