A COMPARISON OF SELECTED OKLAHOMA STATE UNIVERSITY ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY STUDENTS' PERCEPTIONS OF CAREER CHOICE, CURRICULUM, AND EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIE

Scope of Study. The major purpose of this study was to measure the perceptions of representative samples of engineering and technology students at Oklahoma State University concerning career choice, curriculum and employment opportunities. In addition, comparison was made of the students perceptions of the engineering and technology programs with the O.S.U. Division of Engineering, Technology, and Architecture (DETA) characterizations of the two programs. Two hundred and seventy engineering and technology students enrolled during the Fall semester, 1980 at O.S.U. were asked to complete a questionnaire that sought information to accomplish the purpose of this study. Of the returned questionnaires, 30 were randomly selected from each group to be analyzed. One group had only 20 students in the entire population. All useable returns from this group were used. The students were divided into three major groups, freshmen in engineering and technology, seniors in engineering and technology, transfers to engineering and technology. Comparisons were made within the three groups.;Findings and Conclusions. Based upon the findings of the study profiles of a typical engineering and technology freshmen, senior, and transfer were developed. Conclusions, implications and recommendations were drawn from the findings. Parents have a strong influence on the career choice of the students studied. Sixty-two percent of the respondents in all groups reported "parents" as having some or much influence on career choice. High school teachers, counselors, and college recruiters were all shown to have little influence. Interest in the subject matter was the single most influential factor. Both groups of freshmen had accurate perceptions of their own curricula, the employment opportunities for engineers, and the DETA characterizations. Neither group of freshmen had accurate perceptions of the other's curricula and of the employment opportunities for technologists. Both groups of seniors had accurate perceptions of their own curricula, the employment opportunities for engineering and technology graduates, and the DETA characterizations. Both groups of seniors had inaccurate perceptions of the other's curricula. The two groups of transfers had perceptions resulting in the same conclusions as shown above for seniors.