This
week, Purdue University announced that the institution would increase
engineering faculty by up to 107 new positions and increase enrollment in
engineering by 10 percent in the next five years (Weddle, 2012). This
announcement comes at a good time for the university, which is seeing an
increase in enrollment in and applications to engineering programs over the
past few years. More importantly, it comes at a good time for the United States
as professionals in the field of education are increasingly focused on how to
increase interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) fields.
In order to remain a global leader in science, technology, and defense, the U.S.
needs to increase experts in these fields in the next ten years (Gates &
Mirkin, 2012). An initiative like this could be a step in the right direction.
Robert Green, the president-elect of
the National Society of Professional Engineers, thinks so, saying that this
initiative could have a positive impact on employment. “We do seem to have a
shortage of qualified engineers… Engineering is a profession that creates jobs”
(Weddle, 2012, para. 10). This year, President Obama’s Jobs Council released a
goal to increase the number of graduates in computer science and engineering by
10,000 per year (Weddle, 2012). Purdue’s faculty increase could contribute to
the achievement of this federal goal. An article in the Chronicle of Higher
Education suggests that federal government initiatives will not be enough
(Gates & Mirkin, 2012). “Academic institutions, faculty, and students will
have an equally crucial, if not more important, role to play… They all must be
willing to make improvements in undergraduate STEM education” (Gates &
Mirkin, 2012, para. 5). Purdue University is doing just that.
A report compiled by the National
Academies in 2007 showed that in the United States, only 6% of undergraduates
earn their degrees in engineering, compared to 12% in Europe, 20% in Singapore,
and over 40% in China (National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of
Engineering, & Institute of Medicine, 2007). It is clear that the U.S. is
falling behind other developed countries in producing STEM field graduates, and
in order to stay globally competitive, improvements need to be made. Purdue
chose to make this investment in additional faculty during a tough time for
public institutions, which are facing budget cuts from the state. However, in an
article in The Chronicle titled “Encouraging Stem Students is in the National
Interest”, the authors affirm that improvements such as this will prepare
students to fill the jobs of the future, and “provide the United States with
the work force it needs to be innovative and competitive for decades to come” (Gates
& Mirkin, 2012, para.13).
Purdue University has set a standard for
other institutions to model after. In a time when the education system in the
United States needs to increase focus on the STEM fields and encourage students
to pursue degrees and careers in fields such as engineering and math, this is a
positive step. Will this investment in the College of Engineering improve the
program rankings and attract more interest? Will other universities follow suit
and appropriate investments to similar programs? Will this initiative at Purdue
University produce a greater number of career engineers for the field in the
United States? It will be interesting to see if this investment in the College
of Engineering at Purdue University will encourage to contribute additional
resources to the STEM fields and how this initiative will affect the fields
overall.
Gates,
S.J. & Mirkin, C. (2012).
Encouraging STEM students is in the national interest. The Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://chronicle.com/article/Encouraging-STEM-Students-Is/132425/.
National
Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine.
(2007). Rising above the gathering storm: Energizing and employing America for
a brighter economic future. Washington D.C.: The National Academies Press.
Weddle,
E. (2012). Purdue adding up to 107 new engineering faculty. Journal and Courier. Retrieved from
http://www.jconline.com/article/20121009/NEWS050101/310090027/purdue-engineering-funding?nclick_check=1.
The next step is really encouraging women to enter the STEM fields. Only 1 in 7 engineers are women, and with women at 51% of the population, that number is way too small. Engineering is a boy's club, and women know it. Encouraging young women to take an interest in STEM fields as early as elementary school, we could have a much larger pool of engineers to choose from. More interest creates more applicants, which leads to other programs growing in size, and more graduates in the field. We wont be able to meet the Job Council's goals without women.
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ReplyDeleteAmanda, great article! This is such a hot topic in education right now. Vincent, I love that you brought up the point about increasing women's interest in the field. We not only need to increase interest, but we need to increase academic programming and initiatives targeted toward women and students of underrepresented ethnic backgrounds. Research shows that this population is equally as interested in engineering as their counterparts, but come in academically underprepared, resulting in devastating attrition rates (Tsui, 2007). I hope that Purdue makes a conscious effort to hire a diverse army of professors to address this issue. I'm curious to see the results of their ambitious project.
ReplyDeleteTsui, L. STEM (2007). Effective strategies to increase diversity in STEM fields: A review of the research literature. The Journal of Negro Education, 4(46), 555-581.
Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.libproxy.usc.edu/stable/40037228
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how the federal initiative to increase STEM field graduates parallels the need for secondary education to improve students' competencies in math/science. If students in secondary education are struggling with math and science across the country, does that not inhibit the government's plan to increase STEM field graduates? Students who struggle with math and science in middle/high school are most likely going to have the same struggles in college.
ReplyDeleteAlso, is Purdue's approach cost-effective? Although the revenue for adding 107 more staff positions will come from increased student-enrollment (10% over 5 years), the plan does not account for the predictable drop of students in the STEM field from the time of a cohort's enrollment to graduation. Also, many of the engineering faculty members will want tenure, which will be more of the institution's dime (and maybe even a waste if student enrollment does not increase). It's a risky move, financially, but I see where they are coming from.
-Paul
I think increase numbers of faculty members have postive effects on STEM fields. However, as an international student, I feel that it will attract more and more students from foregin countries, especially India and other Asia area. In my country, Taiwan, STEM field is one of the most popular area which students want to get involved. The reason is that when these students earn degree from engineering, they can get a higher pay job from the company. In contrast, in the U.S., students may question how worthy it is in this field because of different workforce needs. Therefore, it is great to hear that Prude increase opportunities to encourage students in the STEM field rather than import engineer from foreign countries.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really interesting post. Although Purdue's decision is risky, if they succeed they would serve as the model for the rest of the country when it comes to STEM fields. Also, Jess brought up a great point about attrition rates and I think that if students in these fields are provided more faculty and more support they would be more likely to persist in these fields. It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out.
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