Engineering images in television: An analysis focusing on the images developed by high school juniors and seniors

Abstract

Media images can play a significant role in the establishing of profession images, particularly in youth. For many individuals, television is the dominant media exposure. This research probed high school student television-influenced images of professions, focusing on physicians, teachers, lawyers, and engineers. It was hypothesized that an understanding of such images would provide insights into recruitment issues related to secondary students selecting engineering as their future profession. The survey instrument employed included unstructured rating scales of: not creative - creative, dull/boring - exciting, cold/uncaring - warm/caring, and (regarding impact on society) negative impact - neutral - positive impact. Results indicated that television presentation of the engineering professionals is extremely limited. Students developed images of engineering professionals as not particularly exciting, relatively creative, relatively neutral on caring/uncaring, and somewhat neutral in regards to societal impact. Such images may be one reason why many high school students do not select engineering as a future profession. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2008.