Decline in Electrical Engineering Graduates: Good News and Bad News

1. Electrical Engineering Graduates over Last Decade Data from Science & Engineering Indicators, 2012

2. Good News and Bad News • Anecdotally the decline has reversed. • Nobody I have talked to has any solid evidence of why the decline occurred. • Do not yet know why decline of women is more severe. My (pessimistic) hypothesis: This is the rise in what will be a double-dip recession. Tentative Rationale: Seeing increase due to poor economy but the root causes of the decline in electrical engineering enrollment remains. No Answers, Only Questions: • Are women a leading indicator of “lack of appeal” of the discipline? • The US share of global market in industries affiliated more with electrical than other engineering disciplines is declining.

3. Other Engineering Industries Electrical Engineering Industries Data from Science & Engineering Indicators, 2012

4. Good News and Bad News Anecdotally the decline has reversed. Nobody I have talked to has any solid evidence of why the decline occurred. Do not yet know why decline of women is more severe. My (pessimistic) hypothesis: This is the rise in what will be a double-dip recession. Tentative Rationale: Seeing increase due to poor economy but the causes of the decline in electrical engineering enrollment remains. • No Answers, Only Questions: • Are women a leading indicator of “lack of appeal” of the discipline? • The US share of global market in industries affiliated more with electrical than other engineering disciplines is declining. • Is lack of appeal due to student’s perception of future jobs or other factors? • Is lower electrical engineering enrollment due to prevalence of more emergent concepts? • What is up with “mechatronics”, didn’t this used to be electrical engineering? • Is the discipline becoming less relevant or do we simply need to “re-message” electrical engineering ?

5. Relatively Little Work on this Issue? • No more than 1-3 NSF-funded workshops on educating future electrical engineers from 1998 to present (out of over 450 funded workshops by ECCS Division). • The Future of Electrical EngineeringForum: December 2009* • Jan Rabaey, UC Berkeley: • Rename ourselves from “electrical engineers” to “IT engineers” • Eliminate the EE-CS division • Integrate “Three Pillars”: components, platforms, services • Reduce barriers with other disciplines • Heinrich Meyr • SWOT analysis of electrical engineering • Focus on large, complex systems • Lothar Thiel • Close the gap between energy and information technology. • Strengthen disciplinary education in fundamental subjects . • Educate students to cooperate with other areas of science and engineering. "Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare." - Japanese Proverb * http://si.epfl.ch/page-47800-en.html

6. Engineering Education: Policy Perspective Engineering in the workforce compared to science, technology, and mathematics; ignoring computer-related jobs that cut across STEM1. Degrees granted in STEM; ignoring social sciences, psychology, and computer sciences to be consistent with above2. 1: A. P. Carnevale, N. Smith, and M. Melton, "STEM," Center on Education and the Workforce, 2011. 2: National Science Board, Science and Engineering Indicators 2012

7. Engineering Education: Policy Perspective “Equitable Case” “Inequitable Case” Federal Inventory of STEM Education Fast-Track Action Committee, "The Federal Science, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Portfolio," National Science and Technology Council, 2011.

8. Is Engineering Education Worth It? (Bill Mahrer this last Saturday) 160% 140% 120% 100% 80% 60% Engineering 3.6× higher than general inflation Visual and performing arts Physical sciences Computer and information sciences Biological and biomedical science Health professions and related Foreign languages, literatures, linguistics English language, literature/letters Education Family and consumer/human sciences Security and protective services http://seekingalpha.com/article/144835-college-tuition-explaining-the-increases http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/03/02/business/the-burden-of-budget-cuts.html

9. Is Engineering Education Worth It? Is College Worth It? Pew Research Center Report, 2011

10. Where is engineering education? Characterization is drawn from three perspectives: Practitioner: engineering faculty member for 14 years Researcher: lead PI on Engineering Students for the 21st Century Policy Maker: Manage engineering education research program at NSF Timeline: A Century of Change in Engineering Education* Committee of Ten, Committee of Fifteen, Committee on College Entrance Requirements Harvey Mudd Design Clinic Grinter Report EC-2000 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 1880 From Practical to Science-Based Curricula Outcomes-Based Curricula (ABET) Integration of Design *Froyd, Wankat, and Smith, Five Major Shifts in 100 Years of Engineering Education, in preparation

11. The Science of Learning has provided useful tools Active, engaged, and situated pedagogies increase learning and conceptual understanding1. • Learning has hysteresis, i.e. prior knowledge and experience affects learning5. Motivation strongly affects learning; intrinsic more important than extrinsic4. Novices and experts have different schemas; simply copying experts doesn’t help learning3. • People generally learn better in groups that cooperate2. • One methodology doesn’t work: align pedagogies to desired learning outcomes6.