- Approximately half of engineering graduates will work in a professional engineering role initially, but that proportion declines over time such that long-term, about one-third will work as professional engineers. - There are more people with engineering qualifications than there are professional engineering jobs, and engineers face competition from people without engineering degrees. - Engineering jobs, degree-holders, and graduates are clustered strongly in state/territory capital cities, so competition for jobs is largely local.

1. RMIT SHEER Presentation
Stuart Palmer(@s_palm )
Deakin University
What the census says about
Australian engineering graduate
occupational outcomes

2. Depending on who/what you read, there is…
a shortage of STEM graduates; or
an oversupply of STEM graduates
There is confusion around definitions of STEM
STEM anxiety

3. [US] Choy and Bradburn (2008) – 10 years post-
graduation approx. half still working in field
[AUS] Trevelyan and Tilli (2010) – approx. half of
all graduates working out of field
[UK] Lyons (2011) – 28% of graduates work in
finance and business, same rate as all graduates
Engineering graduates

4. ABS data from last (2011) census, queried for:
E&RT bachelor graduates x Occupation
Occupation x Highest Educational qualification
Occupation x Location (significant urban area)
E&RT bachelor graduates x Location (SUA)
Method

5. Occupations included
Chemical and Materials Engineers Civil Engineering Professionals
Electrical Engineers Electronics Engineers
Industrial, Mechanical and Production Engineers Mining Engineers
Other Engineering Professionals Engineering Managers
Engineering Professionals (not further defined) ICT Support and Test Engineers
Telecommunications Engineering Professionals

6. Data are from 2011 (dated)
Census only records ‘highest qualification’
Doesn’t disaggregate pass and honours degrees
Have to decide which occupations to include in
‘professional engineering’
Census data are subject to small random
variations to avoid potential re-identification
Limitations

7. (broadly) Where BEs work
32.0%
18.5%
12.6%
10.4%
9.6%
4.7%
3.1%
2.3%
1.8%
1.6% 1.1% 1.0% 0.9%
0.3% Engineering - 32.0%
Not working - 18.5%
Management - 12.6%
General - 10.4%
IT - 9.6%
Technical - 4.7%
Marketing - 3.1%
Construction - 2.3%
Professional other - 1.8%
Finance - 1.6%
Science - 1.1%
Unknown - 1.0%
Education - 0.9%
Health - 0.3%

8. 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
Variation by age

9. 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)

10. 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)

11. 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)

12. Where the jobs are
People per 1000
0.5000 – 2.0417
2.0417 – 3.5833
3.5833 – 5.1250
5.1250 – 6.6667
6.6667 – 9.7500
9.7500 – 12.8333
12.8333 – 19.0000

13. Where the graduates are
People per 1000
0.5000 – 2.0417
2.0417 – 3.5833
3.5833 – 5.1250
5.1250 – 6.6667
6.6667 – 9.7500
9.7500 – 12.8333
12.8333 – 19.0000

