Understanding the Educational and Career Pathways of Engineers (2018) / Chapter Skim
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4 Major Findings and Recommendations
4 Major Findings and Recommendations
Pages 117-124
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From page 117... ...
ENGINEERS USE DIVERSE SKILLS IN A VARIETY OF OCCUPATIONS AND INDUSTRIES Engineering is a dynamic discipline and practice that integrates and applies knowledge from various fields and draws on a broad and expanding portfolio of technical as well as professional skills, such as creativity and design, oral and written communication, teamwork and leadership, interdisciplinary thinking, experience with business and entrepreneurship, and multicultural understanding. Trained engineers use their knowledge and skills in a variety of occupations and industries and across all sectors of society.
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From page 118... ...
ENGINEERING HAS A PERSISTENT DIVERSITY CHALLENGE White and Asian males constitute the vast majority of employed degreed engineers and those who work in engineering occupations. The lack of diversity in engineering presents challenges to the nation in two primary ways.
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From page 119... ...
Finding: The low numbers of women and underrepresented minorities in engineering education and the engineering workforce dictate that the pathways and motivations of every group be considered fully and that the entire engineering community -- educators, employers, research funders, policymakers, and engineering professionals -- work collaboratively to improve diversity. Finding: Because people with diverse gender and racial/ethnic identities may have different motivations and pathways in engineering, it is imperative to consider which educational and programmatic interventions are most effective in welcoming, supporting, and advancing those from underrepresented backgrounds.
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From page 120... ...
students, who otherwise may not see engineering as a viable option for themselves. The committee recommends that the engineering community -- industry, academia, engineering societies, government, and other stakeholders -- address potentially negative stereotypes of engineering and more effectively communicate the nature of engineering work and opportunities associated with an engineering degree to women, underrepresented minorities, and other marginalized groups that remain significantly underrepresented in engineering, both to increase diversity of perspective and with it the innovativeness and creativity of the nation's technical workforce and to provide opportunities to individuals from these populations.
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From page 121... ...
Engineering schools need to recognize and support this interaction between engineering and computer science in all disciplines, whether with more required courses for all majors or the teaching of computing skills as part of discipline-specific courses. Finding: Beyond strong technical skills, more and more employers expect engineering graduates to have experience and competence in professional areas such as creativity and design, oral and written communica tion, teamwork and leadership, interdisciplinary thinking, business management and entrepreneurship, and multicultural understanding.
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From page 122... ...
While the committee considers the broad topic of skilled immigration, which has been the subject of extensive research, worthy of a full, separate consensus study, the recent growth in undergraduate enrollment of foreign-born students on temporary visas in US engineering schools is a less studied piece of the skilled immigration puzzle that warrants additional attention. Finding: Foreign-born students on temporary visas have long constituted a large share of US engineering school enrollments at the graduate level, whereas the rapid growth of foreign-born temporary resident stu dent enrollments in undergraduate engineering programs is more recent.
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From page 123... ...
Engineering graduates have remarkable flexibility in a variety of careers, including management, and are employed and rewarded in other professional domains. In addition, the substantial share of those working as engineers who do not have engineering degrees contribute in important ways to the US economy, and benefit financially and in other ways.
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From page 124... ...
124 UNDERSTANDING THE EDUCATIONAL AND CAREER PATHWAYS OF ENGINEERS At the same time and for a variety of reasons, women and individuals from certain minority populations continue to be underrepresented in engineering degree pathways and careers. For this reason alone, it is fair to say that US engineering is not meeting its full potential.
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