WIP: Investigating Teachers' Perceptions of Engineering Majors

This research-to-practice WIP paper describes developing a survey instrument for assessing teachers' perceptions on the differences among engineering majors and careers. Studies have shown that teachers can influence their students' career choices. Several reasons that can potentially influence students to select engineering as a college major and to pursue one engineering field over another. There is a lack of existing studies that examine teachers' perceptions of engineering majors. While teachers may have some views about engineering, it is not clear if they know the differences between engineering majors and careers. This study is motivated by the need for engineers in the area of chip design and manufacturing. The world has faced a global chip shortage problem. While this problem is slowly subsiding, semiconductor companies are facing a major problem due to the shortage of electrical engineers. There is a need for electrical engineers to design, fabricate and test computer chips. It is also estimated that over seven thousand electrical engineers are needed to replace the retiring workforce. This problem should be alarming because enrollments are either declining or growing at a slow pace for electrical engineering majors. This study will help us better understand teachers' perceptions of the differences between engineering majors and careers. The findings of the study have the potential to help engineering departments market their electrical engineering programs to teachers and high school students more effectively.