14. 25.2%
17.4%
14.7%
10.6%
7.4%
5.8%
5.2%
3.1%
3.0%
2.3% 2.2% 1.5% 1.0% 0.6%
Not working - 25.2%
General - 17.4%
Science (Prof.) - 14.7%
Management - 10.6%
IT - 7.4%
Education - 5.8%
Marketing - 5.2%
Science (Tech.) - 3.1%
Finance - 3.0%
Health - 2.3%
Eng./Tech. - 2.2%
Professional other - 1.5%
Unknown - 1.0%
Construction - 0.6%
14.2% 15.1% 14.7%
2.1% 4.1% 3.1%
61.0% 53.0%
57.0%
22.7%
27.7% 25.2%
81816 79781 161597
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Male Female All bachelor of science
Percentageofsciencegraduates...
Indicated gender of respondent
…working as science professional …working as science technician …otherwise employed …not working Total
14.7% 14.4%
29.2%
18.8%
9.5%
28.2%
7.1%
3.1% 3.8%
6.2%
6.4%
2.3%
1.6%
1.6%
57.0% 54.7%
37.4%
58.7%
60.2%
56.3%
77.6%
25.2% 27.1% 27.2%
16.2%
27.9%
14.0% 13.7%
161597 25056 12426 692 2487 16342 863
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Bachelor of
Science
Bachelor of
Biological
Science
Bachelor of
Biomedical
Science
Bachelor of
Forensic
Science
Bachelor of
Zoology and
Animal Science
Bachelor of
Environmental
Science
Bachelor of
Fisheries and
Aquaculture
Percentageofsciencegraduates...
Undergraduate science program specialism
…working as science professional …working as science technician …otherwise employed …not working Total
17.8%
10.4%
32.0%
39.9%
57.0% 69.8%
49.5%
41.6%
25.2%
19.8% 18.5% 18.4%
161597 14252 200356 164613
0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
Bachelor of Science Bachelor of Agricultural
Science
Bachelor of Engineering Bachelor of Accounting
Percentageofgraduates...
Undergraduate program
…working in the discipline …otherwise employed …not working Total
13.2%
20.7% 20.0%
15.3% 14.7% 13.8% 14.1% 11.8% 8.7%
4.8%
4.0%
1.4%
0.8%
4.8%
4.9% 3.7%
2.9% 2.7% 2.7% 2.2% 2.3%
1.5%
0.7%
0.1%
48.5%
51.1% 59.1% 65.6% 68.1% 70.3% 69.6%
63.4%
47.7%
26.8%
13.6%
7.3%
4.8%
33.5%
23.4%
17.2% 16.2% 14.5% 13.2% 14.0%
22.5%
42.1%
67.7%
82.3%
91.3% 94.4%
17219 24496 20561 20951 17627 15237 13492 11233 8746 5184 2971 1598 1291
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
Percentageofsciencegraduates...
Age range
…working as science professional …working as science technician …otherwise employed …not working Age range total

16. Approximately half of your new graduates will
work in a professional engineering role
That proportion will continue to decline over
time
In the longer-term, on average, approximately
one third will work in a professional engineering
role
Summary findings

17. There are significantly more qualified engineers
than there are professional engineering roles
Even for those roles, there is significant
competition from people without engineering
bachelor qualifications
Summary findings

18. Engineering jobs, bachelor qualified people and
graduates cluster strongly in state/territory
capital cities
You are competing in what is largely a state-
based, capital city professional engineering job
market
Summary findings

19. What jobs/roles are you educating for?
Where are your graduates (alumni) working?
Where are your students intending to work?
Do you explore with students ‘where’
engineering graduates work?
What career outcomes are portrayed in your
course publicity?
Curriculum questions

20. Do your WIL or final-year project units permit /
encourage topics outside of ‘engineering’?
Who’s on your advisory board?
Do you cover in demand generic STEM skills such
as programming, visualisation and statistics?
What is an authentic engineering curriculum???
Curriculum questions

21. Thank you for your time
•t.co/CIpOOuy3lO

22. Palmer, S., Tolson, M., Young, K. and Campbell, M. (2015), The Relationship between
engineering bachelor qualifications and occupational status in Australia, Australasian
Journal of Engineering Education, v20, n2, pp. 103-112.
Palmer, S. and Campbell, M. (2016), Characterising the Australian engineering
workforce and engineering graduate occupational outcomes using national census
data, 8th International Symposium on Project Approaches in Engineering Education,
Guimarães.
Palmer, S., Campbell, C., Johnson, L. and West, J. (in print), Occupational Outcomes for
Bachelor of Science Graduates in Australia and Implications for Undergraduate
Science Curricula, Research in Science Education.
Palmer, S. (accepted), The influence of geography on professional engineering
employability and its implications for undergraduate curriculum design, Higher
Education Research and Development Society of Australasia Conference 2017, Sydney.
References