2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Understanding why students select their intended major can help us motivate and retain those students in a program of study. Ensuring that students remain motivated by their educational program greatly increases the likelihood that they will successfully complete the major.

Students at the XXXXXXXXXXXXX select their academic major during the spring of their first year. They start coursework in their major during the fall semester of their second year. One of the first courses that students take when majoring in the civil engineering program is CE201, Introduction to Civil Engineering. As the name implies, this 1 credit-hour course introduces students to the civil engineering profession through discussions covering a range of topics including: the engineering design cycle, required components of a profession, Codes of Ethics, and sustainability. The course was first introduced during the fall semester of 2018, and it has been delivered every fall semester since. One of the writing assignments in this course requires students to write a 2-3 page paper addressing the question: “Why did you choose to major in civil engineering?” This prompt has remained unchanged during the five semesters that the course has been delivered. While grading of the assignment focuses on traditional aspects of written work including substance, organization, style, mechanics, and documentation, a secondary aspect of the assignment, that is not graded, is the opportunity to record the cited reasons why students select the major. A series of nine topic areas was established and a spreadsheet was used to record each category individual students mentioned in their graded paper. That same spreadsheet, using the same nine topic areas, has also been unchanged during the years the assignment has been administered.

In addition to the five years of quantitative data, two years of original student papers are included in the available data set. This collective information will be used to evaluate notable trends in reasons why students select the civil engineering major at one academic institution. Statistical analysis will be used to identify trends in reported reasons for selecting the major. In addition, word and phrase analysis methods will be used on the students’ papers to generate higher levels of fidelity beyond the nine broad categories. Discussion related to the potential reason for observed trends will be presented.

This study will be of interest to faculty and administrators with a desire to understand the motivation behind their students’ major selection. The results of this study have the potential to significantly impact the activities and areas of emphasis used during recruitment of students to the civil engineering major.