An Investigation of Children's, Parents' and Teachers' Perceptions of Engineers and Engineering

Abstract

CONTEXT Historic and recent trends indicate that there is a decline in the number of Australian students pursuing engineering careers, with this field also suffering from a lack of gender and ethnic diversity. One explanation revolves around perceptions of engineers and engineering, which are “extremely powerful and influential in human thought and behaviour” (Given, 2008). PURPOSE OR GOAL The aim is to develop a richer, more holistic understanding of children's, parents' and teachers' perceptions of engineers and engineering, to better inform the engagement of students in STEM subjects and ultimately, a career in engineering. This paper reports on the pilot investigation of perceptions. Findings from the main study will inform an intervention, to ascertain whether perceptions can be changed. APPROACH OR METHODOLOGY/METHODS Underpinned by the Social Cognitive Theory, this research will follow a sequential explanatory mixed methods approach, where a large-scale, cross-sectional study will be implemented, in which data will be collected via self-completion questionnaires followed by semi-structured interviews. ACTUAL OR ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES This paper reports on the results from the pilot study, in which a sample of 42 children's and parents' perceptions reported a significant level of familiarity with engineering, perhaps due to sampling bias of parents that happened to have STEM backgrounds. Most of the parents encouraged participation in STEM subjects and communicate mostly accurate information about the Engineering profession to their children, potentially impacting children's self-interests, abilities and positive perceptions of engineers and engineering. Despite these reasons, misconceptions around the Engineering profession still existed. CONCLUSIONS/RECOMMENDATIONS/SUMMARY The pilot study demonstrates that further studies with children, parents and teachers from more diverse backgrounds and demographics of schools need to be performed, as the collected sample is currently biased towards STEM literate parents and children.