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NASDAQ Record High, Engineering Degrees 17-Year Low
Washington, D.C. -- As the NASDAQ hit another record high today, the Engineering Workforce Commission (EWC) of the American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) released its latest survey on engineering degrees, which reveals that the number of students receiving bachelor's of science degrees in engineering in the United States has fallen to a 17-year low.
The NASDAQ calls itself 'home to the most innovative companies in the world,' and that it is 'building the future of markets with technology.' Paul Torpey, Chair of the AAES, noted the irony of the NASDAQ hitting record highs when the number of engineering graduates continue to fall. "Since companies such as those on the NASDAQ are able to fuel innovation and create new technology through the ingenuity of our nation's engineers, I wonder how long it will be before the NASDAQ reverses itself as a result of our failure to develop the commodity most essential to technological success -- engineering talent."
The 1998 edition of the EWC Engineering and Technology Degrees survey covers data from 340 schools with engineering programs and 284 schools with engineering technology programs in the United States. It is the most comprehensive, accurate, and authoritative source for engineering and technology degree data in the country.
The contrast between students receiving bachelor's degrees overall and those in engineering is striking. According to the EWC, between 1986 and 1998, the number of students receiving bachelor's of science degrees in engineering declined by 19.8 percent to 63,262 nationwide while the number of students receiving bachelor's of science degrees overall increased by nearly 20 percent over the same period of time. "In Connecticut, where the 'Connecticut Yankee' has long been a symbol of ingenuity and inventiveness, only 533 students received B.S. degrees in engineering last year -- one-third as many as the state graduated in 1986," said Torpey. "How can a state that considers itself 'engineered for high performance' believe that it will be able to fuel technological innovation without an adequate supply of engineers to provide the spark of Yankee Ingenuity?"
"As our society becomes increasingly dependent on its engineers to maintain our nation's economic, environmental, and national security, our community has a responsibility to improve the nation's 'engineering literacy' -- as well as a responsibility to encourage and inspire our nation's youth to consider engineering as an exciting and rewarding career," said Torpey. "As Motorola CEO Gary Tooker said two years ago, 'The nations that lead the world in the decades to come will be those that encourage creative people to become engineers.'"
Torpey, Chair of the 20-year old AAES, said, "If we as a nation fail to reverse the decline in the number of students receiving engineering degrees, then the innovations that have fueled the recent surge in the financial markets may begin to diminish in the not-so-distant future."
The American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) is a multidisciplinary organization of engineering societies dedicated to advancing the knowledge, understanding, and practice of engineering. Our member societies represent the mainstream of U.S. engineering -- over one million engineers in industry, construction, private practice, government and academia.
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