Engineering survivors: Students who persist in engineering through an academic setback

This work in progress is a qualitative study that explores the academic experience of undergraduate engineering students who persist in engineering despite an academic setback. This work is part of a larger study exploring the concept of grit for engineering students. Our sample population consists of engineering students who have earned a D or F in a required technical course but continue to persist in engineering. We use phenomenography as our methodology to describe the various ways in which engineering students respond to academic setbacks. We constructed four, qualitatively distinct categories based on our preliminary results. The finished analysis will provide insights to improving the retention of engineering students by understanding how to better support engineering students who have experienced academic setbacks.