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OCR for page 51
4
current Status of
Engineering Education
As was pointed out in the introduction, the most critical and con-
cemed attention directed at the engineering profession in recent years
has focused on engineering education. This is where the cries of crisis
have been most frequent and insistent. The educational system is cor-
rectly perceived as producing not just the fodder of the technology
development process, but its seed corn as well. The training, skills, and
knowledge of recent graduates are of critical importance to that devel-
opment process, and trends that threaten their continued supply to any
degree also threaten the foundations of industry and the national econ-
omy.
The linkage between engineering innovation, quality, and productiv-
ity on the one hand, and industrial and economic strength on the other
is clearly evident as we look around at the world today. That linkage is
two-directional in nature; occurrences with major economic impact
also affect engineering. Figure 5 illustrates how closely the enrollment
of engineers {and degrees awarded) in the United States is tied to
national economic events, as well as to sociological attitudes {Report of
the Pane! on Infrastructure Diagramming and Mocleling). (It should be
noted that underlying factors such as demographic shifts also affect the
amplitude of these curves, as in number 10 on the chart. ~
A primary objective of the committee was to reexamine the status of
engineering education today, to see whether time and a degree of high-
level attention to these problems in recent years might have brought
about significant improvements in the situation.
51
OCR for page 52
52
1 20,000
1 05,000
it'
, 12
F\ ~
~90,000
UJ
us
~75,000
7
~60000
on '
~ 45,000
on I
I
30,000 _
1 5,000
ENGINEERING EDUCATION AND PRACTICE
First-Year Enrollments
/ 10
1
I%_
I
I
I
I A
I
4/ ~/ BS Degrees
_ _~
.'
.~
MS Degrees
1945 1950 1955
PhD Degrees
1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985
YEAR
1 Return ing WW I I veterans
2 Diminishing veteran pool and expected surplus of engineers
3 Korean War and increasing R&D expenditures
4 Return ing Korean War veterans
5 Aerospace program cutbacks and economic recession
6 Vietnam War and greater space expenditures
7 Increased student interest in social-program careers
8 Adverse student attitudes toward engineering, decreased space
and defense expenditures, and lowered college attendance
Improved engineering job market, positive student attitudes toward
engineering, and entry of nontraditional students (women, minorities,
and foreign nationals)
Diminishing 18-year-old pool
A ASEE Evaluation Report recommends greater stress on math/science
and quality graduate education
FIGURE 5 Engineering degrees and lst-year enrollments: Historical factors influenc-
ing changes in engineering enrollments.
OCR for page 53
CURRENT STATUS OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION
53
Four separate panels of the Subcommittee on Engineering Educa-
tional Systems examined relevant aspects of undergraduate education,
graduate education and research, engineering technology education,
and continuing education for engineers.
Based on the findings of those panels, it is possible to examine engi-
neering education issues in a way that cuts across the different levels
and types of programs. A useful organizing principle might be to look
first at areas that are of critical importance either because of their
potential for doing harm or because of the timeliness of the needs they
impose and then to discuss special topics that are of broad or long-
ter'~ importance. Finally, we will examine a number of points at which
the educational system is experiencing significant change.
Critical Areas
Faculty
If there is one immediately pressing problem in engineering educa-
tion, it is the current shortage of engineering faculty. Estimates of the
severity of the shortage range from 1,567 to 6,700 (1,567 is the number
of unfilled positions reported in a survey of engineering deans in 1983,
and 6,700 is the number necessary to restore the student/faculty ratio
to the levels of 1967-1969 and 1975-1976; see the Report of the Panel
on Graduate Education and Research). The most recent survey of engi-
neering colleges conducted by the American Society for Engineering
Education (ASEE) revealed that 8.5 percent of budgeted faculty posi-
tions were unfilled in the fall of 1983 {American Society for Engineering
Education, 1984b). Data derived from long-term analysis of advertise-
ments for faculty positions indicate that 8.5 percent is higher than
normal. The committee roughly estimates that the norm is probably
around 3 or 4 percent.
The lack of sufficient faculty is the most important factor currently
limiting attempts to increase the quality, scope, and number of engi-
neering programs.
The shortage has several contributory causes, including the per-
ceived unattractiveness of a teaching career relative to a career in indus-
try and a decrease in available Ph.D.s in combination with a rapid
increase in student enrollments in recent years. The latter has resulted
in overcrowded classrooms that are themselves a further disincentive
to teaching: student/faculty ratios rose 37 percent between 1976 and
1982 {Report of the Panel on Graduate Education and Research). A
major concern has been that these ratios are too high and that they
reduce the student-faculty interaction that is essential to high-quality
OCR for page 54
54
ENGINEERING EDUCATION AND PM CTICE
education. Also frequently cited as negative aspects of a teaching career
are noncompetitive salaries and poor research facilities compared with
those available in industry.
In order to attack the faculty shortage problem, the ASEE Engineer-
ing Deans' Council recently adopted the following policy statement to
encourage top-quaTity students to consider careers as engineering fac-
ulty members {American Society for Engineering Education, 1984a):
At least 1000 intelligent and highly motivated individuals with doctoral
degrees in engineering will be needed every year as faculty members in institu-
tions of higher learning in the United States. Charged with the critical responsi-
bility of educating prospective engineers, these individuals must enjoy the
challenges and satisfaction of teaching, the excitement of research at the very
frontiers of knowledge, and the freedom of self-d~rection. The opportunities for
a lifelong, productive, satisfying, and rewarding career are unlimited.
