Engineering or science?

The most influential factor in choosing engineering as a career is “a talent for mathematics/science” according to a survey of over 300 engineers by Australia Wide Personnel, an Australian engineering and technical recruitment firm.

This was closely followed by “a long-standing personal interest in things technical eg, hobby electronics”.

Stephen Noble, managing director of the company, said, “From an employer perspective, engineering will continue to be a highly sought-after profession in Australia for the longer term. We need engineers; however, our universities are producing scientists.

“In 2010 our universities produced 61% more domestic graduate scientists than engineers; however, if you look on Seek today there are 10 times the number of engineering jobs listed across Australia compared with scientific roles. By and large, the engineering jobs are also better paid with far better career prospects.

“More students in the 12-15 age bracket who show an aptitude for maths and science need to be exposed to what engineers do - unfortunately it’s one of those professions which goes under the radar to a fair degree and the general population does not have a great idea of what an engineer actually does and the variety of career streams available.

“Most students in this age bracket would have a fairly good understanding of what a doctor, an accountant, a scientist and a computer programmer does. Engineering hasn’t hit popular culture through the media, nor is it taught at school.

“Should we be opening up our minds to engineering being a mainstream elective which goes hand in hand with maths and science? Perhaps the subject could have a very practical focus with activities such as basic CAD drawing, working with hobby electronics kits, regular site visits to a variety of engineering offices,” he said.