Recipient Name:

Newsletter Contents

Synopses of New Reports in Inside Engineering Education on the Engineering Trends Web Site  http://engtrends.com

1. "Long-Term Gains in Numbers of Women Awarded Engineering Degrees Are in Serious Jeopardy - Analysis of Degrees in Engineering and Individual Engineering Disciplines"
2. "Degree Trends for Ethnic Groups Vary - Gains in Past Years May Be Lost"
3. "The "Foreign National Effect" - Already Substantial Impact on Master's Degrees, Poised to Impact Doctoral Degrees and Not Applicable to Bachelor's Degrees"

Engineering Degree Graphical Information in Degrees Since 1945 on the Engineering Trends Web Site Now Includes AY2005-06 Data for Engineering and Twenty-One Individual Engineering Disciplines

New Studies Underway at Engineering Trends

Synopses of New Reports in Inside Engineering Education on the Engineering Trends Web Site

Long-Term Gains in Numbers of Women Awarded Engineering Degrees Are in Serious Jeopardy - Analysis of Degrees in Engineering and Individual Engineering Disciplines (Report No. 0507A)

Engineering bachelor's degrees awarded to women declined in both AY2004-05 and AY2005-06 and master's degrees declined in AY2005-06. Enrollments indicate that these declining trends will continue. Although the numbers of doctoral degrees awarded to women have continued to increase, the limited increase in the doctoral enrollment of women (2.3%) in fall 2005 indicates that the increasing degree trend will end in just a few years.

Fractions of bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees awarded to African, Hispanic and Native American women continue to exceed those of engineering as a whole.

It is noteworthy that, since AY1999-00, the fractions of bachelor's and master's degrees awarded to foreign national women have been essentially the same as for women who are US citizens. For AY2005-06, the fractions of degrees (bachelor's, master's and doctoral) awarded to foreign national women and to women who are US citizens are all (six values) in the range from 18.3% to 22.7%. It would appear that the factors limiting the growth of engineering degrees awarded to women are independent of the country of residence prior to enrollment in a US engineering college. This similarity complicates any explanation of the wide range of fractions of degrees awarded to women in various ethnic groups who are US citizens.

The fractions of degrees in biological, chemical, industrial and materials engineering awarded to women exceed those for overall engineering for all three academic levels. The fractions for aerospace, electrical and mechanical engineering are significantly lower than engineering at all academic levels. For the most part, the current trends for disciplines closely match those of engineering. The main exception is the fraction of computer engineering master's degrees awarded to women; the substantial decline that began in AY2001-02 has continued.

Degree Trends for Ethnic Groups Vary - Gains in Past Years May Be Lost (Report No. 0507B)

This study was directed at bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees awarded to African, Hispanic, Native and Asian Americans from AY1980-81 through AY2005-06. Data are presented as numbers of degrees and fractions of degrees at each academic level awarded to the four ethnic groups. The study also included fractions of degrees awarded to African, Hispanic and Asian Americans in nine engineering disciplines.

Bachelor's and master's degrees awarded to African Americans declined in AY2005-06 following extended periods of growth while doctoral degrees continued to increase. Slow growth in the numbers of bachelor's degrees awarded to Hispanic Americans continues, but growth in graduate degrees has ceased. Very slow growth in bachelor's and master's degrees awarded to Native Americans continues; growth in doctoral degrees has ceased. Asian American bachelor's degrees declined in AY2005-06 after an extended period of growth. Master's degrees did not increase in AY2005-06, ending a period of growth that began in AY2000-01. Doctoral degrees awarded to Asian Americans continued to grow significantly from the minimum in AY2002-03.

The fractions of bachelor's and doctoral degrees awarded to African Americans continue to decline slowly; master's degree fractions have been essentially constant for almost a decade. Bachelor's and master's degree fractions for Hispanic Americans experienced a shallow minimum in AY2002-03 and have increased slowly since then; doctoral degree fractions have declined continuously and significantly for the last four years. Native American bachelor's and master's degree fractions continue to increase slowly, but doctoral degree fractions have been essentially constant for a decade. The Asian American bachelor's degree fraction in AY2005-06 was essentially the same as in AY2000-01; the master's degree fraction continues to grow significantly; the doctoral degree fraction in AY2005-06 continues the decline that began in AY1996-97.

The "Foreign National Effect" - Already Substantial Impact on Master's Degrees, Poised to Impact Doctoral Degrees and Not Applicable to Bachelor's Degrees (Report No. 0507C)

The bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees awarded to foreign nationals were studied for engineering and thirteen individual engineering disciplines over the last quarter century. For bachelor's degrees, both the annual number of degrees and the fractions of degrees awarded to foreign nationals have varied little.

The total number of master's degrees awarded by US engineering colleges declined significantly in AY2005-06 following full-time enrollment declines from the maximum in fall 2003. The major influence on these declines was the 22.7% decrease in the enrollments of foreign national students from the fall 2002 maximum through fall 2005. The fraction of engineering master's degrees awarded to foreign nationals reached a maximum of 45.4% in AY2003-04 and declined to 40.2% in AY2005-06. Generally, all of the thirteen engineering disciplines studied are currently experiencing declines in fractions of master's degrees awarded to foreign nationals. Little change in the rankings of disciplines has taken place over the past decade.

The total number of doctoral degrees in engineering reached new records in AY2004-05 and AY2005-06. However, the growth in total engineering full-time doctoral enrollment in fall 2005 was only 0.9% and enrollments of foreign national students declined by 0.9%. Since 62.2% of the doctoral degrees in engineering were awarded to foreign nationals in AY2005-06, declines in the numbers of degrees should be expected in the near future. At the present time, essentially all thirteen engineering disciplines have increasing fractions of doctoral degrees awarded to foreign nationals and the rankings of the discipline rankings have varied little over the past twenty years.

Engineering Degree Graphical Information in Degrees Since 1945 on the Engineering Trends Web Site Now Includes AY2005-06 Data for Engineering and Twenty-One Individual Engineering Disciplines

The recent updating of the Engineering Trends Web site included addition of the latest data for bachelor's, master's and doctoral data for engineering colleges and twenty-one engineering disciplines. The data include bioengineering, biomedical engineering, computer science, computer engineering and computer science and engineering as separate disciplines.

New Studies Underway at Engineering Trends

Engineering degrees at all three academic levels are undergoing a transition from growth to decline. Declines have begun in bachelor's and master's degrees; declines in doctoral degrees are expected in a few years. Engineering Trends is currently studying enrollment data in engineering and engineering disciplines in order to define future trends in degrees. The results of these efforts will be posted on our Web site as they evolve and will be reviewed in our summer and fall newsletters.

Can We Be of Assistance?

Engineering Trends specializes in client-defined studies comparing engineering colleges and departments at individual universities. We would be pleased to assist you in your activities in this regard. Engineering Trends has the capability to provide rapid responses and accurate studies at low cost to our clients. All studies are based upon a no-cost quotation specifying the scope of the study and the delivery time, as well as the cost.

We welcome your suggestions of reports to be added to the Inside Engineering Education section of our Web site and reviewed in forthcoming newsletters. You may contact us via our Web site http://engtrends.com, by e-mail at news@engtrends.com and/or by phone (906) 482-1523. We look forward to working with you.

Sincerely,

Richard W. Heckel
Founder & Technical Director

(Others in your organization can be added to our mailing list if you would send us their names and e-mail addresses. If you wish to be removed from the Engineering Trends mailing list, please reply with UNSUBSCRIBE as the subject.)