Page 38 - Educating the Engineer of 2020: Adapting Engineering Education to the New Century

Educating the Engineer of 2020: Adapting Engineering Education to the New Century
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11338.html

GETTING TO 2020: GUIDING STRATEGIES 21

deme has developed and grown. The great majority of engineering fac-
ulty, for example, have no industry experience. Industry representatives
point to this disconnect as the reason that engineering students are not
adequately prepared, in their view, to enter today’s workforce.
It is noteworthy that, for over a century, engineering has adhered to
the notion that four years of education is all that is needed to become an
engineer. Perhaps reflecting its apprenticeship origins, engineering edu-
cation appears designed to get graduates into gainful employment, pri-
1
marily in industry, as fast as possible. Other professions have recog-
nized the inadequacy of this approach (see Figure 3-1). Indeed, because
of the educational practice in those professions, there is a perception
that one becomes a “professional” following two, three, or more years of
education beyond the baccalaureate degree, which is the degree most
engineers hold. Thus, it is not so surprising, perhaps, that engineers do
not feel that the public values their “professional” status. To this point,
data collected for the American Association of Engineering Societies by
Harris Interactive (NAE, 2002, p. 11) indicate that scientists continue
to be held in higher regard than engineers. In a survey, 55 percent of
respondents indicated that scientists had “very great prestige,” whereas
34 percent indicated the same for engineers. This level of appreciation
for engineers was constant from 1977 to 1998, a performance that Har-
ris rated as “consistently mediocre.” Engineers in academe enjoy the
personal and professional prestige of their academic environment (in
the same 1998 Harris Poll, educators labeled as “teachers” rated at 53
percent), so the prestige of the engineering profession may have a less
visceral concern for them, but they can and should play a role in design-
ing an engineering education infrastructure that will enhance the pres-
tige of the profession.
The professional engineering societies addressed this problem early
on by creating “professional” engineers who are licensed by examina-
tion. This was largely the outgrowth of civil engineering and reflects a
need for the public to know whether an engineer they are dealing with
on a project is competent. However, with the rise of large corporations,
who felt capable of judging competence for themselves and who were

1 The data show that almost 85 percent of baccalaureate recipients are employed by
private, for-profit firms. See Table 4 in http://www.nsf.gov/sbe/srs/infbrief/nsf04316/start.htm.

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