Studying Student Support and Success Experiences to Improve Persistence of Nontraditional Students in Engineering

This project aims to serve the national interest by increasing persistence of students in undergraduate engineering programs. To do so, it will conduct a study of nontraditional students in engineering with the goal of better understanding how to support their completion of engineering degrees. Students are considered to be nontraditional if they do not enter a four-year degree program directly from high school.

Nontraditional students are an increasing proportion of undergraduates in the United States and often form the majority of students in a college or university. Beyond not entering a four year degree program directly from high school, nontraditional students often have other characteristics, such as attending college part-time, having dependents, working full-time when enrolled, being financially independent, and/or having certifications other than a high school diploma.

There is little research into engineering students with such nontraditional characteristics. Filling this gap is important because engineering has a generally low persistence and retention rate and its curricula are often aligned with a traditional four-year residential degree (e.g., group projects, study halls). Thus, there is a pressing need to understand how support structures can be designed to be effective for students with any nontraditional characteristics.

This project will strengthen the engineering community’s understanding of nontraditional students, including development of guidelines to help institutions of all types better support the success of nontraditional students.

This project will contribute to an understudied area of research: understanding the needs and experiences of nontraditional students in engineering. The project research plan uses a theory-driven mixed-methods case study of nontraditional students in engineering at Youngstown State University over a three-year period and will produce a body of knowledge on experiences and supports for nontraditional students in engineering.

It will also generate action-focused guidelines for improving persistence and success of nontraditional students in engineering. This project will examine three research questions: (1) What is the holistic experience of current nontraditional students in engineering? (2) How do nontraditional students in engineering engage with co-curricular supports as they progress through their degree program? and (3) What impact do nontraditional student characteristics have on student integration and student success?

Major data sources include a survey of over 1,000 nontraditional students in engineering, focus groups, and reflective diaries completed at multiple points throughout the semester. A significant project outcome will be to generate new knowledge and disseminate guidelines for supporting nontraditional students’ academic, social, and professional integration, and their sense of engagement with their institutions.

These outcomes can directly contribute to improved persistence and retention of engineering students. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.