Understanding Aspirations of First Year Undergraduate Engineering Students.

Success of any educational institute largely depends upon how the students excel after they complete their studies. This may be in terms of obtaining dream placement, admission to higher studies in reputed institutes or even starting a venture of their choice. Desired results can be achieved if the aspirations are understood at an early stage and students are groomed properly for achieving their dreams. The objective of this study is to understand the aspirations of engineering students in their first year itself and develop a model for nurturing these aspirations. This paper also identifies factors influencing changes in aspirations and the contribution of these factors. In the present study, the aspirations of undergraduate engineering students were collected immediately after their admission. This activity was carried out consecutively for three academic years: 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20. Aspirations of 2043 students were collected during this period by using IT tools. The study indicated that maximum students during their first year engineering were inclined towards obtaining placements in multinational firms followed by seeking admission to higher education in reputed institutes, entrepreneurship and joining the civil services. The institute under consideration has developed a five stage model to help the students in fulfilling their aspirations. This includes establishment of a Career Development Cell, Entrepreneurship Development Cell, International Facilitation Centre, Higher Study Cell and Novel Master Student Program. Aspirations were collected again during the final year in order to understand the deviations when students moved from first to final year. Results indicate that there was a substantial shift in the student aspirations. By the time the students reached the final year, there was an increase of 47.90% in the number of students who opted for placements while the number of students planning for higher studies decreased by 30.51%. Brainstorming session was conducted to identify the factors that prompted the students to change their minds during their course curriculum. The data presented here will give an insight to the academicians and institutes in understanding student ambitions and developing a model for fulfilling them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]