A Study of Aerospace Engineering Student Professional Persistence

摘要

Two issues facing the field of engineering are the pending retirement of the Baby Boom generation and the lack of diversity in the engineering workforce. Both issues relate to a loss of knowledge in the field due the retirement of those with experience and the loss of alternative ideas and engineering potential by having a very homogenized group of engineering practitioners. In order to address these issues, there have been a number studies in engineering education exploring the area of academic persistence or the intention of a student to complete a degree in engineering as a way to increase the number of engineers and their diversity. Studies by Seymour and Hewitt (1997), Huang, Taddese and Walter (2000), and Adelman (1998) have explored various areas of academic persistence in science and engineering including the impacts of gender and ethnicity on persistence. At the core of these academic persistence studies is the assumption that those who pursue and successfully complete a degree in science and engineering will in turn pursue a professional career in engineering or science. Is this a valid assumption and does it apply to aerospace engineering students?