“Is it that 1) you wound up with bigger and better (more exciting, or whatever) opportunities, 2) you decided you didn’t want to work as engineers or 3) you couldn’t find work as engineers?”
Just to clarify: I am a big fan of the engineering degree, and I think your son will do fine with any of the options available to him. I would estimate that less than 30 percent of the engineering graduates from my generation (at the category of schools I attended) work in an engineering field. Most in this category have a masters or a doctorate in engineering. The specific reasons for leaving the field vary from person to person, but I can honestly say that category 3 was not the reason. Engineering jobs opportunities do fluctuate, but if one is willing to be flexible with specific area or location, there are many jobs available, especially after getting a PE license.
Again, why did people leave engineering? There are dozens of different reasons, but in almost all such cases the next step was a graduate school.
I think my point is that if your son is one who can handle both an engineering degree and a classics degree (taking graduate classes, on top of that) at a place like Johns Hopkins, whatever the job prospects are for an undergraduate engineering major may be entirely irrelevant to him. Even if he stays in engineering, I would think the odds are better that he ends up as a professor at a top engineering school.
Thank you for your input. It's helpful.
“Again, why did people leave engineering? There are dozens of different reasons, but in almost all such cases the next step was a graduate school.”
Well, whether he goes to Maryland or Harvard (or Hopkins), the goal is to go a fifth year and get an MS in engineering immediately. He'd prefer to step out into the world, career-wise, with at least his masters.
“Even if he stays in engineering, I would think the odds are better that he ends up as a professor at a top engineering school.”
We've visited with the folks at Hopkins and Maryland, and it seems that most or all the engineering faculty at these places actually do engineering, or at least are involved with on-going engineering projects, at least on a consulting basis. It seems that a lot of their research is tied to actual engineering projects. My sense is that a lot of their research arises out of developing practical solutions to problems not previously solved. I remember this one crusty old civil engineer at Hopkins describing how the research in their laboratory facilities was used specifically to develop engineering solutions for a particular project in Latin America, and how he traveled back and forth, both undergrad and grad students in tow. But of course, I guess these folks also have some significant years actually working in the field.
That is a possible route for my son, it isn't unattractive at all to him.
I guess, if he succeeds in getting his masters immediately after getting his bachelors, to me, that doesn't mean he isn't in the field, just that he took the time to get his masters, first.
My brother is a long-time (since the 1970s) engineer, and I know that at different times, his employer was willing to have him go back and get a masters degree. He was happy to be done with school, though, and did pretty well with his career (which is now winding down) without an advanced degree, rising to a senior engineering management position in a subsidiary of a large multinational conglomerate.
But my son is naturally academic. It's really part and parcel of his personality. I think that he will likely usually take what opportunities come his way to continue school. He's kind of a workaholic, so I don't see much conflict for him between school and work.
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