A Qualitative Inquiry into Student Competitions in Electronics in Romania

National student competitions, especially in electronics, are a relatively new area of education. Competitions have been proven to boost engagement, skill development and improve retention. This process, if done correctly, also provides students and learners alike with the skills and information needed to succeed in various areas of electronics design. This paper will focus on the student competition, Technologies of Interconnections in Electronics (TIE), and its proposed benefits towards students in the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) design domain. The performed study was conducted using qualitative methods, as these provide deeper insight into the perceived benefits students gain from participating in such a competition. For the qualitative research approach, the ethnography research method was chosen, as this method provides information through the eyes of someone involved in the evaluated population. During the study, some factors that are essential for building healthy competitions have been observed as missing from TIE, feedback and the lack of support from organizers to boost the learning opportunity that comes from participating. As is, TIE is a good student competition but is lacking in some areas which cause it to come short from the opportunity to provide students with a great learning opportunity, besides the possibility of winning a competition.