Engineering Undergraduate Education (1986) / Chapter Skim
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2. Undergraduate Students
2. Undergraduate Students
Pages 12-43
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From page 12... ...
There are three principal elements in the supply of engineering graduates: {1 ) the high school graduates' population {the potential based; ~2J the percentage of qualified applicants from that base who enter engineering programs; and ~3J the retention of engineering students.
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From page 13... ...
All but 10 states share in the decrease, which in absolute numbers is a decline of approximately 590,000 high school graduates from a base of 2.712 million. Figure 1 shows that the decrease in graduates varies widely among regions of the country between 1984 and 1999.
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From page 14... ...
The Panel on Undergraduate Engineering Education recommends that, if the flow of engineering graduates is to be maintained despite majordemographic changes, a verysubstantial effort will be required to increase the number of high school students who are qualified and motivated to study engineering. Both the traditional sources and the increasingpool of women and minorities must be nurtured to maintain the present quality of engineering students.
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From page 15... ...
8. Returning Korean War veterans Aerospace program cutbacks and economic recession Vietnam War and greater space expenditures Increased student interest in social-program careers Adverse student attitudes toward engineering, decreased space and defense expenditures, and lowered college attendance 9.
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From page 16... ...
As long as at least some institutions have space, this diversity of opportunity gives the system elasticity. As the last 10 years have shown, with a relatively modest increase in the resources allocated to undergraduate education, this ability of the system to absorb additional students reached a factor of 2 before saturation.
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From page 17... ...
Dual-degree programs were begun in the 1960s. Their major purpose has been to add a combined liberal arts/engineering dimension to higher education rather than to contribute to the central flow of undergraduate engineering manpower.
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From page 18... ...
The consensus among the studies referred to here is that all students should have three years of science, and some of the reports recommend four years of basic science courses for college preparation. Hurd {1982J finds students begin with biology and follow with chemistry ~37 percentJ and physics {19 percentJ; others "complete their three years of science with a selection from biology 2, earth science, physiology, space science, aeronautics, oceanography, physical science, geology, ecology, environmental science, or from a host of one semester courses.
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From page 19... ...
Nor are many high school graduates prepared for an occupation. Business and military leaders complain that without remedial work in reading, writing, spelling, and computation, many high school graduates cannot even begin the sophisticated training they need for their work.
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From page 20... ...
Of the 7,700 Ph.D. degrees expected in these fields in 1989, 4,200 will go to students from the high school class of 1981; 2,300, toforeigu nationals; and 1,200, to Americana who did not pursue engineering or scientific studies continuously after high school gradua tion.
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From page 21... ...
These model programs, which include Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement tMESAJ in California; Philadelphia Regional Introduction for Minorities to Engineering jPRIMEJ in Philadelphia; and Massachusetts Pre-engineering Program for Minority Students [MassPepJ in Boston, offer encouragement and guidance to students who are talented in mathematics and science and who want to enrich their schooling. Such programs were designed to bring into engineering those underrepresented minorities who accept the challenge to education.
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From page 22... ...
If the low beginning salary and the national average salary of $17,000 per year after 12 years of teaching do not tempt math and science teachers to jump to industry, the limited career line often does. A teacher has roughly the same *
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From page 23... ...
The future development of our nation depends upon our agreement as to the mission and importance of our schools. The Panel on Undergraduate Engineering Education recommends that, to improve the qualifications of students intending to study engineering, the engineering schools and engineeringprofessional societies actively encourage government andindustry to join them in an effort to improve the mathematical, scientific, and technological content in America Is school systems.
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From page 24... ...
High school women often feel tracked away from physics; very few physics teachers are women, and course content and quality are quite variable, often not appealing to women. Educational experiments indicate that nontraditional approaches to the teaching of both physics and introductory computer subjects in sexbalanced classes result in their increased appeal to women students.
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From page 25... ...
These same women students scored considerably higher on both the verbal and analytical parts of the Graduate Record Examination EGRET 492 versus 442 and 590 versus 522, respectively; on the quantitative portion of the GRE, they scored slightly lower: 653 versus 658. The scores show that as the pool of women with adequate preparation is enlarged, additional academically talented women are available for engineering.
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From page 26... ...
Despite recent improvements, however, women students still report feelings of isolation, lack of acceptance by faculty and male student peers, and lack of acceptance of their career goals by friends, family, and their universities. Many women students still find engineering schools to be stressful environments, and they need support to help them deal with the difficulties that they encounter.
