The role of expectations in the educational experience and professional socialization of engineering students

Abstract

Academic and non-academic expectations contribute to students’ stress and impact achievement and retention. This qualitative study investigates how expectations are socially constructed in engineering programs and internalized by students. Data was collected in focus groups with 38 participants at two universities. Using constant comparative methods, findings identify sources of expectations and mechanisms by which students internalized these. Sources comprise academics, superiors, peers, extracurricular, and influences from outside the major. The mechanisms of compounding, conflicting, and triangulating show that the interplay of expectations amplifies their emotional impacts. Implications for educators are to communicate academic standards without inadvertently reinforcing problematic social performance expectations.