Keywords: science, mathematics, preparation, persistence
Engineering School, Life Balance, and the Student Experience
Students who pursue engineering undergraduate degrees at Science, Technology, Engineering and Math-intensive
(STEM) institutions experience imbalance unlike most other undergraduates in co-educational institutions.
Students tend to be highly academically oriented if they plan to graduate in four years, leaving little opportunity
to vary from the prescribed path. High credit loads often range from sixteen to twenty-two hours and course
content is both technical and challenging.
As part of the Academic Pathways Study (APS) component of the Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education,
results presented in this paper explore the role of life balance in satisfaction and persistence of engineering
students.
Implications of Findings
Given the widespread and repeated calls to expand the ranks of engineers in the United States, it is important
for engineering education to pay attention to research findings that suggest trouble spots. Our data indicate
that "Mountain Technical Institute" (MT) students desire greater balance than their academic environment will allow. Other
institutions must examine their own cultures to determine if these findings are applicable to engineering colleges
as a whole. If engineering wants to recruit and retain a larger population, it must find ways to expand its
offerings and climate conditions for students who could be interested in engineering if the environment met their
interests and needs.
| If engineering wants to recruit and retain a larger population, it must find ways to expand
its offerings and climate conditions for students who could be interested in engineering if the environment met
their interests and needs.
|
Method and Background
A mixed-methods approach was used in this analysis and included four items from online survey data, ethnographic
interviews, and examination of academic records. This paper presents analysis and findings of data for students
in their first year at MT. Nineteen females and twenty-one males comprised the
sample and were required to be a May/June 2003 high-school graduate, eighteen or older by October 1, 2003, a US
citizen or permanent resident, and be enrolled in or have the intention to enroll in an ABET-accredited engineering
major.
What We Found
Data from the online survey revealed that all of the surveyed students at MT reported feeling some amount of
concern about keeping up with schoolwork. In particular, a majority of students (56.4 percent) indicated frequent
concern about keeping up with schoolwork. Similarly, responses to a question about feeling stressed revealed that
36 percent of the students reported feeling frequently stressed. No student reported a complete lack of worry
about keeping up with schoolwork, nor did any student indicate an absence of stress. Results from the survey
question asking about time to pursue non-academic activities revealed that all but one student indicated some lack
of time for pursuing non-academic activities; 25 percent of students reported frequently feeling unable to pursue
non-academic activities due to lack of time. And in response to the question asking if the students felt they did
not have a social life, 10 percent reported feeling frequently that they did not have a social life, while another
41 percent reported occasionally feeling this way.
Interestingly, these four "balance" items from the survey are not significantly correlated with either overall
satisfaction with the institution or the decision to study engineering in the coming year. Thus, this level of
imbalance and stress does not appear to be directly related to persistence. However, the item regarding having
a social life had a significant correlation with a change in interest in studying engineering over time, indicating
that the more students felt as if they had social lives, the more likely they were to report their interest in
studying engineering had increased since starting college at MT. Taken together these data suggest that those
who managed to maintain a social life (a key element of balance) while also feeling overworked and stressed, are
individuals who are most likely to thrive academically. Perhaps balanced students are also students with a greater
interest in engineering.
APS qualitative data (e.g., interviews) indicate that MT students have a desire for more balance than their
academic environment will allow. Analysis of first year data indicates that engineering studies at MT attract
a certain type of student, whether male or female; women are largely happier than men in their pursuits; and women
seem to work harder at maintaining balance. This analysis also indicates that maintaining balance as a STEM student
isn’t easy as engineering school is an imbalanced environment, given the emphasis on math and science curricula
and heavy homework expectations. The problem is not unique to the MT campus as students at institutions with
broader offerings report similar experiences. This lack of balance may be an inhibitor of engineering education’s
efforts to broaden and deepen its ranks.
As with other engineering institutions, a strong culture of difficulty exists at MT, having a powerful effect
on students’ experiences. One female participant noted "This school’s really ridiculously hard." The perception
that MT is an extremely difficult learning environment exists apart from notions about the institution’s rigor.
Students are proud that MT is rigorous and that they have the skills, work ethic, and intelligence to be successful
in an environment of high expectations. In contrast, MT’s difficulty is not a source of pride, but is rather a
source of anxiety, defeat, depression, and hopelessness and all MT’s students feel the effect.
MT students repeatedly described circumstances of unmanageable difficulty. A strong perception that courses
are designed to "weed" students out permeates the campus, in fact, a number of campus experiences are described
as "make or break." MT is not alone among STEM institutions in having the "weeder" mentality as STEM education
has traditionally prided itself on a practice of getting rid of those "unworthy" of a scientific, technical, or
educational pedigree. If the students were not highly internally motivated, hard working, and dedicated, the
learning environment could be catastrophic. As it is, the difficulty exacts a high toll on student morale as they
worry about their own performance and that of their peers. Changing pedagogic practices to maintain rigor but
tame difficulty could go far in improving students’ experiences, diversity enrollment, and benefit persistence.
Furthermore, because quantitative data indicate that students who feel they “have a social life” have an increased
interest in studying engineering, providing an academic environment which fosters social interaction and other forms
of balance could enhance engineering students’ experiences. Students describe the importance of the activities they
pursue to maintain a whole self, and balance helps them be better students and happier people. Students in this study
demonstrated a wide range of interests including mountain biking, soccer, swim-team, etc. and the students who spoke
most passionately and repeatedly about balance possessed some of the highest GPAs in our study.
Other studies into engineering education indicate a forced narrowing of interests may be a problem for retention
in engineering colleges. MT students describe experimenting with finding an appropriate mix early in their academic
careers; describe various on-going efforts to keep balance, given the demands of their curricular expectations; and
recognize that there are whole-life issues and career factors associated with achieving personal and professional
balance (see full-text article via the link below for student quotes).
Authors: Heidi Loshbaugh, Tawni Hoeglund, Ruth Streveler, and Kimberley Breaux
Source: Proceedings of the 2006 American Society for Engineering Education Conference
The full paper, including references, is available via ASEE proceedings search.
For a printable pdf of this research brief, click here.
Brief created June 2007
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