Six Months in Copenhagen

During my time in Denmark, I had the opportunity to attend a conference entitled "Meeting the Growing Demand for Engineers and Their Educators 2010-2020." The conference was held in Germany and sponsored by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). The organizers had graciously invited ASCE to participate in this ‘first of its kind' conference to address the international shortfall in students entering the engineering fields.

There were more than 120 participants, representing 26 countries. At my dinner table on the opening night, five countries were represented. I sat between two professors from the Netherlands and Greece and also had a very interesting discussion with some South Africans. Moloko, a minister in the South African Department of Education, was making his first trip outside the continent. Unfortunately, he arrived in Munich for the coldest weekend of the year.

The opening speaker announced that companies are aware that a shortage of engineers is an international problem. As the Executive VP at IBM, the presenter had many opportunities to interact with international governments and other business leaders. He announced that a recurring theme in his discussions is that innovation leads to social and economic value. "Engineers generate wealth; everyone else just pushes it around." 

Our first impressions of the magnitude of the problem came from the IEEE President. She explained that since 1983 the number of engineers enrolled in undergraduate curriculum has been nearly static (about 8 percent of college bound students); meanwhile, demand has risen. A study of the German economy estimated that 13.8 billion Euro in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is left unrealized each year due to the number of openings for entry-level engineers.

Why do so few students pursue engineering? A study by the National Academy of Engineering asked people to rate the kinds of things that engineers achieve. "Creates economic growth," was first with 69 percent. However items receiving very low scores were: "Improves quality of life (22 percent)," "Protects the environment (17 percent)," and "Saves Lives." A separate study of pre-college boys and girls showed that those areas were among the most important to their career choice.  Engineers find these results frustrating because most would argue that they are on the leading edge of each of those social issues.

The disconnect may stem from the fact that, "engineering ranked as the least familiar career among boys and girls." Further, poorly informed guidance counselors tend to propagate negative stereotypes. However, the same study found that there was low association of engineers with nerds. If the engineering profession stopped making the connection, it would probably disappear altogether.

One goal of the conference was to recommend actual steps to address 'meeting the global demand for engineers and their educators.' One attendee explained that her home state of Massachusetts became the first to add engineering outcomes to their public schools' curriculum. Her organization has been working to create materials for teachers to use to meet those goals. Outreach by practicing engineers can really add value to those lessons. 

In the end, we compiled a list of almost 30 steps that could be taken to 'meet the global demand for engineers, including:

1) Have engineers visit every elementary classroom in the U.S.

2) Lobby for "engineering outcomes" to be added to the K-12 curriculum in each state

3) Add "technical literacy training to elementary educator training

4) Pursue "new media" advertising target to teenagers

5) Develop university programs tailored to non-engineers seeking training to enter the technical workforce

The ASCE Committee on Pre-college Outreach is working to promote engineering. Our efforts include collaboration with other engineering societies, media outlets and educators. Despite some exciting new television and web-based projects, the most effective means of promoting the profession is still through outreach by individual engineers and local chapters. Please check out the Kids & Careers page on the ASCE Web site for some outreach ideas.