What is the effect of establishing programs that address sense of belonging on undergraduate engineering retention?

Research ascribes that a variety of factors (e.g. course load, poor instruction, financial restraints) contribute to students' decisions to change majors and to drop out of college. Less well understood, however, is the influence of a sense of belonging on student persistence, particularly within engineering. Several studies have connected sense of belonging with retention, but few have focused on the relationship between specific programs and longitudinal retention among engineering students. In this study, researchers examined the long-term effects of a suite of strategies designed to enhance a sense of belonging of engineering students. To evaluate these reforms, an interrupted time series approach was utilized. Fourteen annual cohorts were examined from 1998 through 2013. Trends were first evaluated among the engineering students as a whole, and then by gender and ethnicity. Overall, the rate of retention increased at an average rate of 1.1% per year. Prior to reforms, retention was on the upswing but only at a rate of 0.9% per year. Following the new strategies, this rate nearly doubled to 1.6% per year. Finally, it is noted that the increase in retention occurred alongside an increase in the overall size of the engineering student body.