Some have argued that engineering schools should be able to handle
increased student loads through increased productivity of existing fac-
ulty with no loss of educational quality. Greater use of teaching assist-
ants is one conventional approach for reducing a professor's per-class
workload. But teaching assistants require money in the form of gradu-
ate assistantships, and such funds have perennially been in short sup-
PIY
In addition to the current shortfall of faculty, there is a continuing
need to replace retiring faculty members. Because of present age distri-
butions among engineering faculty, it can be expected that some 7,000
will retire over the next 15 years an average of about 450 per year,
probably increasing from 300 per year in the near term to 600 per year by
the turn of the century (Report of the Pane! on Graduate Education and
Research).
The matter of Tow academic salaries has also been perceived as a
major disincentive, and the perception has undoubtedly steered many
young potential faculty members away from teaching. Although there
are signs of improvement in this regard at some schools, there is still a
considerable disparity between academic and industry salaries {Engi-
neeringManpowerCommission, 1983c, 19834~.
There are several points that should be made here that complicate
salary comparisons. First, faculty salaries at every level must be com-
pared with those of Ph.D. engineers in industry. In addition, an equita-
ble comparison for full professors is with industry supervisory Ph.D.
holders "division heads I, because some full professors are recruited into
these positions. However, academic salaries are for 9 months. Because
many faculty {including nearly all entry-level faculty) obtain research
OCR for page 55
CURRENT STATUS OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION
64,000
60,000
56,000
52,000
~48,000
A:
44,000
40,000
36,000
32,000
28,000
24,000 _
20,000
Assistant Prof.
Industry-Supervisor _
-
_ '
-
-
-
Professor
~ ~Industry-Nonsupervisor
Associate Prof.
-
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
16,000
0 3 6 9 12 15 13 21
24 27 30 33
and
55
YEARS SINCE BACCALAUREATE DEGREE Over
FIGURE 6 Comparison of academe-industry engineering Ph.D. salaries {all professo-
rial salaries adjusted to 11-month basis J.
SOURCE: Engineering Manpower Commission, AAES, 1983.
grants for 2 summer months, salary comparisons should reflect that
augmentation {i.e., a multiplier of 11/9 must be applied).) Figure 6
compares adjusted salaries of Ph.D.-holders employed in industry and
academe.
Even these adjusted industrial-academic comparisons may be decep-
tive, however, because they involve median salaries. This approach
ignores {in the case of faculty) large school-to-school differences and
many individual differences. For example, the salaries of some estab
~ At some schools, funding for all 3 summer months is the case {requiring a multi-
plier of 12/9) .
OCR for page 56
56
ENGINEERING EDUCATION AND PRACTICE
fished professors are substantially augmented by income from consult-
ing or book royalties. Younger faculty generally do not have the time or
opportunity to obtain these supplements to income. A crucial point is
that for tenure-track positions schools typically attempt to hire the best
doctoral engineers available. These same people can sometimes com-
mand significantly higher than median salaries in industry {as high as
$45,000 to start, in some cases), so that the real disparity may be even
greater than the chart indicates.
When all these factors are taken into account, the salary problem is a
real one. The salaries of full professors are well below those of their
counterparts in industry. Moreover, the key salary problem is with
junior faculty-assistant and associate professors beyond the entry
level and this is of course what discourages many young Ph.D.s con-
sidering teaching as a career.
Graduate Degrees
Figure 5, at the beginning of this chapter, demonstrated that graduate
degrees awarded have not kept pace with B.S. degrees in recent years.
Doctoral degree output has been particularly hard hit. While the num-
ber of engineering bachelor's degrees increased by 81 percent between
1977 and 1983, full-time doctoral enrollment increased only 33 percent
in the same period. Table 2 presents numerical B.S./M.S./Ph.D. com-
parisons. Note that total annual Ph.D. production has been roughly
stable at about 2,800 in recent years, although it rose to about 3,000 in
1983 {Report of the Pane! on Graduate Education and Research). Cer-
tainly a major reason for the lack of interest has been the starting
salaries offered to B.S. engineers by industry, which are very attractive
in comparison to the extremely low income afforded by graduate study.
However, this situation now appears to be changing. Based on cur-
rent numbers of doctoral-level graduate students, the Panel on Gradu-
ate Education and Research projects that Ph.D. output will increase to
approximately 4,000 in 1988 {see Figure 7~. The question must now be
asked: Will this increase solve the faculty shortage?
The Pane! on Graduate Study and Research initially calculated that
3,900 engineering Ph.D.s per year would be required to meet the needs
for faculty, given that industry demand does not increase substantially.
