by Kiersten Clements
EnergySolutions Foundation
Recently Intel published the results of a survey it conducted among 1,000 teens ages 13 through 18. The purpose of the survey was to better understand teens’ interest in engineering and how to more effectively encourage teens to pursue engineering careers. Stephen Noonoo reported on the survey results in THE Journal:
“While 29 percent of teens polled did not know of potential job opportunities in engineering and 13 percent did not think that majoring in engineering in college would lead to greater job opportunities, a majority were more likely to consider the field after learning about its impact in the world and the average annual income for engineers.”
I was most encouraged by the below results that indicate teens can be influenced just by learning fairly basic information about engineering. As Noonoo further reported:
- Fifty-three percent were more likely to consider engineering after learning about the role of engineers in the development of music and video games;
- Fifty-two percent were motivated to consider the field by feats of engineering, such as saving the Chilean miners who were trapped for 69 days;
- An even fifty percent were influenced by the understanding that engineers make driving, texting, and social networking possible;
- Sixty-one percent were influenced after learning engineers make an average annual income of $75,000;
- More than 50 percent were more likely to consider the field upon learning that the unemployment rate amongst engineers is more than 4 percentage points lower than the national rate.
After reading these results, I forwarded them to our engineers at EnergySolutions who frequently visit middle school and high school classes to discuss their careers. I told our engineers that these results demonstrate the value of the time they spend in the classroom as well as provide some suggestions for content to include in their presentations.
EnergySolutions is not unique in its education outreach efforts. Spend some time visiting the websites of companies that employ engineers and you’ll find information on how to request a speaker or how to access other resources for K-12 STEM education. Even if there isn’t anything advertised on the website, chances are there’s an engineer who would love to have a chance to tell students about his or her work.
I appreciate the teachers who invite our engineers to speak to their students. These teachers make career exploration a priority, in spite of mounting pressure to cover a large amount of curriculum in a short period of time. Thank goodness for teachers who see the big picture and work to prepare their students accordingly.
Students – What has motivated you to consider an engineering career?
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