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The Project
The future economic well being of Australia depends on a continuous supply of skilled engineers and scientists for its workforce. However, there is considerable evidence to show that in spite of strong career prospects, there has been a decline in the study of engineering and the physical sciences in and universities. The continuing nation-wide decline in high school student enrolment in higher level mathematics and science is also leading to a reduction in the number of students undertaking university engineering programs in Australia.

It is essential that we understand this phenomenon in order to be able to reverse it and this requires an investigation of broad scope that builds on the literature about scientific literacy, science and maths achievement, career choice, satisfaction with school and science and maths teaching.

The project has four principal aims:

  1. to determine what factors most contribute to school-aged awareness and understanding of engineering

  2. to examine the mechanisms by which students develop their appreciation of engineering and lead to enrolments and completion of engineering degrees

  3. to evaluate the effectiveness of the current strategies used by various organisations and institutions to raise awareness of engineering

  4. to develop an optimized national communication strategy for promoting engineering studies to secondary students

The research questions we will be answering are:

  1. What factors, including the role of parents, student characteristics, etc., are related to strong interest in, and understanding of, engineering in school-age children, and what forms do their interest and understanding take?

  2. How does this interest and understanding develop so that is leads to participation in tertiary engineering studies?

  3. What strategies prove most effective in increasing and developing interest in, and understanding of, engineering?

  4. What range of mechanisms and programs to foster interest in engineering and science are already in place, what do they offer, how effective are they and why?

  5. What is the optimal national communication strategy to achieve increased enrolment in engineering?