Identifying factors affecting persistence rates among undergraduate engineering students from underrepresented populations at the University of Virginia

Abstract

The literature abounds with descriptions of factors affecting persistence rates both positively and negatively among undergraduate engineering students from underrepresented populations. For the purposes of this study, the relevant underrepresented populations are African American, Hispanic American, and Native American. Some of these factors universally affect all students, and others are specific to a school of engineering's culture. We propose a survey to identify the factors most significantly affecting persistence rates at the School of Engineering at the University of Virginia (U.Va. SEAS), the developmental form of which is presented in this paper, as the first step in creating retention programs that will work effectively in our institutional culture. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2007.