Social cognitive predictors of adjustment to engineering majors across gender and race/ethnicity

We tested a social cognitive model of academic adjustment in a sample of 1377 students enrolled in engineering schools at two predominantly White and two historically Black state universities. The model brought together central elements of social cognitive career theory's (SCCT) segmental models of educational/vocational satisfaction, interest, choice, and performance/persistence (Lent and Brown, 2006 and Lent et al., 1994). The model was specifically designed to examine the interplay between interest and satisfaction in predicting students' intentions to remain in engineering majors. The integrative model offered good fit to the data both in the larger sample and in sub-samples of women, men, and racial/ethnic majority and minority students. The relation of interests to intended persistence was fully mediated by satisfaction. The findings both extend research on SCCT and suggest linkages to theories of person-environment fit. Implications for further research and practice on academic adjustment and persistence in STEM fields are considered.

► Tested an integrative social cognitive model in a sample of engineering students
► The integrative model generally offered good fit to the data.
► The relation of interests to intended persistence was mediated by satisfaction.