However, the committee concludes that advancing technology will
cause industry demand for engineering Ph.D.s to increase steadily
throughout the coming years. In addition, about 40 percent of the
Ph.D.s graduating in recent years have been foreign nationals on tem-
porary visas. Therefore, the projected supply of 4,000 Ph.D.s per year
OCR for page 57
CURRENT STATUS OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION
TABLE2 U.S. Engineering Degrees 1950-1983
57
Bachelor's Degrees
Year Foreign
Ending Nationalsa
1950
1951
1952
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
Total
Master's Degrees
Foreign
Nationalsa
Total
Doctor's Degrees
Foreign
Nationalsa
Total
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
1,565
1,944
2,136
2,436
2,468
2,799
2,996
3,084
3,788
4,895
5,622
5,410
6,151
48,160 n/a
37,887 n/a
27,155 n/a
24,165 n/a
22,236 n/a
22,589 n/a
26,306 n/a
31,221 n/a
35,332 n/a
38,134 n/a
37,808 n/a
35,860 n/a
34,735 n/a
33,458 n/a
35,226 n/a
36,691 n/a
35,815 n/a
36,186 n/a
38,002 n/a
39,972 n/a
42,966 n/a
43,167 2,930
44,190 2,973
43,429 2,551
41,407 3,099
38,210 3,250
37,970 3,628
40,095 3,825
46,091 3,579
52,598 3,944
58,742 4,402
62,935 4,589
66,990 5,216
72,471 5,145
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
4,865n/a492
5,134n/a586
4,132n/a586
3,636n/a592
4,078n/a590
4,379n/a599
4,589n/a610
5,093n/a596
5,669n/a647
6,615n/a714
6,989n/a786
7,977n/a943
8,909n/a1,207
9,460n/a1,378
10,827n/a1,693
12,246n/a2,124
13,677n/a2,303
13,887n/a2,614
15,152n/a2,933
14,980n/a3,387
15,548n/a3,620
16,3837413,640
17,3567733,774
17,1527083,587
15,8851,0143,362
15,7738913,138
16,5061,0602,977
16,5519932,813
15,7368742,573
15,6249292,815
16,9419822,751
17,6431,0542,841
18,2891,1672,887
19,6731,1793,023
Data from 1950- 1952 taken from Facilities and Opportunities for Graduate Studyin
Engineenng, American Society for Engineering Education, Washington, D.C., March
1968. Data from 1953- 1976 supplied by Engineering Manpower Commission, New
York, N.Y. Data for 1977-1979 from Engineering ManpowerBulletin #50, November
1979, Engineers Joint Council, New York, N.Y.1980- 1983 data from Engineering
Manpower Commission.
a For these data, "foreign nationals" refers to non-U.S. citizens on temporary visas.
OCR for page 58
58
4,000 ~
1~
of
us
~ 3,0t)0
an
J
Z o
O
UJ ~
2,000
~ Z
J ~
A:
O:
O
~-
O <.n
111
1 ,000
ENGINEERING EDUCATION AND PRACTICE
,-~'
Estimated New Doctoral
Students Each Year
(Current doctoral students,
displaced 5 years to the right)
/\ ~'
Engineering
Doctoral Degrees
-
1970 1 975 1 980 1985 1 990
YEAR
FIGURE 7 Engineering doctoral degrees per year.
SOURCE: Report of the Panel on Graduate Education and Research.
will be inadequate to meet the nation's needs in particular, those of
academia.
The percentage of Ph.D. students who are foreign nationals in the
United States on temporary visas rose from about 14 percent in 1970 to
about 42 percent in 1983 {Report of the Panel on Graduate Education
and Research) . Generally, only about half of these individuals expect to
remain in the United States. Although foreign-born graduates of U.S.
doctoral programs tend to go disproportionately into teaching (and in
that sense have been the salvation of engineering education in recent
years), the increase in the percentage of those who cannot stay in the
United States threatens to dilute the advantage gained through
increased Ph.D. output. On this basis, the committee concludes that
the pool of doctoral candidates should include a higher proportion of
U.S. residents.
To ensure that even the projected increase in Ph.D. output does in
OCR for page 59
CURRENT STATUS OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION
59
fact occur that is, that it does not short-circuit into a large exodus at
the master's level and to increase the proportion and numbers of
United States residents, will require additional funding by government
and industry. The committee concludes that in order to minimize the
financial disincentive, doctoral fellowships should carry stipends equal
to at least half of the starting salary of a new B.S. graduate for about
$13,000 in 1984 dollars). Based on projected requirements for perma-
nent-resident engineering Ph.D.s, the Pane! on Graduate Education
and Research estimates that 1,000 doctoral new starts per year will be
needed. The pane} calculated that these fellowships will cost the
nation in the range of $60-$70 million per year, divided between the
federal government and industry2 Report of the Pane! on Graduate
Education and Research) .
Such figures can be misreading, however, in that they do not reflect a
range of other costs that are driven by Ph.D. output and faculty growth.
First, the additional doctoral production will require a corresponding
increase in funded research. Second, more faculty will require more
office space. Third, to improve the percentage of graduates opting for an
academic career, careful attention must also be paid to starting faculty
salaries. Untilthe Ph.D. offers a reasonable return on the investment of
time, energy, and lost income, there will not be sufficient incentive for
seeking it. Some universities are already addressing the latter problem.
Although the most serious concerns have focused on Ph.D. output,
the importance of the master's degree should not be overlooked. In
some areas of civil engineering and in most fields of electronics and
computers, the M.S. has become the standard level of academic prepa-
ration for those engaged in design work. However, the proportion of
M.S. degrees to B.S. degrees has been decreasing since about 1976
{Table 2~.
