The purpose of undergraduate engineering education is to develop graduates who are capable of commencing professional engineering practice. Professional education should equip graduates with the skills, knowledge and attitudes required for their initial professional practice. It should also enable the capacity to continue the professional development required to refresh knowledge and skills as the graduates mature and the nature of professional engineering work develops. However, it is true that many graduates from professional engineering programs, either immediately or at some later time, pursue a career outside of professional engineering. The reasons for this are widely speculated upon, and are no doubt complex. In this regard, the professional engineering workforce, the undergraduate engineering education system, the links between them, and the occupational outcomes for engineering graduates in Australia are similar to many other developed nations. Using the latest Australian national census data we present a detailed analysis of the makeup of the professional engineering workforce and the occupational outcomes for graduates of undergraduate engineering programs in Australia. The data show that the Australian professional engineering workforce is comprised of people with a wide range of educational qualifications, and, even immediately post-graduation, many Australian engineering graduates pursue non-engineering occupations. This analysis presents important findings for those designing undergraduate engineering curricula that seek to equip students for the best employment outcomes, given the nature of the professional engineering work environment, and the short- and long-term occupations that engineering graduates actually pursue in Australia.

1. Stuart Palmer(@s_palm )
Malcolm Campbell
Deakin University
Australia
Characterising the Australian
engineering workforce and
engineering graduate occupational
outcomes using national census
data

2. Calls for ‘industry’ input into design and review
of engineering curriculum
Industry advisory boards might provide this
Premise (perhaps unspoken) that most
graduates will work as professional engineers
Not actually true – in Australia
Context

3. In many countries ‘engineer’ is both a job and a
title
Job – a role in an engineering occupation
Title – earned by completing engineering degree
In many countries the title of engineer has no
effective legal protection
Context

4. Online access to Australian 2011 census data
1. Cross-tabulated data for BEng holders with
reported occupations
2. Cross-tabulated those in professional
engineering occupations with reported
qualifications
Method

5. Professional Engineering
64,197
32.0%
Not working 37,060
18.5%
General Management
25,230 12.6%
General 20,934 - 10.4%
I.T. 19,252
9.6%
Technical 9,468 - 4.7%
All other occupations
24,215
12.1%
Total 200,356
0
30
60
90
120
150
180
210
Graduated with Bachelor of Engineering, working in…
Numbersofpersons(1000s)

6. 46.1% 46.0%
38.8%
33.0% 31.5% 28.1% 28.2% 27.7%
22.0%
12.7%
6.3%
2.7% 1.2%
1.4%
31.5%
41.5% 51.7% 58.7% 60.5% 63.1% 62.4%
56.6%
43.5%
26.6%
14.0%
6.8%
3.9%
1.4%
22.4%
12.4% 9.5% 8.2% 8.1% 8.8% 9.4%
15.7%
34.6%
60.7%
79.7%
90.5% 94.9% 97.1%
11907 29565 28256 27163 22088 20228 16888 14346 11072 7161 4940 3048 2117 1182
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65-69 70-74 75-79 80-84 85-89
Percentageofengineeringgraduates...
Age range
…working as professional engineer …otherwise employed …not working Age range total
Employment status versus age

7. Engineering and Related
Technologies - Bachelor
64,185
45.7%
E&RT Postgraduate 16,339 -
11.6%
E&RT Adv. Diploma 12,034 -
8.6%
E&RT Certificate 10,636 - 7.6%
No post-sec. 9,119 - 6.5%
P.G. Manage. 3,418 - 2.4%
All other qualifications
24,696
17.6%
Total 140,427
0
30
60
90
120
150
180
210
In a Professional Engineering role, highest qualification…
Numbersofpersons(1000s)

8. Professional Engineering
64,197
32.0%
Engineering and Related
Technologies - Bachelor
64,185
45.7%
Not working 37,060
18.5% E&RT Postgraduate 16,339 -
11.6%
General Management
25,230 12.6%
E&RT Adv. Diploma 12,034 -
8.6%
General 20,934 - 10.4%
E&RT Certificate 10,636 - 7.6%
I.T. 19,252
9.6%
No post-sec. 9,119 - 6.5%
Technical 9,468 - 4.7%
P.G. Manage. 3,418 - 2.4%
All other occupations
24,215
12.1%
All other qualifications
24,696
17.6%
Total 200,356
Total 140,427
0
30
60
90
120
150
180
210
Graduated with Bachelor of Engineering, working in… In a Professional Engineering role, highest qualification…
Numbersofpersons(1000s)

9. STEM graduates working out of field is a …
“loss”; “poor return” – Aust Council of Eng Deans
“concern” – OECD Tech./Economy Programme
“serious problem” – UK Roberts’ Review
The leaky STEM pipeline
Problematic perspective

10. An alternative view …
“An alternative view is that while the Australian Government invests in
funded places for the purposes of building a prosperous society and
economy, the means by which highly skilled graduates will achieve this are
somewhat more diverse … It may well be necessary for many of these
graduates to explore options other than employment as an engineer in
Australia on completion of their degree. Several of these options still have
the potential to deliver a range of benefits to the Australian society and
economy over the longer term. … Graduates working in related
occupations will bring their engineering background with them, providing
them with a multi-disciplinary outlook that has the potential to make them
the flexible, open minded, highly skilled employees that many industries
need to develop new business strategies.”

11. Conclusions – in Australia…
Majority of BEng holders do not work in a
professional engineering occupation
>40% of people working in a ‘professional
engineering’ occupation do not hold a BEng+
Career options outside of engineering, and lack
of legal protection for the occupational title of
engineer likely contribute to these findings

12. Conclusions
Important findings for those designing
undergraduate engineering curricula that seek to
equip students for the best employment
outcomes, given the nature of the professional
engineering work environment, and the short-
and long-term occupations that engineering
graduates actually pursue in Australia

13. Thank you for your time
•ow.ly/10Ery3