Software Engineers and Engineering: A Survey of Undergraduate Preconceptions

Past research has demonstrated that student misconceptions about degree programs can negatively affect enrolment and retention rates. Software engineering is a relatively new discipline that is distinct from computer science and other engineering specializations; however, it is still rapidly evolving and consequently there is potential for misconceptions about the new discipline to arise. A study was therefore undertaken to investigate the preconceptions of first-year students enrolled in various Bachelor of Engineering degrees. Students were asked to rank the importance of different skills and activities for software engineering, and to rate a variety of statements about software engineering using a Likert scale. First-year preconceptions were compared with the responses of fourth-year software engineering students who had completed a major industry-based project. The two groups of students had statistically significant differences of opinion with respect to many of the survey items. There were no statistically significant differences between the responses of first-year students from different engineering specializations. These findings are discussed in the context of recruiting and retaining software engineering students