Individual and Environmental Factors that Significantly Impact Short- and Long-term Interest in Engineering

This paper provides data and recommendations for best practices grounded in the argument that a set of individual qualities and elements of the educational setting that have been identified in the research literature as playing a significant role in promoting women's retention in engineering majors and interest in engineering as a career, have similarly significant effects on men's interests. Data from questionnaires completed by students in eight colleges or schools of engineering (N=1629) and from interviews conducted during nine campus visits demonstrated the importance of one individual quality-motivation-and one environmental quality - perceptions of support from family and friends-on both the short- and long-term interest in engineering of male and female undergraduate engineering majors. The perception that faculty members and peers cared about them and respected their ability to succeed in engineering was significant in predicting both men's and women's intent to remain in an engineering major. These finding underscore the importance of interactions that communicate the conviction that students have the ability and commitment to succeed in engineering.