Engineering survivors: Students who persisted through academic failures

Background

In the United States, the current 6-year completion rate in engineering is a mere 54% among full-time students who enter a 4-year course. Researchers have identified many reasons why students leave engineering, including academic difficulties and poor teaching. However, the problems experienced by the departing students are also experienced by students who persist in engineering. Why do some students persist in engineering while others depart?

Purpose

We sought to better understand persisters by investigating their responses to failure experiences. We left the definition of failure up to the students, who described experiences such as failing exams, failing courses, and temporarily abandoning their degree programs.

Design/Method

We interviewed 26 undergraduate engineering students who had persisted in engineering after failing a required technical course. Using thematic analysis, we analyzed the students' responses to their failure experiences and developed themes to describe their responses.

Results

We constructed four themes to describe students' responses to failure experiences: unresponsive, avoidant, floundering, and rebounding.

Conclusions

Since failure events are common among engineering students—even those who persist—we recommend that the engineering education community work toward removing the stigma traditionally associated with failure by normalizing failure as an opportunity for growth. We also recommend that faculty and administrators revise academic policies to promote student resilience and to enable learning from failure.