This study sought to determine if different factors had influenced females and males to select engineering/science-related studies at the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science (TAMS). The data were collected in the fall semester in 1997 at TAMS located on the University of North Texas campus from a survey of factors reported in the literature that had influenced students to enroll in engineering/science-related curriculum.

The purposes of this study were (a) to analyze whether any significant differences exist in students' satisfaction among the 11 composite scales/satisfaction measures of the SSI (retention programs); (b) to determine whether significant differences exist in satisfaction among students of the institution based on their demographic characteristics of gender, age, ethnicity, class load, and employment; and (c) to record findings, draw conclusions, and make recommendations from the study. The research was conducted using a questionnaire, The Student Satisfaction Inventory (SSI), developed by Juillreat and Schreiner in 1994. The instrument measures, among other matters, students' perceptions and satisfaction. The population of the study comprised all students at the institution during the 1996-1997 school year. A total of 312 students was sampled, with 182 (58%) returns received. Statistical treatments used to analyze the collected data included frequencies, percentages, means, standard deviation, multiple analysis of variances (MANOVA), one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Tukey's Post Hoc t-test for multiple comparison.