Gender Differences In Major Selection And Academic Success For Students Leaving Engineering

Abstract

The major selection and academic performance of students who matriculated in and subsequently left undergraduate engineering programs are studied at the nine SUCCEED universities (Southeastern University and College Coalition for Engineering Education) from 1987 to 1996 (requiring student data from 1987 to 2002) to determine gender differences in these outcomes. Academic success after leaving engineering is characterized by three outcomes: graduation in the first non-engineering major, graduation after at least one additional change of major, and failure to graduate. The impact of gender and grade-point average (GPA) at the time of leaving engineering on major selection and subsequent academic success were investigated in a multicategory, logistic regression model. The results revealed a significant interaction effect between GPA and gender on students' post-engineering success. Females leaving engineering with GPA less than 2.65 were more likely to graduate in the first non-engineering major. At higher GPA's, the reverse was true. Females who changed their major at least once more were also more likely to graduate than their male counterparts when leaving engineering with lower GPA (less than 2.75), the difference is not observed for males and females leaving engineering with GPA greater than 2.75. Concomitant to these two success rates is that females with a GPA lower than 2.8 are more likely to graduate after leaving engineering than their male counterparts. With a GPA greater than 3.125, males were more likely to graduate after leaving engineering than females. With GPA between 2.8 and 3.125, males and females had the same probability of graduation after leaving engineering.

Change of Major Policy and Its Effects

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Considerable attention has been paid to factors affecting student's selection of Engineering and related majors [1,3,5] and issues affecting retention and graduation in these majors [4,7]. Lesser attention has been paid to change of major policies and their effects [2].We study the history and effects of "change of major" policies in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Texas at Dallas.

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“…Considerable attention has been paid to factors affecting student's selection of Engineering and related majors [1,3,5] and issues affecting retention and graduation in these majors [4,7]. Lesser attention has been paid to change of major policies and their effects [2].…”