Johnson, B., & Main, J. (2022, August), Investigating Factors that Inform Engineering Students' Choice of Extracurricular Actvities  Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--41129

\bibitem{asee_peer_41129}
  Johnson, B., \& Main, J. (2022, August), \emph{Investigating Factors that Inform Engineering Students' Choice of Extracurricular Actvities}
  Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Minneapolis, MN.
  10.18260/1-2--41129

Beata Johnson and Joyce Main.  "Investigating Factors that Inform Engineering Students' Choice of Extracurricular Actvities".  2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN, 2022, August.  ASEE Conferences, 2022.  https://peer.asee.org/41129 Internet.  15 Dec, 2024

\bibitem{asee_peer_41129}
  Beata Johnson and Joyce Main.
  "Investigating Factors that Inform Engineering Students' Choice of Extracurricular Actvities".
  \emph{2022 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Minneapolis, MN, 2022, August}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2022.
  https://peer.asee.org/41129 Internet.  15 Dec, 2024

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_41129
author = "Beata Johnson and Joyce Main"
title = "Investigating Factors that Inform Engineering Students' Choice of Extracurricular Actvities"
booktitle = "2022 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition"
year = "2022"
month = "August"
address = "Minneapolis, MN"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/41129}
number = {10.18260/1-2--41129}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This research paper investigates engineering students’ reasons for participating in different types of extracurricular activities, including student organizations, co-curricular activities, and other out-of-class activities. Participating in extracurricular and co-curricular (hereafter extra-/co-curricular) activities has been associated with retention and graduation, leadership and professional development, and engagement and sense of belonging, among other positive outcomes. While these positive outcomes are well documented, it is less clear what specific benefits arise from participation and what students’ perceptions of these benefits are. Through analysis of survey data from first-year undergraduate engineering students at a large Midwestern university, this study examines the following research question: What factors inform first-year engineering students’ choices to join different types of extra-/co-curricular activities? 
Survey respondents shared information about their top one or two most significant extra-/co-curricular activities and the reasons that they chose to participate in these activities. Through qualitative coding of students’ descriptions of the significance of and activities related to their participation, six categories of extra-/co-curricular activities were identified: design/research, professional, recreational, service, job, and community. Descriptive analysis of the most frequent reasons for participating in these different types of activities provides insight into varied reasons and patterns of extra-/co-curricular participation. The most common choices of activities are combinations of recreational, design/research, and professional. Career-related reasons inform participation in design/research and professional activities, while social reasons most influence choice of participation in recreational and community activities. 
This study contributes to understanding how students pursue multiple complementary extra-/co-curricular activities to support their goals and interests. By better understanding the influence of different activities of extra-/co-curricular participation, students can make more informed choices in how they allocate their time to pursuing different goals and interests. Additionally, this study’s examination of factors that influence students’ choice of activities can help inform university programming and advising to support students in these choices. 
AU  - Beata Johnson
AU  - Joyce Main
CY  - Minneapolis, MN
DA  - 2022/08/23
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Investigating Factors that Inform Engineering Students' Choice of Extracurricular Actvities
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/41129
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--41129
ER  -