Mixed Messages from Student Engineer Figures
According to a new survey, the number of students applying for engineering and technology degrees has risen by 7% in the past 5 years. This would apparently be evidence of the success a series of campaigns to improve the image of this industry, though when looking into the detail, the picture isn’t quite as rosy as it first seems.
Academic Engineer, Michael Sterling, has contested that up to 40% of all engineering degrees in the UK are not accredited by the IET or IME and therefore graduates are subject to extra training upon graduation. This inevitably results in large numbers not following through from their studies into a career in the industry, due to the cost of gaining chartered status.
Sterling states that the number of students taking accredited courses has actually fallen from 6,580 in 2002 to 3,659 in 2007. A worrying trend, if the bulk of students who pursue careers in the industry come from these accredited courses.