Engineering Standards

Discussion in 'Accreditation Discussions (RA, DETC, state approva' started by morleyl, Jul 17, 2006.

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  1. morleyl

    morleyl New Member

    This article implies that different countries have different views of engineering education. Taken from UK Engineering Council website.


    No need to panic – just yet

    The threat to the West posed by engineering outsourcing to developing nations, particularly China and India, may not be as serious as some commentators have suggested.

    In a remarkably candid presentation to the 7th WFEO World Congress on Engineering Education, Xila Liu from the Chinese Association for Science & Technology painted a gloomy picture of his country’s Higher Education system and the difficulties faced by its engineering undergraduates. Out-of-date textbooks, too few teaching staff, over-specialisation and a system locked in a 50-year old Soviet style mindset, have placed China’s students at a major disadvantage compared with their Western counterparts. Add to this the fact that they are often taught by lecturers whose own education was blighted by the Cultural Revolution, and it is not surprising that a recent student survey found that only 2.3% were satisfied with their courses.

    Xia Liu, who works as a lecturer at Shanghai Jiatong University, admitted there was no quick-fix solution to the problems. He was though in no doubt about what actions needed to be taken. These include substantially increasing HE funding (which currently stands at 3.4% of GDP), ending government interference and creating opportunities for advancement for younger faculty members. Halving the number of engineering courses and redefining core programmes were among other key proposals. Xia Liu also highlighted the need for closer ties between universities and industry and government support for the development of technical schools.

    Chinese engineering education has also come in for scrutiny in a report from America’s Duke University, which compares engineering graduates from the US, China and India. The report casts doubt on recently published figures that apparently show the latter two countries producing substantially higher numbers of engineering graduates than the US.

    In the case of China the raw data from the country’s Ministry of Education does admittedly look pretty alarming, showing as it does the graduation of 644,000 engineers in 2004, a figure that includes computer science and IT awards. However, closer inspection reveals that almost 300,000 of these were on 2-3yr degree programmes. Crucially, the report also questions China’s definition of what constitutes an engineering degree programme, suggesting that its ‘graduates’ may include motor mechanics and industrial technicians.

    The findings for India show the total number of degree holders graduating in 2004 was actually less than in the US (215,000 as against 222,300). The number with 4-yr Bachelor’s degrees was 112,000, compared with America’s 137,400. Furthermore, a very high proportion (85%) of the Indian graduates had IT-related awards. The report also points out that the US is not only producing appreciably more engineers per head of population than India, but more than China as well.

    The American study has been accused of grossly underestimating the figure for 4-5yr degree holders in India and has also been criticised for not saying how many in the US go on to pursue SET careers. And even on the basis of the figures it has published it does concede that there is a real threat to the US science and technology economy from Indian and Chinese graduates with accredited engineering degrees and good language skills. Nevertheless, it does seem that reports of the imminent death of the developed world’s engineering profession are somewhat exaggerated.

    Copies of the Duke outsourcing study: Empirical Comparison of Engineering Graduates in the United States, China and India can be downloaded from: http://memp.pratt.duke.edu/downloads/duke_outsourcing_2005_appendix.pdf
     
  2. JLV

    JLV Active Member

    Hi, morleyl, thanks for the article.

    I guarantee you, if the US (or any other country) needs engineers, it will have as many as they want. Period. There is no need for those apocalyptic analysis normally conducted by people who have no idea on how the world works.

    In the case of the US, even if many people fail to see it, the industry controls the number of engineers universities produce each year. How? With wages. If the demand for engineers grow, they will rise the salaries until the demand is met. This in turn would translate as well in a increase in the number of people who seek admissions in engineering schools. Conversely, if there were too many engineers, companies would normally offer lower wages.

    The key then is not the lack of engineers but the lack of places where to educate them. And in that aspect the US is the leading country of the world.

    Regards :)
     

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