How to retain postgraduate students in engineering programmes : a practical perspective

Six factors for pursuing an engineering postgraduate programme at Griffith University including (i) programme quality; (ii) employment prospects; (iii) practicality; (iv) personal interest; (v) popularity; and (vi) reputation; and 11 factors for not pursuing this engineering programme including (i) employment prospects; (ii) degree of difficulty; (iii) loss of interest; (iv) interaction with classmates and lecturers; (v) financial difficulty; (vi) programme quality; (vii) persuasion from other institutions; (viii) obligation to family; (ix) career change; (x) self-confidence; and (xi) relocation are studied in this paper. A questionnaire survey on factors for pursuing and against pursuing the programme is conducted. Individual interviews are conducted to gather further information and clarification on the survey. F-tests, relative important index values and spectral behaviour of all factors are estimated. It is found that employment prospects and programme quality are the major factors for pursuing and for not pursuing the programme.