Educação Superior: o que motiva a escolha pelos cursos de Engenharia?

The theme of this article is related to the choice of the engineering profession. In recent years, the demand for this graduation course has decreased and the number of graduates has been decreasing, which points to a possible breakdown in engineering courses. The objective of this article is to identify the aspects related to one’s choice of academic program regarding incoming Higher Education students. The central question posed to the students is: Why did you choose to enter in this program? We used a qualitative methodology. The participating subjects were students in Engineering programs who were taking Graphic Expression classes. We obtained that two categories distinguished their choices. The first category was associated with the affinity with the course and is related to the peculiar characteristics of each course and of the students themselves. The second points to the professional perspective involving aspects such as status of the profession, social recognition, remuneration and connection with the job market. We conclude that there is a correlation between the students’ identification with the course and their motivation that relates to individual characteristics, so the satisfaction with the course and the possibility of professional growth make the student look for the conclusion of the graduation.