to see the entire research report - Rowan - Rowan University

students is .568, and for all students is .369 (that is, about 14% of the variance in
engineering self-confidence is explained by background characteristics) (Table IIB-3).
However, it is only family background characteristics that have an effect on engineering
self-confidence for the total group of students; while the student is distanced from their
high school experience, family characteristics are current and apparently continue to have
an impact on the student’s engineering self-confidence. The strongest relationship
between background variables and engineering self-confidence is the support the student
perceives from significant others for their pursuit of engineering. The father’s
occupational prestige also has a significant impact on the student’s self-confidence: the
higher the prestige, the stronger the self-confidence. 19
We expected that background factors would have less influence on students’
engineering self-confidence the longer they had been in engineering at Rowan. However,
this expectation was not completely borne out (Table IIB-3). Background factors
continue to be related to engineering self-confidence as students start their sophomore
year. Family background is more important than high school background, so the effect of
high school background has weakened as students distance themselves from the high
school experience, but family characteristics continue to have an impact. Father’s
occupational prestige, education, and the support of significant others for their pursuit of
engineering have significant impact on the student’s self-confidence in themselves as an
engineer. Among the high school factors, it is mainly the student’s science grades that
continue to have an impact on self-confidence.
19 It is possible that students whose father’s have higher occupational prestige have more
self-confidence in whatever they would like to pursue in college; here, we are only
focusing on engineering self-confidence.
IIB-85