India set to produce world’s largest number of engineers

[Kashmiri Pandit]

India set to produce world’s largest number of engineers - The Times of India

LONDON: India is all set to produce the world's largest number of engineers.

The first ever global report commissioned by the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering and to be made public on Monday has revealed that while just 20% of 16 to 17 year-olds from the UK and 30% from the USA are interested in an engineering career, in India the rate is as high as 80% - the highest in the world.

READ ALSO: India tops Asia in sending scientists and engineers to US

The report will also unveil another interesting finding - India has closed the gender gap in engineering to an all-time low of 14% in 2015.

Around 66% men in the world are interested in engineering while the figure stands as low as 43% for women globally. However when it comes to India, both men and women have shown great interest in engineering - the highest percentage in the world.

While 85% Indian men have shown interest in engineering, the number stands at a close 79% among women in India.

In comparison, 62% women in China are interested in taking up engineering as a career, 55% in Brazil, 48% in Turkey, as low as 35% in US, 33% in Germany, 28% in UK and 27% in Japan.

READ ALSO: Number of Gujarat students opting to study in US rises

Also when asked whether they would like to take up engineering as a career, 80% of 16 year olds in India said it was their first choice, while the number rose to 81% among 18-24 year olds, and 87% among 24-30 year olds.

"Emerging economies like India have narrower gender gaps regarding the overall interest in engineering than the leading economies of the world. This is astounding since women have a far more equal access to education in the US, Germany and Japan compared to the emerging world, yet their aptitude to pursue engineering careers is less. In these same industrialized nations, more than 35% of the population consider engineering as a masculine domain," said professor Viola Vogel from ETH Zurich.

The report said "To the contrary, in India where women of the emerging middle class are increasingly fighting for equal rights, only 29% of the population consider engineering as masculine, while an amazing 30% consider it as feminine. This is the second most surprising finding, since India therefore has by far the most gender-balanced view towards the attractiveness of engineering in comparison to all of the other countries".

The report examined the views of those outside the profession in 10 key economies: Brazil, China, Germany, India, Japan, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, UK and US.

Narayana Murthy, founder of Infosys said US Ivy League colleges and UK Oxbridge universities have traditionally focused on the liberal arts. Students of these topics have therefore tended to hold society's most prestigious and well-paid jobs, making arts subjects more attractive to young people and limiting interest in areas like engineering".

READ ALSO: 'Indian nationals account for second-highest number of foreign students at US varsities'

"In India, the software services industry alone recruits about 300,000 people every year. Meanwhile, over a third of the country's engineering students are women. This boom is partly due to businesses wanting to make use of the comparatively cheap production and talent costs.

In the future the Internet of Things will undoubtedly create more job opportunities across all branches of engineering," Murthy added.

Engineering tops the list of professions seen as most vital for economic growth. Other professions include business leader, lawyer, doctor and teacher.

People in the US, Germany and India have shown the highest numbers rating engineering as a top career opportunity.

 

[Kashmiri Pandit]

@SarthakGanguly
@jamahir
@Sky lord
@JD_In

 

[nair]

I am seriously worried about the quality of these so called large number of "Engineers"......... Happened to be part of an interview panel, i can tell you the picture is not that good.....( the point i made does not include the reputed collages )

 

[ito]

India tops Asia in sending scientists and engineers to US: Report

WASHINGTON: Among Asian countries, India continues to be the top country of birth for scientists and engineers who have made the US their destination for key research and development, latest data has revealed.

With 950,000 out of Asia's total 2.96 million, India's 2013 figure represented an 85 per cent increase from 2003, according to a new report from the National Science Foundation's National Center for Science and Engineering Statistics (NCSES).

From 2003 to 2013, the number of scientists and engineers residing in the US rose from 21.6 million to 29 million.


"An important factor in that increase over the same time period, the number of immigrant scientists and engineers went from 3.4 million to 5.2 million," the report noted.