The master's affords a level of specialization and familiarity with
research practices not usually found in the B.S. graduate. Industry
utilization of M.S. holders varies from company to company, from
assignment to the same tasks as B.S. graduates to a more specialized
role closer to the research-oriented work of Ph.D.s. Thus, this degree
offers a versatility that is becoming increasingly important in light of
the multidisciplinary and complex nature of much engineering work
today.
2 Assuming a 4-year Ph.D. program, with some attrition occurring, for a total of
3,500 students by the fourth year of the program; slight yearly increases in stipend, for
an overall average of $14,000 per year per student; and an accompanying grant to the
institution of $6,000 for tuition and fees.
OCR for page 60
60
ENGINEERING EDUCATION AND PRACTICE
Equipment Obsolescence
A major problem, alluded to earlier, is the age of teaching and
research equipment in engineering colleges. One retired executive
of a large U.S. corporation recently reported that, upon visiting his
alma mater, he found engineering students in the laboratory using the
same equipment he had used in the 1930s. The useful life span
of laboratory equipment is currently considered to be about 10 years.
The impact of new, advanced technologies and the rapidity of techno-
Togical change are probably shortening that span even further. Yet
the average age of laboratory equipment in engineering schools nation-
wide is 20 to 30 years (National Society of Professional Engineers,
1982~.
Governmental and industrial support programs in this area have
been sporadic, so that a serious mismatch exists between the need for
equipment and the level of support. Obviously, the cost of state-of-the-
art equipment is enormous. Even industry has substantial difficulty in
remaining current. Yet the median age of instruments in the schools is
about twice that of industry instrumentation. This means that indus-
try gifts of used equipment to schools, while generous, are of limited
value in increasing the technological currency of students and faculty.
Leadership in engineering research in many fields has now clearly
passed from schools to industry, so that the direction of technology
transfer has reversed its traditional flow to a certain degree. Thus, this
problem has major implications for the quality of education and the
efficiency of the technology development process overall.
A related and important problem is seen in the aging of physical
plants, including "bricks and mortar," in engineering schools. This
condition is worsening at a time when the importance of engineering
education to regional and national economic development is being
recognized. For some time, the practice has been for the federal govern-
ment and industry not to provide support for bricks and mortar. The
committee urges a change in this practice.
A national program of govemment-industry-college matching grants
is required to address the problem of equipment and facilities, includ-
ing bricks and mortar. The federal government and industry should be
prepared to match funds raised by colleges from state governments or
from philanthropic sources for this purpose. In addition, industry, aca-
deme, and the professional societies need to join forces in developing
rational approaches to facilitate gifts of laboratory equipment to col-
leges of engineering; one approach could be to promote legislation for
this purpose where necessary.
OCR for page 61
CURRENT STATUS OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION
The Two-Tiered System
61
Beginning in the 1950s the federal government initiated a compre-
hensive system of support for academic research and graduate educa-
tion in the sciences. As the system grew, engineering research and
graduate education began to be included. The objective was {and is) to
develop knowledge and improve research techniques across a broad
spectrum of disciplines, as well as to ensure a flow of graduate-level
personnel to meet the nation's research needs. However, an unin-
tended effect of this focused funding has been the creation of a two-
tiered system of engineering colleges.
Rapid growth in funding took place during the 1950s and 1960s,
followed by another upswing in the late 1970s that slowed to a modest
increase in the 1980s. By 1981, fecleral government support for aca-
demic RED was about $2 billion annually.
The impact of this comprehensive program of federal funding has
been substantial. Three decades of rising annual funding fostered a
group of research universities or institutions the first-tier schools-
whose graduate and research programs became heavily dependent on
contract research. This system of government grants and contracts has
greatly benefited many engineering colleges, but its focus has been
almost exclusively at the graduate level. As a result, it has been the
driving force in graduate engineering education. It has produced an
array of sophisticated laboratories, so that some 15 to 20 schools now
have one or more unique and cutting-ecige laboratory facilities for
research.
The rise of the government-funded research university also affected
industrial support for engineering education. Many in industry
believed that, because of large, continuing government funding, the
universities were no longer interested in working with industry. Con-
sequently, the industrial contribution to university RED decreased
slightly for a period after 1960. It later rose again; but considering the
greatly increased government contribution, inclustry's share ton a per-
centage basis) was cut nearly in half between 1960 and 1981.
Recently, some major corporations have made sizable grants to a
relatively small number of institutions. However, most of these initia-
tives have focused on the graduate research level and the same group of
institutions that have been the primary recipients of government fund-
ing. Industrial support for academic RED expenditures now amounts
to about 4 percent of the total Although it is around 10 percent for
engineering research) National Science Board, 1982~. Thus the federal
government plays the dominant role in funding academic RED.
OCR for page 75
CURRENT STATUS OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION
75
ways similar to those found in engineering programs; the primary dif-
ference lies in a greater emphasis on applied practice and procedures in
the former and a greater emphasis on fundamentals and theory in the
latter.
There are areas of overlap in the work of engineers and technologists.
Again, the primary distinction is one of a fundamental and theoretical
focus versus an operational focus; engineers are usually involved in
research, development, advanced design, and integrated design and
manufacture, while technologists' work emphasizes known applica-
tions in design, manufacture, test, inspection, and quality control. The
availability of well-trained engineering technologists is providing
industry, at least in some sectors, with a greater flexibility in staffing.