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From page 27... ...
While generalizations about progress at this advanced-degree level are difficult in the absence of correlations with professional experience, such differences do not seem to explain the 20 percent salary differential. The Panel on Undergraduate Engineering Education recommends that, to achieve the ~11 potential that this human resource offers, colleges of engineering, school systems, government, industry, and the engineering profession continue to work to increase the number of qualibed women who study for a career in engineering.
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From page 28... ...
Co-op Students While it would seem that students would enter co-op programs mainly to finance their education, all studies of co-op education show that this reason is not dominant and that it subsides once students have begun their schooling. Only those co-op students who depend heavily on financial aid {about one-third continue to see income as an important reason for cooperative education.
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From page 29... ...
Co-op education also provides industry with specific contacts and means for communicating regularly with academic institutions about changing personnel requirements.
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From page 30... ...
Since the time constant is so different between industry and academe the fiscal year or " as of today" compared with the student's measure of the time to earn a degree termination of a cooperative education program is one of the most vivid examples of where industry and academe diverge. Termination of a co-op program causes considerable stress on campus, not only for the students involved, but also
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From page 31... ...
This relationship depends on frequent telephone contacts and occasional on-site visits. Employers must commit themselves to sustained support of the coop program through good times and lead so as not to disrupt tight student scheduling and in order to encourage strong faculty commitment to the program.
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From page 32... ...
On the other hand, their lack of enthusiasm for academic careers or their belief that the professorial is disadvantaged compared with colleagues in industry will also be communicated and will discourage students from pursuing graduate work. StimulatingInterestin Graduate Study Faculty members can increase interest in graduate study by playing a more positive, active role in advising their students.
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From page 33... ...
Financial Considerations The main reason cited for the decision to forgo graduate study is the substantial difference between graduate stipends and industrial salaries. One 1980 survey found that the average annual, part-time salary of graduate assistants was $4, 200, as compared with $24,000 reported for full-time, entry-level jobs of B.S.
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From page 34... ...
The Panel on Undergraduate Engineering Education recommends that, in addition to support forgraduate education, engineering schools and professional societies create and maintain an active campaign to emphasize the advantages of an academic career. Industry, government, engineering schools, and professional societies must encourage and support masters-level programs, combined B
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From page 36... ...
In these areas of control, public elementary and secondary schools do not serve many children well in science and mathematics. The deficiencies matter most for those youth {i.e., females and minoritiesJ who do not have compensating resources and encouragement outside of~school.
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From page 37... ...
The lack of a math sequence and of other precollege courses is "compounded for the inner city student by the familiar problems of inadequately informed teachers and guidance counselors, absence of role models, unengaging curriculum, and an atmosphere not particularly supportive of academic achievement" Theodore Lobman, quoted in Richardson, 1979:7~. Students need to perceive their educational experiences as coherent and continuous over many years to develop their academic aspirations and behavior.
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From page 38... ...
For example, minority students may have great difficulty adjusting to the environment of a predominantly white institution. Elitist attitudes, poor teaching, and a general insensitivity to students affect the performance of all students but may have an especially negative effect on minority students.
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From page 39... ...
The National Society of Black Engineers invites students and their parents to a spring event to discuss engineering, co-op and summer job opportunities, and the educational demands of college. Consortiums in densely populated areas use a wide variety of communication methods, including classroom demonstrations, career days, science fairs, and field trips to engineering schools and industrial sites.
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From page 40... ...
Saline, manager of the Professional Development Operation of General Electric, prepared a list of key conditions of employment for professionals from minority groups [Richardson, 1979:14, 15, 22J: 1. Hire minority engineering graduates only if they are qualified for real tasks, not for purposes of show or tokenism.
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From page 41... ...
The Panel on Undergraduate Engineering Education recommends that extensive efforts by schools, companies, and engineering societies are needed to bring more minorities into engineering. For example, precollege programs such as those operating in a few major cities and regions of the country must be expanded and funded to prepare and motivate minority students to pursue college study and careers in engineenng.
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From page 42... ...
1982. "Minority Engineering Graduates: A Follow-up Study of NACME Scholars, " Engineering Education 72(April)
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From page 43... ...
1983. Notes prepared for Advisory Committee to Assistant Director for Engineering, National Science Foundation.
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