Of the immigrant scientists and engineers in the US in 2013, 57 per cent were born in Asia while 20 per cent were born in North America (excluding the US), Central America, the Caribbean or South America.

READ ALSO: Number of Gujarat students opting to study in US rises

"While 16 per cent were born in Europe, six percent were born in Africa and less than one percent were born in Oceania.

"Immigrants went from making up 16 percent of the science and engineering workforce to 18 per cent," the NCSES statement read.

In 2013, the latest year for which numbers are available, 63 per cent of US immigrant scientists and engineers were naturalised citizens, while 22 per cent were permanent residents and 15 per cent were temporary visa holders.

Since 2003, the number of scientists and engineers from the Philippines increased 53 per cent and the number from China, including Hong Kong and Macau, increased 34 per cent.

The NCSES report found that immigrant scientists and engineers were more likely to earn post-baccalaureate degrees than their US-born counterparts.

READ ALSO: US may allow foreign students to stay for 6 years after degree

In 2013, 32 percent of immigrant scientists reported their highest degree was a master's (compared to 29 per cent of US-born counterparts) and 9 per cent reported it was a doctorate (compared to 4 per cent of US-born counterparts).

"The most common broad fields of study for immigrant scientists and engineers in 2013 were engineering, computer and mathematical sciences, and social and related sciences," the report revealed.

Over 80 per cent of immigrant scientists and engineers were employed in 2013, the same percentage as their US-born counterparts.

Among the immigrants in the science and engineering workforce, the largest share (18 percent) worked in computer and mathematical sciences, while the second-largest share (eight percent) worked in engineering.

READ ALSO: 'Indian nationals account for second-highest number of foreign students at US varsities'

Three occupations — life scientist, computer and mathematical scientist, and social and related scientist — saw substantial immigrant employment growth from 2003 to 2013.

 

[somebozo]

Quantity over quality...Soviet Union produced world largest number of engineers and scientist yet its manufacturing and industry always lagged behind Western countries. Similarly I have seen indian engineers drawing 3500 Riyals wages in Saudi cannot have true qualification of an engineer...India is more of an education degree mill when it comes to higher education...

 

[HariPrasad]

No surprise.

 

[Kashmiri Pandit]

Quantity over quality...Soviet Union produced world largest number of engineers and scientist yet its manufacturing and industry always lagged behind Western countries. Similarly I have seen indian engineers drawing 3500 Riyals wages in Saudi cannot have true qualification of an engineer...India is more of an education degree mill when it comes to higher education...

 

[MilSpec]

Quality is something that needs to be focused on, Quantity is fine- but we do need some re-structuring done for quality of engineers being produced.

 

[ito]

Quantity over quality...Soviet Union produced world largest number of engineers and scientist yet its manufacturing and industry always lagged behind Western countries. Similarly I have seen indian engineers drawing 3500 Riyals wages in Saudi cannot have true qualification of an engineer...India is more of an education degree mill when it comes to higher education...

What you said is true about 5 years ago. Things are fast improving. New government regulations have made hard for educations mills to survive.

 

[navtrek]

Quantity over quality...Soviet Union produced world largest number of engineers and scientist yet its manufacturing and industry always lagged behind Western countries. Similarly I have seen indian engineers drawing 3500 Riyals wages in Saudi cannot have true qualification of an engineer...India is more of an education degree mill when it comes to higher education...

The shear size of India makes it difficult for increasing the quality of the engineering education but slowly things are changing it will take some time for things to come to a standard.

 

[nair]

Quality is something that needs to be focused on, Quantity is fine- but we do need some re-structuring done for quality of engineers being produced.

I was discussing it in another thread with @acetophenol ..... I was shocked to learn the quality of these engineers..... these guys were not able to answer the basic technologies of automobile even after completing engineering in Automobile.... The questions asked were...

