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Persistence in Aerospace Engineering: Why Students Choose and Leave Aerospace Engineering Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Graduate Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2019 Persistence in aerospace engineering: Why students choose and leave aerospace engineering Sara Oliveira Pedro dos Santos Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd Part of the Aerospace Engineering Commons Recommended Citation Oliveira Pedro dos Santos, Sara, "Persistence in aerospace engineering: Why students choose and leave aerospace engineering" (2019). Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 17532. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/etd/17532 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Persistence in aerospace engineering: Why students choose and leave aerospace engineering by Sara Oliveira Pedro dos Santos A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Major: Aerospace Engineering Program of Study Committee: Benjamin Ahn, Co-major Professor Thomas Ward III, Co-major Professor Partha Sarkar Committee Member The student author, whose presentation of the scholarship herein was approved by the program of study committee, is solely responsible for the content of this thesis. The Graduate College will ensure this thesis is globally accessible and will not permit alterations after a degree is conferred. Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2019 Copyright © Sara Oliveira Pedro dos Santos, 2019. All rights reserved. ii DEDICATION I dedicate this work to my family, especially my parents, sister and grandma. To my parents, Carlos and Margarida, for their unwavering support and commitment to helping me succeed in life. Thank you for asking “How’s the thesis?” every day for three months and laughing nervously every time I said “almost done”. To my sister, Ines, for being such a great inspiration to me, teaching me to be brave and determined. And to my grandma, Zé, for keeping me grounded and calling me every single day even if just to say goodnight. Dedico esta tese à minha família, especialmente aos meus pais, irmã e avó. Aos meus pais, Carlos e Margarida, pelo apoio incondicional e pela dedicação na ajuda que me dão. Obrigada por me perguntarem “Como vai a tese?” todos os dias durante os últimos três meses e rirem quando eu digo “Tá quase”. À minha irmã, Inês, por ser a minha inspiração e me ensinar a ser corajosa e determinada. E à minha avó, Zé, por me ajudar a manter os pés na terra e me ligar todos os dias ainda que seja apenas para me desejar uma boa noite. Finally, to Sophia, for her unconditional support, patience and love. Thank you for doing all the small (and big) things that allowed me to focus on my work and complete this thesis. Agradeço ainda à Sophia pelo seu apoio incondicional, paciência e amor. Obrigada por fazeres todas as pequenas (e as grandes) coisas que me permitiram focar no meu trabalho e completar esta tese. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................................... iv LIST OF TABLES ...........................................................................................................................v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................. vi ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. vii CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................1 Theoretical Framework .............................................................................................................. 9 Research Questions .................................................................................................................. 16 CHAPTER 2. METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................17 Study ........................................................................................................................................ 17 Population ................................................................................................................................ 19 Data .......................................................................................................................................... 19 Themes ..................................................................................................................................... 20 CHAPTER 3. RESULTS ...............................................................................................................22 Why Students Choose Aerospace Engineering ....................................................................... 22 Why Students Leave Aerospace Engineering ......................................................................... 26 CHAPTER 4. WEIDMAN FRAMEWORK..................................................................................29 Background .............................................................................................................................. 29 Higher Education Experience .................................................................................................. 30 Interaction ........................................................................................................................... 31 Integration .......................................................................................................................... 32 Learning.............................................................................................................................. 33 Where Non-Persisters Go ........................................................................................................ 35 CHAPTER 5. CONCLUSIONS ....................................................................................................37 Implications ............................................................................................................................. 37 Limitations ............................................................................................................................... 38 Conclusions ............................................................................................................................. 39 REFERENCES ..............................................................................................................................42 APPENDIX A. QUESTIONNAIRE ..............................................................................................45 APPENDIX B. WEIGHTS ............................................................................................................63 APPENDIX C. THEMES ..............................................................................................................64 APPENDIX D. IRB CONSENT FORM .......................................................................................69 iv LIST OF FIGURES Page Figure 1. Undergraduate Socialization model adapted from Weidman's undergraduate socialization (1989, 2006, and 2014) ......................................................................... 9 Figure 2. Why students choose Aerospace Engineering ............................................................... 23 Figure 3. Why students chose Aerospace Engineering, by percentage ........................................ 24 Figure 4. Why students choose Aerospace Engineering, Persisters and Non-Persisters .............. 25 Figure 5. Why students left Aerospace Engineering .................................................................... 27 Figure 6. When students left engineering, per semester ............................................................... 35 Figure 7. Sankey diagram showing where non-persisters go after changing majors .................... 36 v LIST OF TABLES Page Table 1. Example of weights assigned to multiple choice questions ............................................ 19 Table 2. Themes found in participant responses from previous literature .................................... 20 Table 3. Background characteristics for persisters and non-persisters ......................................... 29 Table 4. Interaction factors for persisters versus non-persisters ................................................... 31 Table 5. Integration factors for persisters versus non-persisters ................................................... 32 Table 6. Commitment to STEM classes versus commitment to non-STEM classes .................... 33 Table 7. Perceived quality of instruction by professors, TA's and advisers ................................. 33 Table 8. Complete answer weights to multiple choice questions ................................................. 63 Table 9. Full list of themes identified from participant responses on why students choose Aerospace Engineering ............................................................................................. 64 Table 10. Full list of themes identified from participant responses on why students left Aerospace Engineering ............................................................................................
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