The outlook is for a greater output of technologists with more and more
specialized skills to meet specific industry needs. Because of their
training and the relatively close contact between schools of technology
and their industry sponsors and clients, technologists tend to be of
immediate utility to companies, thus reducing the training overhead
burden.
Because of growing industry demand for these personnel, the num-
ber of institutions offering technology degrees has proliferated nation-
wide, from about 68 in 1951 to the current total of 154 accredited
institutions offering two- and four-year degree programs (Report of the
Panel on Technology Education). Many are community colleges offer-
ing a two-year transfer program leading to a bachelor of engineering
technology degree at a four-year college. A large number of universities
and colleges offer the four-year program. The popularity {and useful-
ness) of these programs is indicated by the fact that, between 1971 and
1983, the number of bachelor of engineering technology degrees
awarded increased 79 percent {to 9,200) {Engineering Manpower Com
mission, 1984c). Enrollments do show a wide variability from year to
year, however {EMC, 1983b). There is also great variability among
engineering technology programs in terms of entry requirements, stan-
dards of achievement, curricula content, semester-hour requirements,
and overall quality. More standardization in these programs could be
achieved through interinstitutional cooperation.
A degree of friction has developed between engineering faculties and
engineering technology faculties in universities offering both pro-
grams. The difficulty arises from the blurring of distinctions between
the programs and from the competition for funds, laboratory equip-
ment, and in some cases jobs for their graduates. Ultimately, the
demand in the marketplace will determine the amount of emphasis
that engineering technology education should receive.
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76
Computer Science
ENGINEERING EDUCATION AND PRACTICE
Computer science is a rapidly emerging discipline, crucial to engi-
neering. There is currently a great deal of variability in where computer
science falls in the academic scheme of things, with computer science
programs occupying a wide range of departments across different uni-
versities. Sometimes it is a part of engineering, sometimes in the math-
ematics department, and sometimes independent.
Two professional groups, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers and the Association for Computing Machinery, have
recently joined in creating a special commission to consider the issue of
accreditation for computer science programs.4 Success in this effort
should help to define more clearly the place of computer science as a
professional discipline within university curriculums.
What is clear in any event is that contemporary engineering work in
nearly every field requires some theoretical understanding of com-
puters and programming. It is widely accepted that the use of com-
puters must eventually pervade all fields of engineering education.
University-In d us try In terse lions
Under the pressure of foreign competition in engineering-intensive
industries, the federal government has recently begun to encourage
closer interactions between industry and universities {National Sci-
ence Foundation, 1982b). In addition to direct support of joint research,
various other steps that the government is taking will further improve
the climate for university-industry interaction. For example, the
administration has approved the concept of a closer collaboration
between federal research laboratories and their university and industry
counterparts {Office of Science and Technology Policy, 1983~. In addi-
tion, the movement toward establishing up to 25 engineering research
centers at engineering schools is encouraging National Academy of
Engineering, 1984~.
State programs have also come to be very important in this regard.
There are currently a number of fine examples, with North Carolina's
Research Triangle Park being perhaps the best known. Others, at the
University of Arizona, at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York
State, and elsewhere, are becoming increasingly active. Such programs
generate enthusiastic support in state legislatures and in localities
4 The Computer Science Accreditation Commission, or CSAC.
OCR for page 77
CURRENT STATUS OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION
77
because of the prestige, revenues, and jobs associated with them. They
are also beneficial to engineering education at the participating schools
in that they attract and stimulate highly qualified faculty ~n(3 students,
as well as industry funds and support.
Industry increasingly realizes that it has a crucial stake in the contin-
ued health of the engineering educational process, and in the quality of
the educational product. Collaboration takes many forms. In some
cases it is in the form of financial support through research grants to
faculty and fellowships to graduate students, or through gifts of needed
laboratory equipment. A growing trend is for the establishment of joint
research endeavors between a university and a nearby company, either
in the university research center or on-site in the company's laborato-
ries {National Science Board, 1982~. The federal RED tax credit has
been invaluable in helping to stimulate all these forms of industry
support of research in engineering schools.
The use of adjunct faculty from industry to augment engineering
faculties is a traditional concept, although its value is generally limited
to instruction alone, and does not extend to full participation in other
campus responsibilities. Similar, but with its own difficulties, is the
concept of shared professorships, in which a faculty member and a
practicing research engineer exchange places for an academic period.
Faculty consulting to industry is also valuable in that it enhances uni-
versity-industry contacts. Along with shared professorships, consult-
ing offers the benefit of keeping faculty current with modern practice
and the applications of research in the field. Consulting is therefore an
important vehicle for feedback of ideas from industry into the ciass-
room while providing industry with ideas based on academic research.
There are a number of actual and potential problems associated with
university-industry interactions that must be satisfactorily addressed
as those interactions become closer and more routine. One problem is
based on the commercial nature of industrially sponsored research.
Conflicts between the profit-making purposes of industry and the edu-
cational purposes of universities have to be resolved if productive col-
laboration is to occur.
As a general rule, the closer a university comes to the activity of
product development, the less likely it is that the purposes of the uni-
versity will be well served. Such activities are highly specialized,
whereas the educational process should strive for generalizable knowI-
edge. Secrecy constraints, often important to industry, are also in con-
flict with the generalizability of learning.
