May 28, 2010 Vol. 3, Issue 5
Aerospace compares favorably to other industries in terms of challenge, excitement and educational opportunities, according to a Massachusetts Institute of Technology survey of students.
The demographic challenges facing the aerospace industry have been the subject of extensive discussion by NASA, the National Academies of Science, and other organizations concerned about the long-term viability of the U.S. aerospace workforce. As the Baby Boom generation reaches retirement age, many analysts and policymakers have raised questions about the strength of the pipeline of young professionals who will lead the industry in the decades ahead. In an effort to bring more quantitative data to these dialogues, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Annalisa Weigel developed a web-based survey to understand aerospace engineering students’ attitudes toward their educations, motivations, career aspirations, and job offers.
Over 600 sophomores and seniors from 23 universities responded to the 30-minute survey. The results provide illuminating insights about the expectations and experiences of the current generation of students, the oldest of whom were not born at the time of the Challenger accident. Weigel plans to create a longitudinal dataset spanning both college and early career stages.
When asked about the first words that come to mind when describing the aerospace industry, roughly one in six (17 percent) said aerospace is “exciting,” followed closely by “innovative” and “challenging.” Interest in aerospace begins early. One-third of respondents (35 percent) indicated that they first became interested in aerospace when they were 5-9 years old, with another 27 percent saying that their interest began when they were 10-13 years old. Familiarity with engineering is also common: 60 percent indicated that one or more family members or close friends are engineers.
Student perceive aerospace as a challenging, rewarding industry that comes with some lifestyle drawbacks. Aerospace stacked up favorably compared to other industries in terms of salary, benefits, educational opportunities, challenge, and excitement, but scored less favorably in areas such as flexible schedule, work/life balance, and location.
When asked about the role their university experiences played in developing their career interests, students cited hands-on experience and faculty as the strongest positive influences on their desire to work in aerospace. At the other end of the spectrum, engineering classes and career fairs had the most negative impact on interest in aerospace.
Aerospace engineering students expect job mobility and project variety in their careers. Strong majorities indicated interest in working for multiple organizations and on a variety of projects over their careers. Just 11 percent say they expect to stay at their first company or organization for at least 10 years. This suggests a profoundly different career path than that followed by the generation approaching retirement age, which came of age professionally with multi-decade programs such as the Space Shuttle and the Hubble Space Telescope.
Students report that recruiting in aerospace depends less on personal connections than is the case in other industries. Career fairs were overwhelmingly cited as the top recruiting avenues for aerospace job offers, followed by internships and online applications. For non-aerospace jobs, knowing someone in an organization was the most commonly reported recruiting avenue.
Fully eight in ten graduating aerospace engineering students who received offers in the industry took aerospace-related jobs. Salary, location, challenge and work environment were the top four factors mentioned for accepting a job in aerospace, while leadership opportunities, excitement, challenge, and benefits were the top four factors for accepting a job offer outside of aerospace.
Professor Weigel intends to follow on with her respondents over time to see how attitudes shift as the students graduate and join the working world.
For further details about the study, please contact Professor Weigel at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or see the Survey of Aerospace Student Attitudes project website.
