A majority of contemporary research investigating academic help-seeking behavior is quantitative in nature and K-12 in focus. Academic help-seeking is typically viewed as a subordinate behavior under the umbrella of social cognitive theory and self-regulated learning. The purpose of this research was a qualitative study to investigate gaps in the knowledge base regarding help-seeking behavior at the college level in highly competitive majors such as engineering. The focus of the study was the initial help-seeking decision of undergraduate engineering students. Help-seeking behavior was viewed through the theoretical framework of self-efficacy and the self-theory of intelligence as guiding tenets to formulate questions for the study. Help-seeking was considered as a metacognitive action taken by an individual based on influences described by the research framework. Purposeful sampling ensured maximum variation of ethnic background and a 50/50 gender ratio for a participant sample comprising twenty undergraduate students from the University of Georgia College of Engineering. Semi-structured interviews provided experiential data from the students.Discussion of the research results is in the context of the literature and contextual framework. A theoretical model and two manuscripts are included. A meta-analysis of prior literature provides the framework for the theoretical model. The first paper, Engineering academic help-seeking: An empirical study of experiences and behaviors in undergraduate engineering students, culminates with an empirical model of academic help-seeking behavior. Results suggest students grapple with the initial help-seeking decision in the face of self-conflict. If the student chooses to seek help, help-seeking is recursive until resolved. Adding to the difficulty of the initial decision is the need for some students to learn how to seek help. The second manuscript, Engineering academic help-seeking: An empirical study of gender and ethnic influences in undergraduate engineering students, examines the self-conflict construct identified in the first manuscript in light of gender and ethnicity. Findings widen the scope of prior theory to include stereotype threat as a compelling factor in the initial help-seeking decision. Stereotype threat explains much of the self-conflict in the decision for minority students within the domain. Implications and recommendations are discussed as well as future recommendations for research.