The goal of the project is to improve the retention and graduation of undergraduate engineering students. The investigators are designing several interventions that will enhance the students' interest and self-efficacy, two key factors that have been shown to be strongly predictive of academic choice goals in engineering and non-engineering students. The components of the program include a first-year summer experience, peer mentoring for first-year students and new transfers, living and learning communities, a transfer student seminar, and research fellowships. Each component of the program provides critical support at key junctures in the students' academic careers and provides reinforcing experiences so that the students can begin to see themselves in an engineering career. These components are designed to: (1) facilitate the first-year students' and new transfer students' transition into the school of engineering; (2) increase students' commitment to engineering majors through career clarification and goal setting; (3) reduce the barriers to success that students may face, particularly those for women and underrepresented students; and (4) enhance the positive personal and environmental factors for students in engineering. The evaluation effort is being led by a experienced evaluator and is analyzing institutional data, satisfaction and attitudinal surveys, annual student academic and career plans, and two career interest inventories (i. e., the Strong Interest Inventory and the Skills Confidence Inventory). Broader impacts include the focus on underrepresented groups.
