February 1, 2009

Engineers Week Is Feb. 15–21

Dr. Robert Peltier, PE

I just renewed my professional society membership dues for the umpteenth year, and while writing the check, I paused to consider if I was getting good value from them. I expect to receive another "suitable for framing" certificate this year, as the number of my membership years ends with a zero, but I wondered if there were other, more tangible benefits.

I should have walked away from the computer at that point, but one question often leads to another, and so it was today. It’s been some time since I sat in a classroom (although I still have this recurring dream about arriving unprepared for a final exam), so I browsed over to look at engineering enrollment and graduation trends. They seem to have improved since my undergraduate days at San Diego State University, when my graduating class of mechanical engineers numbered an even dozen, giving me eternal bragging rights of having graduated in the top 10 of my class. Barely.

The National Science Foundation, which has charted science and engineering enrollments since 1972, reports that undergraduate engineering enrollments generally declined in the 1980s and 1990s, rebounding from 2000 through 2003, only to resume a slow decline since then. Engineering degrees awarded were just under 39,000 in 1976. They peaked in 1985 with 77,572, then slowly declined to 59,258 in 2001, and slowly rose to just over 68,000 in 2006 — accounting for 4.6% of all bachelor level degrees awarded that year.

The engineering profession continues to offer many excellent career opportunities, yet the academic challenges remain a formidable barrier for many.