2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Research on student retention demonstrates how students from underrepresented groups in science and engineering tend to have higher withdraw rates at their institutions [1]. COVID has also played a large role in students’ attrition, such as increased challenges with establishing study spaces as schools shut down and exacerbating issues with personal and/or familial mental and physical health [2]. To address similar retention challenges, we are leading a study called the Strategies Promoting Undergraduate Retention (SPUR) initiative, funded by the Newmont Corporation. The SPUR Initiative will help us understand how to address retention challenges through elevating the voices of underrepresented students by conducting a deep dive of their experiences.

In fall 2020, we identified an increase in the withdraw rates of Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) undergraduate students, while at the same time White students’ withdraw rates decreased. We want to understand why there are differences in attrition and narrow-in on the length of time between when students consider withdrawing and when they actually withdraw. The study focuses on BIPOC students, as well as other underrepresented groups within engineering, such as women and first-generation college students, to get an understanding of broader withdraw trends.

The SPUR Initiative collects both Likert-style and qualitative short-answer data through a survey that uses sense of belonging and mental health questions to investigate students’ decisions to leave college. Sense of belonging is an individual’s belief that they are welcomed, loved, and cared about at an institution [3]. Literature describes how BIPOC students, women and first-generation college students, among other underrepresented groups, can lack a sense of belonging and thus feel excluded [4,5]. We use purposeful sampling to recruit 75-100 students to take the survey. To understand the larger trends and themes impacting retention, we analyze Likert questions by demographics and code qualitative data using the Critical Incident Technique. Coding themes will be shared with participants to ensure transparency and accuracy of their stories.

Outcomes from the SPUR Initiative are shared with campus leadership, along with suggested strategies and student-driven recommendations to improve retention at our institution. SPUR provides a practical example for institutions to leverage students’ lived experiences to drive institutional change and dismantle educational barriers marginalized students face that lead to attrition. Deliverables produced include (1) a toolkit for helping institutions design retention studies (2) guidance about retention frameworks and factors each framework describes impact retention, and (3) a survey instrument that universities could adopt for assessing sense of belonging and mental health on retention.

References
1. McClain, Kevin S. and Perry, April (2017) "Where Did They Go: Retention Rates for Students of Color at Predominantly White Institutions," College Student Affairs Leadership: Vol. 4: Iss. 1, Article 3.
2. Facing covid-19: An assessment of first-generation college students' persistence to graduation during a pandemic. About the Center for First-generation Students. (n.d.). Retrieved August 11, 2022, from https://firstgen.naspa.org/report/facing-covid-19-an-assessment-of-first-generation-college-students-persistence-to-graduation-during-a-pandemic
3. Strayhorn, T. L. (2019). College students' sense of belonging: A key to educational success for all students. New York and London: Routledge, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, pg. 4
4. Al-Qudah, S., Davishahl, J., Davishahl, E., & Greiner, M. (n.d.). Investigation of sense of belonging to engineering in undergraduate introductory classes. 2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings. https://doi.org/10.18260/1-2--30730
5. Liptow, E., Chen, K., Parent, R., Duerr, J., & Henson, D. (n.d.). A sense of belonging: Creating a community for first-generation, underrepresented groups and minorities through an engineering student success course. 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings. https://doi.org/10.18260/p.26439