2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Background Once a student leaves engineering, they are unlikely to reconsider that decision, a decision that often has financial implications. In order to better support students who are reconsidering their choice of major, this study will follow undergraduate engineering students to understand how often they reconsider their choice of major and the resources and processes they use while they reconsider their academic path. This project will explore undergraduate engineering degree decision-making in order to develop a framework that includes factors and inciting events that lead to academic decision points as well as the resources accessed when students question their chosen engineering degree path. The PATH Framework stands for Persistence, Attrition, Transfer, and Hiatus, the four options available to students when they reconsider their choice of major. This framework has been developed for this project and will be updated or validated based on student responses.
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to share the initial model development of the PATH framework.
Methodology/Approach The PATH framework has been developed using four existing theories, Social Cognitive Career Theory, Self-Regulating Decision Making, Network Theory of Social Capital, and Expectancy-Value Theory of Achievement Motivation have been combined within the constraints of academic possibilities to develop an overall model to understand and describe academic decision points.
Findings/Conclusions The initial PATH model is shared here. This model broadens the possible outcomes beyond basic retention and incorporates the recognition of inciting events as well as theories that contribute to decisions made.
Implications The PATH model may provide a more comprehensive model for students who are reconsidering their major. Future work will involve data collection and validation for the model.