Intel study: Engineering familiarity doubles teens' interest

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Dec

2011

Intel study: Engineering familiarity doubles teens' interest

It's no secret that America is in desperate need of more engineers. Lacking a home-grown talent pool large enough, firms jockey annually Intel-Engineering-Survey_Infographic1

for H-1B visas to bring in qualified associates from overseas. The question stands, how do we properly increase the amount of engineering graduates from U.S. colleges and universities? Intel, with the nonprofit Change the Equation, released a study on Dec. 6 that suggests the main problem is talented teens are unaware of the benefits of pursuing an engineering career.

"The results of this survey show the importance of providing teens with opportunities to gain knowledge about engineering," Intel chief information officer Diane Bryant said. Bryant previously served as Intel's director of engineering. "We need to offer teens real-world, hands-on engineering experience and interaction with engineers, like that found in robotics programs and science competitions, to improve the likelihood that they'll get hooked on the subject and pursue it in college."

Engineering has a reputation among college students for being notoriously difficult. While promises of high salaries and regular employment encourage people to become engineering majors, it's not enough to keep them motivated, and many students end up switching majors to a less taxing discipline. In fact, the study found 41 percent of teens chose "difficult" as the one word they most associate with engineering.

However, the potential for success is on display in any middle school shop class. Students with a wide variety of talents become engaged and excited about building model bridges with toothpicks, or constructing carbon dioxide-powered balsa wood race cars. When teens who considered engineering as a career were asked, "Which of the following interests you about a career in engineering," 74 percent chose "I think it would be interesting," beating out salary, job security, social impact and other factors.

To put these numbers into action, researchers suggested a number of methods.

Focus on helping teens understand what being an engineer is all about. Improving understanding of what engineers actually do can increase consideration, so talk about how rewarding it is to be an engineer.
Don't dumb down what engineers do. Try to reframe the difficulty of engineering as a positive challenge, a badge of honor to be worn proudly when successful.
Make engineering feel less remote and more personal. Give a face to engineers to help inspire and create a sense that "if they can do it, I can do it."
Up-weight the emotional appeal of engineering. The societal benefits of what engineers do, like preventing disasters or generating cleaner electricity, are particularly resonant with teens that have never considered engineering before.

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