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Qualitative Inquiry that Counts Rethinking Why Students Leave Engineering

Elaine R. Borrelli

The University of New Mexico

Abstract The questions we ask students about why they stay or leave college are framed from well-researched retention theories. Not surprisingly, our surveys support the answers we expect to hear. Students report the need for more mentoring, study-groups, and classroom support. But the ‘frame’ of these questions is misaligned with how the college student actually experiences his/her education. Educational research tends to define the unit of analysis of the student as part of the higher education system vis-à-vis their classes, their use of resources, their GPA, their interaction with faculty, etc. From my research, I have discovered that the unit of analysis is the student as a part of their family system. Further, my research indicates that family influences appear to be the dominant social membership identity that students construct to explain their college choices and degree plans. This distinction is critical to understanding and rethinking why students who are in good academic standing continue to leave engineering majors. Many of us share a research assumption that student retention is about improving university life, including the quality of instruction, the size of the library, and even the success of the football team. More research should be directed to the linkage between the family unit and the student’s decision-making as it impacts engineering degree persistence. In many ways, this may be a thorny issue. However, a systems theory approach will lead us to an understanding of how people, resources, and processes come together during a student’s college experience.

1 Introduction:

Theoretical grounding of systems

Peter Senge introduced the concept of systems thinking in his seminal work, The Fifth Discipline 6. Systems thinking is the first of five theoretical constructs that form the foundation of his advancement of a new, integrated theory of organizational learning. Organizational learning offers a way to harness individual cognition and learning to facilitate the organization- wide learning and improve the ability to adapt, change and grow. Systems thinking is multi- dimensional (all individuals in an organization) and multi-directional: information or knowledge flows up, down, and around. For complex problems, systems thinking offers “a discipline for seeing the ‘structures’ that underlie complex situations” which is “concerned with a shift of mind from seeing parts to seeing wholes” 6 ( p 69).

“Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright c 2002, American Society for Engineering Education”

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Borrelli, E. (2002, June), Qualitative Inquiry That Counts: Rethinking Why Students Leave Engineering Paper presented at 2002 Annual Conference, Montreal, Canada. 10.18260/1-2--10742