The ownership of intellectual property- usually meaning patents
and copyrights is another vexing problem for universities involved in
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ENGINEERING EDUCATION AND PM CTICE
industry research, especially in publicly supported universities. Simi-
larly, consulting by faculty sometimes draws allegations of conflict of
interest and inattention to the faculty member's teaching responsibili-
ties. These issues are often heavily loaded with value judgments and
political philosophies, yet they must be resolved if satisfactory univer-
sity-industry relationships are to be developed. {See the report of the
Panel on Graduate Education and Research for a more extensive discus-
sion of these issues. ~
This litany of concerns and issues regarding university-industry rela-
tions should not be too intimidating. In reality, there have been many
instances of satisfactory relationships being worked out which main-
tain the integrity of the university's role while satisfying the require-
ments of the industrial organization.
Findings, Conclusions, and Recommendations
1. A broad engineering education leaves engineers better prepared
to communicate with each other, to avoid technological obsolescence,
and to learn new skills as technology advances.
The undergraduate curriculum should provide considerable
breadth across the engineering disciplines and within each ~scipZine.
Extensive, in-depth disciplinary specialization should be postponed to
the graduate [eve].
2. Because few women chose to study engineering in the past, the
profession lost access to substantial human resources. However, dur-
ing the last decade the number of women studying and practicing engi-
neering has increased dramatically, from 1 percent of engineering
enrollment in 1970 to 15 percent in 1984.
To achieve the fuZ] potential that this human resource offers,
colleges of engineering and! engineering technology, school systems,
government, industry, and the engineeringprofession must continue to
work to increase the number of qualified women who study for a career
inengineenDg.Themostimportantmeansare:greatereffortrasrecom-
mended by other study groups) to increase the study of math and sci-
ence by female secondary-schoo7 students and further action by
colleges of engineering to increase female enrollment.
3. Blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians are greatly underrepre-
sented in the pool of engineering school applicants (both graduate and
undergraduate) and in the engineering workplace. This underrepresen-
tation has social, economic, and educational origins. Despite recent
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CURRENT STATUS OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION
81
extent of the shortage range from 1,567 to about 6,700. {1,567 is the
number of unfilled positions reported in a survey of engineering deans
in 1983, and 6,700 is the number necessary to restore the student/
faculty ratio to that which existed in 1975-1976 often considered an
optimal ratio. ~ The lack of sufficient high-quaTity faculty is the most
important factor currently limiting attempts to increase the quality,
scope, and number of engineering programs.
Increasing the supply of highly qualified' U S residents Toddling
the Ph D would help to alleviate the pro blew (Restoration of the
1975-1976 student/facu~tyratio, however, worst require even further
funding of graduate programs J Universities, for theirpart, must make
engineering faculty careers more attractive than at present in order to
fill vacant faculty positions Salaries need further improvement, ade-
quate facilities are necessary, and current teaching overloads should be
reduced
9. Educational technology {computers, TV, satellite transmission,
etc. ~ holds promise for improving the delivery of engineering education
at all levels. However, the full implementation of educational technol-
ogy has been inhibited by high costs and by the time required for faculty
to integrate its use into the substance and process of the learning experi
ence.
Computers, and computer-aided instruction in particular,
should be recognized as powerful educational systems tools These
tools should be applied as rapidly and as fully as practicable in a]]
academic progran~sin such a way as to enhance the qua~ityofengineer-
ing education Engineering schools should be encouraged to create pro-
grams for development of educational technology by faculty, with
sharedinstitutiona], industry, andgovernmentfunding
10. Engineers can be productive in engineering work over a longer
period Thus increasing the size and effectiveness of the engineering
work force) if they have access to effective continuing education.
Needs of engineers for lifelong maintenance of competence through
continuing education are met by a variety of means, including employ-
ers, professional/technical societies, academic institutions, private
vendors, on-the-job learning, and the individual initiative of the engi-
neer. However, the lack of company reimbursement and release time is
a strong demotivator for pursuing continuing education.
The variousproviders of continuingeducation shou]dkeep these
educational sources available to the practicing engineer and should
expand theiroffenngs Industrymanagers should recognize the value of
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82
ENGINEERING EDUCATION AND PRACTICE
continuing education in improving the effectiveness and adaptability
of their engineering employees Those companies that do not offer their
engineering employees financial and worktime relief should strongly
be encouraged to do so
11. Industry's interest in engineering schools has traditionally
focused on their product the graduate. However, research in engineer-
ing in universities has become increasingly important to industry as
well. In a climate of financial constraint and rising international com-
petitiveness, industry has a vested interest in helping engineering
schools to maintain high levels of educational and research quality.
Closer ties should be fostered between university and industry
Creative and innovative ideas along the fines of the Semiconductor
Research Corporation and the NSF's Engineering Research Centers are
invaluable In addition, current programs of industry-sponsored
research, advisory councils, shared faculty, industry financial support
for equipment and! facilities, and' joint industry-universityprovision of
continuing education should all be encouraged Continuation of the
R&D tax crept is essential for maintaining aR forms of industry sup-
port for research in engineering schools
12. Laboratory equipment in engineering education has deteriorated
over a Tong period of time. Plant and other facilities have also aged
greatly. Governmental and industrial equipment support programs
have been sporadic, so that a serious mismatch exists between the need
for equipment and the level of support.
