Reasons stated by commencing students for studying engineering and technology

Responses were collected from commencing engineering students and an inventory of reasons stated for electing to study engineering was developed. Commencing engineering students were strongly career oriented; they believed that engineering would be an interesting and rewarding career that would offer enjoyment and career options. No difference was found in the principal reasons stated by respondents based on gender or course of study. On-campus students nominated principally career-related reasons for their choice of study (71 percent). While career-related reasons were still important for off-campus students, the most frequent type of responses were related to career upgrading (43.9 percent).