Master's of Engineering Management: Graduation rates lagging behind growth rate

The Engineering Management degree at master's level has been taught at a South African higher education institution for more than 20 years. The student enrollment numbers have seen significant growth over the last decade, with a year-on-year growth varying from 20% to 39% each year. The coursework master's program consists of a number of lectured modules and a research component which accounts for fifty percent of the program. The students are very successful in completing the lectured modules, but they are less successful in completing the research component. The main problem is that students complete the lectured component within the required time, but when they start doing the research component they either take longer than the allocated time or they never reach completion. The cohort data from 2006 to 2013 indicate that the students on average take 3.3 years to complete their studies and thus do not complete their studies in the minimum of two years for parttime or 18 months for full-time enrollments. On average there is a 42% drop-out rate, which is high, although still lower than the norm compared to the national benchmark. The South African national benchmark data from the Centre for Higher Education Transformation indicate that the drop-out rate at master's level across all qualifications was 57% for 2013. The fact that postgraduate student numbers are growing but the graduation rates are not growing at a similar rate has been highlighted by various international authors and research institutions. This research focused firstly on understanding the relationship between the students' performance in the lectured modules compared to their performance during the completion of the research component. Secondly, the research identified the challenges facing the students that prevent them from completing their studies within the allocated time or that delay completion. The identification of the trends highlights the education needs of the target group of postgraduate candidates who are generally in full-time employment. This information will assist in future planning to accommodate growth, but also in readjusting the approach to teaching and learning during postgraduate studies in order to support specific groups to improve success rates.