Examining undergraduate engineering students' experiences with failures during co-op

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study examined how undergraduate engineering students studying in the U.S. experienced failures during their cooperative education (co-op) and how they recovered from them. Six students attending a private research university in the Northeast participated in two semi-structured interviews via Zoom. The narrative inquiry approach was used to analyze the data. Four superordinate themes emerged from the data (1) students' view of failure evolved from childhood to post-co-op experience, (2) learning from failures during co-op, (3) self-advocacy during the recovery process, (4) family, friends, and colleagues as students' main resources during co-op. Resilience was the theoretical framework in this study. The findings align with literature about the standard grading system in the U.S., learning from failures, self-advocacy, resources that helped students develop resilience, and the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic on students' co-op experiences. The findings and literature suggest opportunities for co-op faculty and advisors to teach students about failure and resiliency. There are also opportunities for future research involving students, co-op supervisors, and co-op advisors. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)