Measuring student integration and institutional support

Engineering is a demanding discipline and otherwise qualified students often take their talents elsewhere- either before earning a Bachelor´s degree or shortly thereafter. As a result, engineering educators must provide students with adequate support to increase the chances of students successfully integrating into the field of engineering. However, little is known about the relationship between Institutional Support and Student Integration or how each construct influences the retention or early-career decision-making of engineering students. Drawing on the Model of Co-curricular Support, the purpose of this paper is to describe current efforts to develop survey instruments that can be used to investigate how undergraduate engineering students rate themselves on Institutional Support and Student Integration, paying close attention to gender and race/ethnicity. Survey instruments that are valid and reliable within this context would be useful for assessing the impact of student interventions.