Getting the Numbers Right: International Engineering Education in the United States, China, and India
Journal of Engineering Education, Vol. 97, No. 1, pp. 13-25, 2008
13 Pages Posted: 9 Jan 2008 Last revised: 5 Jun 2008
Abstract
This article challenges the commonly cited statistics for engineering graduates in the United States, China, and India. Our research shows that the gap between the number of engineers and related technology specialists produced in the United States versus those in India and China is smaller than previously reported, and the United States remains a leading source of high-quality global engineering talent. Furthermore, engineering graduates in China and India face the prospect of substantial unemployment, despite high corporate demand for their services; this raises questions about the quality of recent graduates. The United States, however, also confronts problems in its continued ability to attract and retain top engineering talent from abroad because of visa uncertainties and growing economic opportunities in their countries of origin. We argue that the key issue in engineering education should be the quality of graduates, not just the quantity, since quality factors have the biggest impact on innovation and entrepreneurship.
Keywords: dynamic and transactional engineers, engineering education, offshoring
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation
Do you have a job opening that you would like to promote on SSRN?
Recommended Papers
-
Ethnic Scientific Communities and International Technology Diffusion
By William Kerr
-
Do Foreign Students Crowd Out Native Students from Graduate Programs?
-
America's New Immigrant Entrepreneurs: Part I
By Vivek Wadhwa, Annalee Saxenian, ...
-
The Ethnic Composition of US Inventors
By William Kerr
-
The Supply Side of Innovation: H-1B Visa Reforms and US Ethnic Invention
-
The Supply Side of Innovation: H-1b Visa Reforms and Us Ethnic Invention