A national program of government-industry-co]]ege matching
grants is required to address this problem Industry, academe, and the
professional societies need to join forces in promoting legislation
wherenecessarytofaciiitategifts of Jaboratoryequipment to colleges of
engineering In the special case of bricks and mortar, the federal govern-
ment and industry should be prepared to match those funds raised by
s t a t e g o v e r n m e n t s o r f r o m p h i ~ a n t h r o p i c s o u r c e s f o r t h i s p u r p o s e
13. There is great variability among engineering technology pro-
grams in terms of entry requirements, standards of achievement, cur-
ricula content, semester hours required, and overall quality. How-
ever,this diversity serves a useful purpose, given the diversity of indus-
trial needs in different regions.
Technical and technoJogyinstitutions should cooperate in elimi-
eating variability that has no relevance to market needs and is strictly
arbitraryin nature
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CURRENT STATUS OF ENGINEERING EDUCATION
79
increases in minority enrollments, the potential representation of
these populations remains unmet, and once admitted, their attrition is
disproportionately larger than that of traditional engineering students.
Broader efforts by schools, companies, and engineering societies
are required to bring more minorities into engineering For example,
pre-coRege programs such as those operating in a few major cities and
regions must be expanded and funded so as to betterprepare and moti-
vateminoritystudents to pursue college studyand careersin engineer-
ing Retention programs similar to those now supported by many
colleges and organizations must also be expanded
4. Engineering co-op programs have traditionally filled a valuable
role in engineering education. They provide a motivational component
and a means of helping to self-finance a college education. In addition,
they give the student experience in the practice of engineering, an
aspect that has been given less emphasis in contemporary engineering
curricula. Thus they have an important orientational value, helping to
enrich and focus the classroom learning experience. Despite their use-
fuiness, however, these and other such work-study programs {includ-
ing summer employment) have traditionally suffered from
fluctuations in the economy and generally inconsistent support by
industry.
To increase their effectiveness and enhance their role, co-op and
other work-study programs need to be strengthened A considerably
stronger commitmen t from industry and educa lion is required to e~imi-
nate the boom or bust cyclical nature of support that tends to character-
ize these programs The committee strongly recommends that the
National Academy of Engineering and the professional societies take
the initiative in bringing togetherrepresentatives of industry, academe,
antigovernment to develop betterwork-studyprograms Means should
be found to eliminate the pro blew of cyclical support and to make it
feasible for a much larger fraction of the engineering student cohort to
participate
5.
By 1992, major demographic changes will cause a substantial
drop in the number of qualified students entering engineering colleges
in 38 states. Half of all B.S. graduates now come from 45 schools that
have 400 or more graduates each year. Fourteen of those schools are in
states {New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts) where the high
school population will decline about 40 percent by 1992. Twenty-seven
of the 45 schools are concentrated in the 13 frost-belt states, which will
all experience an appreciable decline in high school population.
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ENGINEERING EDUCATION AND PM CTICE
Engineering schools should examine the impact of prospective
demographic changes in their area, in order to anticipate steps they wiR
need to take to increase the flow of qualified students from their
regional pool. Increasing the participation of qualified women and
minorities is one means of bolstering enrollments. Other programs
specific to the circumstances of the in~vidua] institution wiR also
need to be devised.
6. Serious erosion of content and standards in virtually every area of
study has occurred in secondary school systems over the last two
decades. Critical shortages of science and mathematics teachers exist
in almost every state. And half of the newly employed science and
mathematics teachers are not qualified to teach these subjects. This
erosion in mathematics and science, as well as in reading and writing,
now threatens the base of the qualified engineering personnel pool.
To improve the qualifications of students intending to study
engineering, the schools together with engineering education and
professional societies must actively encourage government and
industry to join them in improving mathematics, science, technology,
and communications content in secondary school curricula. The com-
mittee supports the recommendationsput forth in recent studies by the
National Commission on Excellence in Education and by the National
Science Board7s Commission on Pre-CoRege Education in Mathemat-
ics, Science, and Technology.
7. The presence of a sufficient number of Ph.D. holders in the engi-
neering work force will continue to be important, from the standpoint
of both engineering research and teaching. Engineering Ph. D . s awarded
are expected to increase to an estimated 4,000 per year by 1988. How-
ever, this increase will not be sufficient to meet requirements for addi-
tional faculty in the face of anticipated increases in industry demand
and an insufficient proportion of U.S. residents in the Ph.D. student
pool.
A major increase in fellowship support and' concomitant engi-
neering college research support are needed to attract more of the very
brightest U.S. citizens into graduate programs in engineering. To
attract top students into graduate work, doctoral fellowships should
carry stipends equal to at least half the starting salary of a new B.S.
graduate.
