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09.10
The Engineer's Pledge
BY Kerry Murphy
The field of engineering is at a crossroads. All
at once, the demand for engineers is rising
while the future of the profession is at risk.
Negative perceptions and a misunderstanding
plague the field, deterring young people from
considering it as a career. The National Science
Foundation and other groups have suggested that
we are headed for an engineering drought of
sorts, and the planet will literally suffer if
the potential shortage is not addressed.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics
estimates that four of the thirty fastest
growing occupations through the year 2014 will
be in engineering-related fields. In addition,
CNN
recently reported that the top two careers
that will have the most growth through 2016 are
in engineering. The jobs are there. The need is
there.
The reasons behind the
engineer's quandary are not a secret. The
widespread belief that the path to becoming an
engineer is long, impossibly complex, dry and
boring; the stereotype of the nerdy, antisocial
engineer are just some of the misperceptions.
Who’s to blame? Nobody is really
sure. We could blame Hollywood for the lack of
“cool” engineers in movies or on TV. We could
blame teachers or guidance counselors for
misunderstanding the profession and misguiding
their students. We could blame engineers
themselves for snickering at the stereotypes and
doing little to challenge the inaccuracies. The
truth is probably all of these groups are to
blame. And none of them are to blame.
At WGBH in Boston, a project
called Engineer Your Life looks at a subset of
all this issue: the future of girls in
engineering. Women currently make up only 20.4%
of engineering majors in universities (National
Science Board 2008) and 11.1% of practicing
engineers in the field (Bureau of Labor
Statistics 2007).
Those numbers are sobering. And
considering the reputation issues, the
misconceptions about the course of study
involved, and the nerdy veneer the field seems
to have, the challenge of getting the MTV/Facebook
generation on board seems that much more
daunting.
So what can we do to get more
girls (and boys) better informed and more
interested in engineering?
As advocates for the engineering
profession and believers in the power and
creativity of engineering, WGBH decided to
create the Engineer’s Pledge, a call for
engineers, supporters, students, teachers and
counselors to uphold the reputation of
engineering and help support the livelihood of
the field. By taking the pledge, we are creating
a community that has made a collective promise
to be better advocates for the field and better
role models for the next generation.
The Pledge goes as follows:
To take the pledge and join the
movement, go to our
Facebook page and “like” the pledge.
Join the groundswell and commit
to the cause as hundreds of others already have.
The future of the engineering field thanks you.
More Info
The Engineer’s Pledge was
created by the Engineer Your Life (EYL) team at
WGBH.
Engineeryourlife.org is a guide to
engineering careers for high school girls and
their parents, counselors, and teachers.
Engineeryourlife.org offers various resources
including: streaming video of inspiring female
engineers, descriptions of dream engineering
jobs, and information adults can use to advise
girls about this career choice.
Engineeryourlife.org is produced
by WGBH Boston and the National Academy of
Engineering, in partnership with a
coalition of 100+ engineering and education
organizations. Major funding for Engineer
Your Life is provided by The National Science
Foundation and Northrop Grumman Foundation.
Additional funding is provided by Stephen D.
Bechtel, Jr. Foundation and the United
Engineering Foundation (ASCE, ASME, AICHE, IEEE,
and AIME).
Kerry Murphy is the online
community manager for Engineer Your Life and the
author of its blog at
http://engineeryourlife.weebly.com/index.html.
Comments may be submitted to
todaysengineer@ieee.org.
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