Retention of engineering students in a South African higher education institutions

Abstract: Recently, a greater emphasis has been placed on the retention of male and female engineering students in higher education institutions in South Africa. Ralston (2013) states that the retention of engineering students contributes to the goal of increasing the number of engineers in the workforce. Engineering programs in South Africa have been working to improve the student retention rates for many years, (Ogude et al., 2012). Presently, most South African universities are committed to the retention of students by ensuring that the students remain in the system and work through the system to the end. The aim of this study was to gain insight into the retention of female students, which has remained a point of concern in the engineering sector, in order to investigate the need to improve the retention of engineering students in a South African higher education institution. To achieve this aim, the study assesses the available retention strategies, examines the driving factors and evaluates the barriers, to the improvement of the retention rates of engineering technology students. The data used in this study was derived from primary and secondary sources. The secondary source was collected via a detailed review of the relevant literature. The primary source was collected through a questionnaire administered to respondents. Findings revealed that female engineering students were better retained than male Industrial Engineering Technology students, in comparison to students in programmes such as mechanical engineering technology. The significance of this study resides in that the researcher intends to raise awareness on the challenges associated with the improvement of the retention rates for undergraduate National Diploma (NDip) and Bachelor of Engineering Technology (BET) students at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) in South Africa. The study will add to the body of knowledge on the effectiveness of initiatives aimed at improving the retention of engineering students in a South African institutions.M.Tech. (Industrial Engineering Technology