Wondering why engineering should be on your STEM career radar? So. Many. Reasons.
1. You’ll find a job – and love it!
Demand for engineers is so hot right now, you’re almost guaranteed a full-time job after graduation.
“Australia has an engineering skills shortage exacerbated by COVID-19,” says Dr Bronwyn Evans, CEO of Engineers Australia. “[Plus] an engineering job vacancy rate that has gone up 97 per cent in just 12 months and an economic recovery hinging on major infrastructure projects.”
Most engineering students find a full-time job within four months of graduating. Plus engineering hires are heaps happier. A 2021 survey by QILT found a massive 90% employer satisfaction rate.
2. There’s loads of choice!
Whatever your interest, engineering has you covered. Do you geek out over the planets? Consider a career as a space engineer. Obsessed with the ocean? Marine engineering could be the gig for you. Want to save lives? Become a biomedical engineer. Love cool gadgets? Check out electronics engineering.
3. The ‘E’ in STEM is for everyone
Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith, Australia’s Women in STEM ambassador.Building the best engineering workforce means improving diversity. Change is happening. Future engineers from diverse backgrounds are in high demand. Australia’s Women in STEM Ambassador, Professor Lisa Harvey-Smith, says one of the reasons fewer girls sign up for engineering is that students often don’t know what it’s all about.
“Ask a Year 9 student if she wants to design a system for rare pygmy possums to safely cross a highway and you will probably get an enthusiastic yes,” she told The Conversation.
“Ask the same student if she wants to be a mechanical engineer and the response may be lukewarm at best.”
4. Make your mark
Think of any complex, high-profile piece of architecture or infrastructure in Australia and there will be dozens of engineers who helped make it happen. We’re talking the Sydney Harbour Bridge,
The Ghan, the Snowy Hydro Scheme – you name it. By studying engineering, you could be on your way to helping create the next big thing in our future.
5. Save the planet!
You could help save the planet as an engineer! From building robotic crabs that pick up cigarette butts on beaches to helping transition our energy system away from fossil fuels, the sky’s the limit!
Susan Krumdieck is an adjunct professor and mechanical engineer from New Zealand’s University of Canterbury, and she says engineers will be key to conserving our environment for future generations, because no-one knows what needs to be done to save it like engineers do!
6. Earn big bucks!
A report by the Office of the Chief Scientist found that 40% of engineering graduates in Australia earn $104K or more. Experienced, specialist engineers can earn even more – a late-career marine engineer, for example, can earn up to $205K. – Heather Gallagher
This article originally appears in Careers with STEM: Engineering 2022
READ MORE:
- What is engineering? It’s probably not what you think
- How sustainable engineering will secure a better world
- Systems engineering: Everything you need to know
Author: STEM Contributor
This article was written by a STEM Contributor for Careers with STEM. To learn more, please visit our contact page.
