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BACKGROUNDModels of engineering retention use high school GPA and mathematics standardized test scores to measure pre-college characteristics and first year of college GPA to measure academic integration in college. This study uses high school and college physics and calculus coursetaking and achievement to predict engineering degree attainment among students on-track for an engineering degree. PURPOSE (HYPOTHESIS)This study predicts that high school accelerated physics and calculus coursetaking and grades influences grades earned in college physics and calculus and both sets of factors influence engineering degree attainment. DESIGN/METHODMultinomial logistic regression analyses determine the effects of high or low achievement in high school on high and low achievement in college physics and calculus courses and the effects of both on earning an engineering degree. RESULTSPre-college characteristics and academic integration were not consistently related to the destination of engineering migrants. Community college enrollment was not related to attrition. High school calculus achievement is the strongest predictor of grades in college physics and calculus courses, accounting for the positive effects of accelerated physics and calculus coursetaking. CONCLUSIONSEngineering degree attainment models should include coursetaking and particularly achievement in high school and college physics and calculus courses. Attrition outcomes should include the destination major in order to capture achievement effects on migration to business and non-STEM fields compared to migration to other STEM fields that require quantitative skills acquired in physics and calculus courses.

Interviews with faculty, administrators, staff, and students at four engineering programs reveal the role of undergraduate student employment on retention and timely degree completion among engineering students. Dueling narratives reveal how student approaches to earning an engineering degree differ greatly from faculty, administrator, and staff expectations. Faculty, administrators, and staff advise students on proper time management and are frustrated that student employment reflects a lack of commitment to engineering. Students acknowledge the challenges of balancing school and work yet consider employment important to student life. Some students adjust their course schedules to meet work demands, thus increasing time to degree. Faculty describe a seamless pathway to an engineering career through coursework, scholarships, undergraduate research opportunities, and internships. Students remain employed because scholarships do not sufficiently meet their financial needs and internships are not convenient for all students.Students need to stop working so much. They're working way too much. . . . I try to tell them, "Please, if you're working 31-40 hours, don't take more than three credits" and the common response to me is, "Well I'll never graduate." [To which I say] "Well then quit working so doggone much." 479 Ó 2012, Baywood Publishing Co., Inc.

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