Date of Award
2003
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Education
Department
Programs for Higher Education
Advisor
John A. Morgan, Jr
Committee Member
Susan Torbenson
Committee Member
Richard Conrath
Committee Member
Barbara Packer
Keywords
academic achievement, admission data, engineering education, ex post facto studies, female engineers, females, first-year students, freshman engineering honors program, gender differences, gifted, honors programs, implementation strategies, recruitment, retention, student characteristics, student satisfaction, strategic planning, survey research, Women in Engineering Programs, Purdue University, Schools of Engineering
Abstract
The Purdue University Schools of Engineering committee, charged with development of a new strategic plan, set a recruitment and retention goal to “. . . increase the percentage of women undergraduates in engineering to 30 percent” (Purdue University Schools of Engineering Compton Committee, 2002).
A ten-year decline in female enrollment at Purdue University’s Schools of Engineering became a topic of true concern, especially to the Freshman Engineering Honors Program. This enrollment decline is exceedingly problematic because the Schools of Engineering has had a reputation of graduating a nationally known, large population of female engineers. The previously noted goal of 30% female enrollment in engineering was a drastic increase over the current enrollment of 17-20%. The purpose of this study was to develop strategies to promote high-achieving female enrollment and retention in the Freshman Engineering Honors Program at Purdue University.
The research questions for this study included investigation of related literature and a survey of honors students perceived importance and satisfaction with honors program components. Additional research questions focused on Honors Program student admission data and academic achievement to determine academic gender differences. Appropriate strategies and their implementation to increase female engineering honors recruitment and retention were determined as the outcome of this study.
Multiple methodologies were used to conduct this study, and the procedures addressed specific research questions. Ex post facto data were collected to compare the admission data and academic achievement outcomes of first-year engineering honors females and males. Survey data were employed to analyze honors students’ perceive importance and satisfaction of Honors Program components. An analysis of peer institution Women in Engineering Programs and Honors Programs was used to pinpoint essential components of the sought strategies.
Results highlighted gender differences between the wants, needs, characteristics, and achievements of Honors Program students. These results were used to recommend the design, development, and implementation of strategies to increase the recruitment and retention of females in the Freshman Engineering Honors Program. Many of the recommended strategies outlined in this study would be fairly uncomplicated to implement. However, evaluating the strategies both initially and long-term would likely require a dedication professional position that is currently absent from the administrative structure of the program.