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Newsletter Contents

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

1. "Undergraduate Engineering Retention as Measured by Degree and Enrollment Comparisons - Data for the Last Half Century"
2. "Total Engineering Bachelor's Degree Growth Slowing Substantially - Impact on Individual Engineering Disciplines Is Varied"
3. "Undergraduate Engineering Enrollments Are in Transition - A View of Ethnicity Trends in Engineering and Individual Engineering Disciplines"

Engineering Degree Graphical Information in Degrees Since 1945 on the Engineering Trends Web Site Expanded from Eleven to Twenty-One Individual Engineering Disciplines

Alert - Misleading Reports Continue To Be Written Based on Erroneous, Out-of-Date Degree Data 

New Studies Underway at Engineering Trends

1. "Trends of Degrees Awarded to Women in Engineering Colleges and in Individual Engineering Disciplines"
2. "Analysis of Gender Trends of Faculty in Engineering Colleges"
3. "Ethnicity Trends for Master's and Doctoral Enrollments in Engineering and Individual Engineering Disciplines"

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

Undergraduate Engineering Retention as Measured by Degree and Enrollment Comparisons - Data for the Last Half Century (Report No. 0206A)

Undergraduate engineering degrees were compared to full-time enrollments in order to obtain degree/enrollment ratios. To include appropriate "lag times", maxima (or minima) in degrees were compared to the prior maxima (or minima) in enrollments. These ratios were found to increase steadily from 0.17 to 0.20 over the past half century. Although the increase may appear to be small, the largest theoretically possible ratio is arguably in the mid-0.2 range. Bottom line: significant progress has been made and further progress is possible.

Total Engineering Bachelor's Degree Growth Slowing Substantially - Impact on Individual Engineering Disciplines Is Varied (Report No. 0206B)

Undergraduate engineering degrees will probably begin to decline in AY2005-06. However, it is clear that this trend will not be exhibited by many of the individual engineering disciplines. Degree trends were studied for twenty-two disciplines.

Bioengineering and biomedical engineering were reported as separate disciplines rather than combined as "biological". Likewise, computer engineering, computer science (in universities with engineering colleges) and computer science and engineering were reported separately rather than being combined as "computer".

Degree growth remains especially strong in bioengineering and biomedical engineering. In addition, degree growth continues in aerospace, civil, electrical, mechanical, marine and nuclear engineering as well as engineering management. Substantial degree declines occurred in computer engineering, computer science and computer science and engineering in AY2004-05. Degree declines in chemical, agricultural and mining, geological and mineral engineering that began in the 1990s are continuing.

Undergraduate Engineering Enrollments Are in Transition - A View of Ethnicity Trends in Engineering and Individual Engineering Disciplines (Report No. 0206C)

African American undergraduate enrollments continue to decline from the Fall 2001 maximum and master's and doctoral enrollments continue to increase from their minima in Fall 1999. Hispanic American bachelor's and master's enrollments remained constant in Fall 2004, thus departing from the growth trends that began in the late 1990s. The growth in doctoral enrollments that began in Fall 2000 continues. Asian American undergraduate and graduate enrollments declined in Fall 2004 following sustained periods of growth.

The relative enrollments (fractions of engineering as a whole) of the groups studied dampen the view indicated above for numbers of students enrolled. Undergraduate and graduate engineering enrollments overall have been increasing in the past five or so years. None of the four groups increased in relative enrollment at the undergraduate or graduate level.

This report also considers undergraduate and graduate discipline enrollment preferences for individual engineering disciplines in Fall 2004. Each of the groups had a unique set of discipline preferences. As might have been anticipated, preferences of any group were similar for undergraduate and graduate programs.

Engineering Degree Graphical Information in Degrees Since 1945 on the Engineering Trends Web Site Expanded from Eleven to Twenty-One Individual Engineering Disciplines

Requests to Engineering Trends for increased numbers of engineering disciplines covered on the Degrees Since 1945 page of our Web site have encouraged us to expand the number of disciplines from eleven to twenty-one. In addition, bioengineering and biomedical engineering are being reported separately (rather than combined as "biological") and computer engineering, computer science (in universities with engineering colleges) and computer science and engineering are being reported separately (rather than combined as "computer"). Engineering Trends believes that the separate reporting of these five disciplines is unique.

In addition, all data on engineering as a whole are now available to all Web site visitors. As in the past, all individual discipline degree data on the Web site are accessible by Engineering Trends members.

Non-members of Engineering Trends may now purchase from the Web site graphs of degree datasets for individual engineering disciplines.

Alert - Misleading Reports Continue To Be Written Based on Erroneous, Out-of-Date Engineering Degree Data. (We are repeating this alert due to the continuing inquiries to Engineering Trends and publication of reports using misleading information.

It has come to our attention that reports and technical papers indicating that undergraduate and graduate engineering degrees are declining are being published and/or distributed. Annual surveys of the American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) and the Engineering Workforce Commission (EWC) of the American Association of Engineering Societies are in agreement on undergraduate degrees. The degree data from these surveys (see the Degrees Since 1945 page on the Engineering Trends Web site) indicate, for example, that bachelor's and master's degrees have been increasing since AY1998-99 and doctoral degrees have been increasing since AY2001-02. In fact, master's degrees have set records since AY2002-03 and doctoral degrees set a new record in AY2004-05.

The papers and reports reaching erroneous conclusions contain data significantly lower than ASEE and EWC data for years following 1990 and contain no data after AY1999-00.

New Studies Underway at Engineering Trends

Trends of Degrees Awarded to Women in Engineering Colleges and in Individual Engineering Disciplines

Enrollments of women in recent years have softened. This study will examine bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees awarded in engineering as a whole and in individual engineering disciplines.

Analysis of Gender Trends of Faculty in Engineering Colleges

Gender data for engineering faculty (all three academic ranks) have been included in the annual ASEE surveys since Fall 2001. These data are being analyzed and compared to the numbers of doctoral degrees awarded.

Ethnicity Trends for Master's and Doctoral Enrollments in Engineering and Individual Engineering Disciplines

Report 0206C examined enrollments in engineering and engineering disciplines at the undergraduate level. This study will analyze enrollments for master's and doctoral students.

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

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