Conference Session

Engineering and Public Policy II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David O. Kazmer, University of Massachusetts, Lowell; Katie Bardaro, PayScale, Inc.

Tagged Divisions

Engineering and Public Policy

by applying the theory of humancapital given the costs reported by the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS)and college-specific salary profiles derived from the world’s largest database of self-reportedincomes (that contains ~8% of the salary data for all U.S. engineers). Results indicate that themedian bachelor degreed US engineer will earn $4.2MM over the span of a forty year career,which corresponds to a net present value of $1.8MM assuming an annual cost of capital equal to4.1%. The national average internal rate of return for engineering education is 5.85% givenaverage lost wages and total cost attendance of $36,360 per year across the top 150 USengineering colleges; this internal rate of return increases to 6.5% if

Conference Session

Engineering and Public Policy I

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mickey R. Wilhelm P.E., University of Louisville

Tagged Divisions

Engineering and Public Policy

of the opportunities available through an engineering education.”As a result, the NAE has instituted an initiative, called Changing the Conversation, toassist in addressing the obvious media blind spot, as well as the relative ignorance of thegeneral public, to the importance of engineering in solving the problems confrontingsociety. This effort is also designed to address the shortage of K-12 students who preparethemselves to study engineering in colleges and universities.The NAE cites three important reasons for improving the public understanding ofengineering: (1) Sustaining the U.S. capacity for technological innovation; (2) attractingyoung people to careers in engineering; and (3) improving technological literacy.While the NAE was

Conference Session

Engineering and Public Policy II

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Gary Cruz, Great Minds in STEM

Tagged Divisions

Engineering and Public Policy

and Technology (2012) 14 acknowledges increaseddeparture from STEM during the first two years of college due to perceived unwelcomingenvironments, lack of math preparation, and disengaging introductory engineering courses. Asstudents near their fourth year in college, they become dismayed not by the engineering content, Page 25.236.3but rather by an engineering education structure that emphasizes technical problem solving in aclosed environment and lacks preparation for professional practice and competencies (Sheppard,Pellegrino, & Olds, 2008) 15. Therein, only a third of engineering students actually persist intoan engineering career; 60

Conference Session

Engineering and Public Policy I

Collection

2012 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

J. Mendoza-Garcia, Purdue University and Pontificia Universidad Javeriana; Ida B. Ngambeki, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Lamis J. Behbehani, Purdue University; Demetra Evangelou, Purdue University, West Lafayette; P. Suresh C. Rao, Purdue University, West Lafayette; Monica Farmer Cox, Purdue University, West Lafayette

Tagged Divisions

Engineering and Public Policy

J. Behbehani is a Ph.D. candidate in ecological sciences and the Engineering Interdisciplinary program, Purdue University.Dr. Demetra Evangelou, Purdue University, West Lafayette Demetra Evangelou, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the School of Engineering Education at Purdue University. She obtained her B.A. in psychology from Northeastern Illinois University, and a M.Ed. and Ph.D. in education from University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She is a member of Sigma Xi Science Honor Society. Evangelou was awarded an NSF CAREER grant in 2009 and a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) in 2011. Evangelou’s current research focuses on engineering thinking, developmental factors in