Perceptions and Misconceptions of Industrial Engineering from First-year Engineering Students

Abstract

Perception has a hidden importance in our society. It is what drives us to buy that name brand product, move to a certain area of town, or even select a university to call home. The U.S. News & World Report even uses it for rankings, but in today's growing, diverse environment, perception is constantly changing; it is often developed from an individual's experiences and their surrounding environment. It itself is a form of bias. Therefore, it is important to collect, track how it changes, and understand the perception of incoming and current engineering students to ensure engineering colleges around the United States provide the right message to prospective students and industry partners. It also helps colleges evaluate the effectiveness of their recruitment publications and events. This is why in 2012 the University of Arkansas started a three phase, six stage longitudinal study on engineering perception. This paper will analyze the results from phase one, stage one of the longitudinal study with regards to industrial engineering. It will 1) briefly introduce the longitudinal study, 2) discuss the phase one, stage one online survey administered to first year engineering students at the University of Arkansas, and 3) examine the survey results for those students interested in industrial engineering to help provide insight on why students are interested in industrial engineering, the strength of current and future job opportunities, and how first year engineering students interested in industrial engineering perceive industrial engineering.

Think first job! Preferences and expectations of engineering students in a French ‘Grande Ecole’

“…Furthermore, engineering students may not have a clear idea of the working world, or of what their careers will entail (Rouvrais and Chelin 2010;Berglund and Heintz 2014;IESF 2016b). It is critical to gain insight into the perceptions of engineering students so that engineering schools impart correct knowledge to both industry and students (Specking, Kirkwood, and Yang 2015;Jones et al 2010). Similarly, the research of Kinnunen et al (2016) in computer science education also stressed the importance of examining the career expectations of students in order better to equip them.…”

“…In spite of such a favourable context, graduate students are, however, not always adequately prepared to enter the workplace (Ramadi, Ramadi, and Nasr 2016;Llorens et al 2013;Rodrigues 2001); and their conceptions may not correspond to the offers of real professional practices. Research has also illustrated the importance of analysing engineering students' perceptions of their future careers (Dias 2011;Gokuladas 2010;Specking, Kirkwood, and Yang 2015;Kinnunen et al 2016;Jones et al 2010;Ngambeki, Dalrymple, and Evangelou 2009). As argued by Baytiyeh and Naja (2011), much care should be taken in deciding on a job that leads to sustainable professional and personal growth and financial well-being.…”

Transforming Outreach Education: Implementing Industrial Engineering Classroom Activities as Outreach Projects

“…Industrial engineering further complicates these difficulties since so few students have any preexisting understanding of industrial engineering principles and often have misconceptions. [6] Capobianco et al found that students asked to picture an engineer describe a mechanic, laborer, or technician. [7] Industrial engineers fit this mold even less than other branches of engineering, making direct and effective industrial engineering outreach projects imperative.…”

Perception: Industrial Engineering Jobs

“…The faculty survey received 10 responses, a 40% response rate, from industrial engineering faculty (56 total faculty survey responses), while the alumni and industry partner survey received 143 responses from industrial engineering alumni and industry partners (502 total responses). 1 Due to incomplete responses for the main questions of this study, a lower number of responses will be analyzed (8 faculty and 69 alumni/industry partners). This study utilizes 7 of the 15 questions from the faculty, industry partners, and alumni surveys, as seen below.…”