Pre-college activities to promote positive perception of engineering and engineering technology careers

Most countries in this global economy thrive on technological advancement. There is an insatiable appetite for the latest technology and do not mind spending exorbitant amounts of money each year to satisfy such appetite. Unfortunately, there is not similar passion to encourage young people to pursue careers in engineering and technology. The gap between the demand for engineers and the supply required by industry is growing and is not being filled by our own talent pool. The problem of attracting students to engineering has been a topic largely debated, and many initiatives have been implemented. At Western Michigan University's College of Engineering and Applied Sciences (CEAS) there is a Summer Institute for Technology, “Design-Engineering-Technology: Enlightened Trial and Error” which is a 2-week simulated design engineering program for high school students. This engineering camp has as a goal to expose participant to engineering disciplines, and to provide them an opportunity to interact with engineering professionals and practitioners in a simulated engineering product design process. This product development process is valuable because it corresponds with the type of interpersonal communication, problem-solving, and conflict resolution skills that leading firms and industry seek from new employees. This paper presents and discuss the activities carried out during the camp, and provides as well the results of an evaluation done during the latest offering of the camp. The evaluation is based on a pre- and post-surveys administered to the participants with the specific goal to find out their initial perception of engineering/technology, and if that initial perception changed after the 2-week activities. Statistical results indicated that the participants' perceptions of engineering were significantly influenced. Furthermore, female participants' perceptions were significantly influenced to consider a career in engineering. Therefore, pre-college activities do have the potential for a positive outcome when promoting engineering and technology as a career to young people. But well-designed and well implemented activities that expose participants to exciting and challenging experiences are important. Other activities and findings are presented and discussed.