March 2014

NSPE TODAY
NSPE Joins Engineering Retention Project

NSPE has lent its support to StayWithIt.org, an initiative geared to increasing student retention in engineering degree programs. Currently, 40% of US engineering students leave their program by the end of their second year. StayWithIt hopes to change that.

In 2012, the High Tech Education working group, within President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, determined a need to help new engineering students persevere. Former CEO of Intel Paul Otellini was part of the working group, which led to Intel taking the lead and creating StayWithIt. The program is now managed by the company’s Global Diversity, Education, and External Relations Organization, with much of the online outreach conducted by Christine Barrows, their project and social media specialist.

When Austin Lin, chairman of NSPE’s Professional Engineers in Industry, heard of the initiative, he reached out to learn if there were partnering possibilities. He recognized the opportunity to improve retention and “to develop the growth of future EITs and PEs into the talent pipeline of the overall engineering profession, and promote ‘engineer’ and ‘licensed professional’ as being one in the same.” He prompted a discussion within the PEI leadership team, earning the entire team’s support to join the cause.

As Lin puts it, NSPE’s participation in StayWithIt will “get the concept of licensure itself in front of students across all engineering disciplines, particularly those who may not get many chances, if any, to become exposed to its importance in the first place.” Keeping more students in the pipeline means more engineers earning licenses.

StayWithIt officially launched two years ago with an event at Georgia Tech, and now offers day-in-the-life profiles of engineers in the workforce, an online community for engineering students, and resources to find an internship or job after graduation. Immediate plans include adding staff in order to expand the organization’s social media presence.

To learn more, visit www.staywithit.org.