Why engineering? : descriptive study mapping the motivations of aspiring engineers

Abstract

As the importance of technology and innovation grows with the progression of society, so does the importance of engineers. Because of this, the engineering disciplines come with promise of good salaries and job security, but not all students choose engineering as a career path for the promise of jobs. In order to further understand their motivations, ten engineering students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were interviewed and eighteen others completed an online survey pertaining to their personal motivations for choosing engineering as a career path. The interview and survey questions gathered demographic information from each of the participants, statements regarding why they chose to attend MIT and pursue engineering as a career path, self reported data on their high school, university, and intended professional extra curricular activities, and lastly a list of their important personal values. Combined, the results of analysis showed that the motivations of aspiring engineers can generally be grouped into three broad categories - intrinsic motivation, external influence, and extrinsic motivation. The intrinsic motivation for choosing engineering comes from a place of interest in the subject matter, and the problem solving mindset necessary in the field. External influence refers to the outside factors to the decision making process such as role models or past experiences. The extrinsic motivation comes from a place of potential for impact creation, and the promise of creating long lasting and meaningful change. Though many students cite two or more of the broad motivational categories as important to their engineering aspirations, when asked to state the top contributing factor in their decision for choosing engineering all study participants responded within one of these three categories.