BACKGROUND Dropout in higher education is a concern for students, families, educational institutions, and society. Tertiary education is an important mechanism for empowering people and STEM courses are vital to countries' development. METHOD The study combined quantitative and qualitative data. Step 1 was an analysis of personal and contextual variables in a comprehensive examination of dropout in a sample of 1,016 engineering students. In step 2 a short interview by telephone were conducted with 82 students who dropped out, identifying their reasons and their academic/professional situation. In step 3 in-depth interviews were conducted with six students in order to understand the dynamic process of their decisions to leave. RESULTS The academic/professional situations of students who dropped out were quite varied, for example the same course or a different course at another institution, starting a job, not working or studying, or attending another level of professional training. There were three main reasons for dropping: vocational, learning process and achievement, and reconciling roles. CONCLUSIONS Engineering student dropout is related to vocational and academic achievement. This should be considered in the implementation of programs to reduce the rate of dropout.

中文翻译：

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工程大学辍学：动机和学生轨迹。

背景 高等教育中的辍学是学生、家庭、教育机构和社会关注的问题。高等教育是赋予人民权力的重要机制，STEM 课程对国家发展至关重要。方法 该研究结合了定量和定性数据。第 1 步是对 1,016 名工程学生样本的辍学综合检查中的个人和背景变量进行分析。在第 2 步中，对 82 名辍学的学生进行了简短的电话采访，确定了他们的原因和他们的学业/专业状况。在第 3 步中，对六名学生进行了深入访谈，以了解他们决定离开的动态过程。结果 辍学学生的学业/专业情况千差万别，例如，在另一机构学习相同的课程或不同的课程，开始工作，不工作或学习，或参加另一级别的专业培训。下降的主要原因有三个：职业、学习过程和成就，以及协调角色。结论 工程专业学生辍学与职业和学业成绩有关。在实施降低辍学率的方案时应考虑到这一点。