Parent and Family Influence on First-year Engineering Major Choice

Abstract

This complete research paper discusses parent and family influences on the selection of engineering as a college major. The choice of a career or profession is a developmental process [1] that is influenced by a diverse set of factors including familial influences Parental career path Children with engineers in their families are exposed to engineering as a career at an early age and acquire a greater understanding of the engineering profession through home education Occupational inheritance is often the result of early exposure to professions, and engineering runs in families much the same way that law or medicine does. An understanding of familial influences may help advocates to determine effective methods to expose more diverse sets of students and parents to engineering as a profession.