8. The current and persistent shortage of faculty of sufficiently high
quality is a serious problem for engineering education. Estimates of the
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C URRENT S TAT US OF ENGINEERING ED UCATION
83
14. Beginning in the 1950s the federal government developed a sys-
tem of massive support for research and graduate education in science
and engineering. This support led to a rapid growth of research institu-
tions. At the undergraduate level, there has been no set of national
policies or programs which recognizes the important role of undergrad-
uate engineering education in contributing to the imperatives of a tech-
nology-based world economy. Because government and industry focus
on research and graduate education, a two-tiered, or bifurcated, system
of engineering colleges has been created. This two-tiered system has a
strong influence on the character of engineering education. Govern-
ment, industry, and academe will continue to depend on graduates of
the primarily undergraduate-oriented colleges for at least half of their
engineering work force. Yet, because both government and industry
focus their funding on graduate study and research, these colleges are
forced to depend on other, appreciatively smaller sources of funding.
The federal government and industry should recognize and sup-
port innovative programs in '~nclergra~luate engineering education in
the second-tierinstitutions. First, to ensure that the program qua~ityof
primarily undergraduate-oriented engineering colleges continues to
meet the needs of a technology-based economy, these colleges must
have access to new and ad~tiona] sources of income. In auction, ways
must be found to provide for more equitable distribution of the many
benefits that accrue to first- tier schools. For example, faculty members
and students at second-tier institutions wiR need to be involved with
research facilities an d program s of major centers of research.
15. Over many decades, the engineering educational system has
adapted itself to relatively large fluctuations in enrollment. The elas-
ticity of the system has been stretched to the point where it is now
saturated in many disciplines. If further significant expansion is
required, one way to achieve it would be to utilize dual-degree pro-
grams and transfer programs with community colleges. For at least two
decades, a number of dual-degree relationships have existed between
liberal arts and engineering colleges. These programs have enabled a
modest number of students some from minority groups to earn B. S.
degrees in engineering. The capacity of the engineering educational
system could be expanded by creating an explicit network of dual-
degree programs, but such a program would require a concomitant
expansion of the two upper-class years of engineering education.
The National Science Foundation should examine experience to
date with dual-degree and other alternative engineering programs and
should then take the initiative (if indicatefdJ in establishing a pilot
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ENGINEERING EDUCATION AND PRACTICE
group of colleges and engineering schools to demonstrate effective
structures for such programs. This pilot program could be funded by a
combination offoundations, industry, antigovernment agencies. Expe-
r~ence gained from the program could then be appBed to a wider group
of institutions. In addition, the experience gained would be relevant to
the often-debated mode] of preprofessiona] followed by professional
engineering education. Itwou]da~so tee highly relevant to the examina-
tion of options for restructuring the curriculum to meet competing
educational demands. (see chapter 6, recommendation 7J.
16. The shortage of faculty is likely to remain a serious problem.
Although the issue of Ph.D. versus M.S. degree as a criterion has not
been resolved, the Ph.D. has been a virtual requirement for tenure-
track positions. To avoid this constraint, especially in times of faculty
shortage, colleges of engineering can utilize professional personnel
who are not in tenure-track positions.
Engineering faculty members and administrators should iden-
tifyand utilize as facu~tyin~vidua~s such as government, military, and
corporate retirees, with or without a Ph. D., who are not seeking tenure
and who would welcome a short-term contract for a second career.
References
American Society for Engineering Education. 1984a. Policy statement endorsed by the
Executive Committee of the Engineering Deans' Council.
American Society for Engineering Education.1984b. Survey of engineering colleges.
Baldwin, L. V.1984a. An electronic university, IEEE Spectrum November), p.99.
Baldwin, L. V.1984b. Instructional television, IEEE Spectrum (November), p.101.
Engineering Manpower Commission. 1983a. Engineering and technology enrollments,
Fall 1982. Pt. I: Engineering. Washington, D.C.: AAES.
Engineering Manpower Commission. 1983b. Engineering and technology enrollments,
Fall 1982. Pt. II: Technology. Washington, D.C.: AAES.
Engineering Manpower Commission.1983c. Salaries of engineers in education.
Engineering Manpower Commission.1983d. Salaries of engineers in industry.
Engineering Manpower Commission. 1984a. Engineering Manpower Bulletin, No. 73,
July.
Engineering Manpower Commission. 1984b. Engineering and technology degrees-
1983. Pt. II: By minorities. Washington, D.C.: AAES.
Engineering Manpower Commission. 1984c. Engineering and technology degrees-
1983. Pt. I: By school. Washington, D.C.: AAES.
Lear, W. E.1983. The state of engineering education. Journal of Metals February), pp.48-
51.
National Academy of Engineering. 1984. Guidelines for engineering research centers.
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National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges. 1982. Report on the
Quality of Engineering Education. Report of the Committee on the Quality of Engineer-
ing Education, of the Commission on Education for the Engineering Professions.
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C URRENT S TAT US OF ENGINEERING ED UCATION
85
National Commission on Excellence in Education. 1983. A Nation at Risk. A report to the
nation and the Secretary of Education.
National Science Board. 1982. University-Industry Research Relationships: Myths, Real-
ities, and Potentials. Washington, D.C.: National Science Foundation.
National Science Board. 1983. Science Indicators: 1982. Washington, D.C.: National
Science Foundation.
National Science Board. 1984. Educating Americans for the 21st century: A report to the
American people and the National Science Board. Washington, D.C.: National Science
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Report of the Panel on Continuing Education, in preparation.
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Report of the Panel on Graduate Education and Research, in preparation.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
engineering schools