1) Purpose of differential
2) Technology used prior to MPFi
3) Theory behind carburetor
4) Type of transmissions


I am not going to get in to the questions around thermodynamics, it will be embarrassing.........

I though every student should be made to watch "3 Idiots" every semester.....

 

[Didact]

What you said is true about 5 years ago. Things are fast improving. New government regulations have made hard for educations mills to survive.

He has some sort of mental block every time he sees India; it's always low quality India blah blah. Not worth the attention.

But that said, as long as the primary criteria for admission to private engineering colleges remain the ability to pay the admission fees plus the donation money, there will be no improvement. You cannot shove down engineering through the throat of someone who's basic physics & mathematics are weak, and you cannot test their understanding of that unless there is some sort of screening. But every time there's screening, the opportunities for money making plunge for the colleges.

The only percieved effect of this the huge influx of half baked pseudo-engineers is reduced salaries across the board; brought on by the comfort that there is always someone to replace a good engineer. That is why a huge number of engineers from tier 1 and tier II colleges leave India, or engineering; a blow that effects these very companies and the country at large in the long run.

 

[JohnyD]

Quality of engineers produced by the Indian institutes need a drastic improvement. It seems we are still following the syllabus and theory based patterns whereas practicality is still at far distant. I think we need amendment in company and trade laws, mandating companies to take certain percentage of its overall workforce as entrance from the government approved institutes .


I have seen people who have done BE/BTech in CS, when join the project they literally don’t understand anything and have to do a lot of spoon feeding.

 

[Kashmiri Pandit]

Quality of engineers produced by the Indian institutes need a drastic improvement. It seems we are still following the syllabus and theory based patterns whereas practicality is still at far distant. I think we need amendment in company and trade laws, mandating companies to take certain percentage of its overall workforce as entrance from the government approved institutes .


I have seen people who have done BE/BTech in CS, when join the project they literally don’t understand anything and have to do a lot of spoon feeding.

I am a 4th year B Tech CS drop out .
I agree with what u say . But Parents have an important role too .
They force their kids to do what they want and not what we want .

 

[MilSpec]

I was discussing it in another thread with @acetophenol ..... I was shocked to learn the quality of these engineers..... these guys were not able to answer the basic technologies of automobile even after completing engineering in Automobile.... The questions asked were...

1) Purpose of differential
2) Technology used prior to MPFi
3) Theory behind carburetor
4) Type of transmissions


I am not going to get in to the questions around thermodynamics, it will be embarrassing.........

I though every student should be made to watch "3 Idiots" every semester.....

Which is quite despicable, isn't it.

A good professor, can inculcate the will to become a better engineer 1000 times more than 3 idiots movie. I was fortunate to go to a good school, When I was back after on holiday's in 2011, I sat on an interview panel (without a say) for my uncle's company. I found fresh graduates unable to say if a drawing was in third angle or first angle, or read simple machine drawing tolerances and allowances.

But saying that, I also worked with some Indian engineers here in US, who are for lack of better words "Absolutely Brilliant" and do-not come from the famed IIT.
Education in India is not monolithic, different levels at different schools.

Quality of engineers produced by the Indian institutes need a drastic improvement. It seems we are still following the syllabus and theory based patterns whereas practicality is still at far distant. I think we need amendment in company and trade laws, mandating companies to take certain percentage of its overall workforce as entrance from the government approved institutes .


I have seen people who have done BE/BTech in CS, when join the project they literally don’t understand anything and have to do a lot of spoon feeding.

The quality of engineers produced directly affect the companies they work for. I would love to see reliance, Tata, HAL, DRDO, Ship yards, mahindra, Infosys, etc the big wigs, take the development of syllabus and course material of certain universities under their wing. That I think will help immensely.

 

[surya kiran]

There is a joke in my community. If you tell your father you want to become a lawyer or architect, he will say, "Sure kondey, no problem. But first, finish your engineering. After that you can become a lawyer or whatever you want."