Given the number of Engineering students I have seen dropping out their studies, I tried a search over Internet for more wide information and, it looks like it is a very spread issue: several sources are informing on results, that show around a 50% of students leaving their studies, and other showing that among those who graduate only the 25% keep working as Engineer.
What is your perception on this regard in your country?
António José Rodrigues Rebelo
Very interesting your comment (I read it completely, reading a long argumentation never have been a problem for me).In fact several of your remarks are among those one can read when analyzing the problem of students' dropout. Particularly the difficulties in overcoming complexities of mathematics.
It is also interesting your opinion on the need of the introduction of psychological subjects in the curricula of engineering studies. From my point of view, many of students' failures are the results of an insufficient personality development, and the lack of ability for adapting to college conditions, to new priorities.
It hard to answer a question that is not well defined. What is engineer?
is computer science consider to engineering? how about architecture? also what is engineering subject is not clear, at least to me. Most engineers do not work in a "pure" engineering topics like piping design, bridge design etc.
However, these non pure engineering topics are actually engineering issues like pricing, city layout, wall street treading. Even my self as trained as engineer but I do do more fundamentals research which can be considered as physics, or biology. While engineering is very hard it give training for variety of topic which are might look pure engineering topics. Hence it hard to answer this question.
Strictly speaking, you are right (I'd tend to think 'semantically speaking'). It's true, there are several (different) fields, where specialists working on them, are known as Engineers: Agricultural, Forestal, Computer (in some places and/or languages are used to say 'Informatics' Engineer), Civil, Mechanic, ... Engineer.
But roughly speaking, It looks like there is a common shared understanding of what is being (abstractly) an Engineer. Some examples:
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_ddA7fTRm8
- https://interestingengineering.com/culture/what-percentage-of-engineering-graduates-actually-work-in-their-respective-fields
Article Why They Leave: Understanding Student Attrition from Enginee...
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWshoxpStD8
I think that, probably, there is an intuitive understanding that under the term 'Engineering' there are common characteristics, like:
- All they, despite the field, are oriented mostly to applied knowledge in order to obtain some practical result, instead of creating a new one (but not denying the creation at all).
- All engineering degrees applied several or all basic sciences: mathematics, pĥysics, Chemistry, ...
- And, for the given case, related to this discussion, all they (or most of them) are suffering the dropping out 'syndrome'.
Probably there are other common properties, but the intention is not to be exhaustive in the description, but to show the idea.
Under those considerations, several people, particularly those from HE 'industry' could understand, by context, what is the problem (or the question).
Thank you Genick Bar-Meir for your comment.
Rey Segundo Guerrero-Proenza
I watched the first video and I agree with the theme. Even though the boundaries are not clear and even the moving in and out of the definition
there are things in common. I am teaching 3 classes in high school and I can say that I view the preparation in elementary school as the main reason for the failure in middle and high schools. All most all the students in my classes say that "we are dumb and do not expect much from us". I can say that I rehabilitate only 50% of the students after hard work. This is my additional two cents on this point.
Genick Bar-Meir Consider adding 2 cents more as my contribution around this specific aspect of previous preparation of students; I have been feeling (not just feeling, it's a verifiable issue) that several students lack of two crucial components of success in Engineering studies when arriving to University: mathematical preparation and study habits (probably the last one is the most relevant).
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