The relationship between assigned peer mentors and the retention and GPA of female and male engineering students

Compared to women's overall enrollment in higher education, the number of women engineering students was low. Additionally, women were less likely than men to retain an engineering major. No one specific reason accounted for the enrollment inequity. Generally, the causes were attributed to an accumulation of barriers women face, as well as the differences between women and men.;One retention technique recommended and utilized to retain women engineering students was mentoring. Research confirmed that mentoring provided career and psychosocial benefits for women and men. Claims were made that efforts to retain women students also improved the education for men students. However, few studies examined the relationship between mentoring and the retention and success of women and men engineering students. Further, no study had examined if the benefit of a mentor could be extended to an assigned peer mentor relationship.;The objective of this dissertation study was to examine if there was a significant relationship between assigned peer mentors and the retention and GPA of female and male engineering students. This study investigated engineering students at the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. GPA and retention information was gathered for students without a peer mentor and for students with a peer mentor.;The results of the analysis showed no difference in retention or GPA for mentored and non-mentored male and female engineering students. Additionally, the study found no significant difference in the SAT scores of the men and women engineering students. There was a significant difference in the GPA of the women and men engineering students, with the women having higher GPA's at the end of the freshman year. Finally, in this study, there was not a significant difference in the retention of women and men engineering students. The data analysis in this study did not support the idea that women at the University of Pittsburgh were more likely to drop out of engineering.