PBA Home > Institutional Research & Analysis > Surveys > Senior Survey 1998 > Engineering majors highlights

Senior Survey, 1998

Engineering majors highlights

Displays accompany each of the key findings presented below. Displays 3c-8c and 10c-11c show ratings for all Engineering majors combined (marked with an *). Ratings for other majors are shown only if their ratings differ from the overall Engineering rating.

Recommend UCB (Display 1c): Between 76-95% of majors would recommend UCB to a friend with "some" or "no" reservations. There is very little difference across Engineering majors in their propensity to recommend UCB to a friend.

Major characteristics (Display 2c)

• Among the characterized majors, Electrical Engineering and Civil/Architectural Engineering seniors are most likely to say their courses are "too difficult" (68% and 52%, respectively). At the low end, 39% of Mechanical Engineering seniors say their courses are "too difficult."
• Slightly more than half of the Electrical Engineering (55%) and Civil/Architectural Engineering (54%) seniors say the amount of structure in their major is "too rigid. Less than one-third (28%) of the Computer Science seniors say that the amount of structure in their major is "too rigid."
• Slightly more than half (52%) of the Aerospace Engineering seniors say their program is "too theoretical."
• One-third (33%) of Civil/Architectural Engineering seniors say their program’s emphasis is "too broad;" about one-third (32%) of the Electrical Engineering seniors say their program’s emphasis is "too specialized."

Importance after graduation and achievement now (Displays 3c-4c): Engineering seniors rate the importance of and their achievement in skill and knowledge areas very similarly across majors.

• All majors rate managing time/tasks, general computing, and analyzing real-world problems as most important; math/quantitative reasoning, general computing, and understanding of scientific concepts score high in achievement level.
• Computer Science seniors rate the importance of seven areas lower than other Engineering majors, including understanding of scientific concepts, leadership, speaking publicly, writing, working with people from different cultures, ethical/moral issues, and world affairs [Note that of these only understanding of scientific findings and speaking publicly are rated lower than other majors in level of achievement.]

Satisfaction (Display 5c):

• Electrical Engineering seniors report lower levels of satisfaction than other majors for upper-division course instruction, opportunities for faculty interaction, academic advising in the major, faculty concern for students, texts and instructional materials, and career advising in the major.
• Aerospace Engineering seniors are particularly satisfied with academic advising in their major.

Activities (Display 6c): Seniors in all Engineering majors indicate that they used a computer to access the World Wide Web more often during the last full term than any other activity listed.

• As compared to other Engineering majors, Electrical Engineering seniors are more likely to read about national or international news in a paper or magazine, work on a small group project, read a scientific journal article, outline readings or course notes, interact with faculty or their TA for independent study or research.

Starting Over (Display 7c): Across Engineering majors, there is a large amount of variance in what seniors would do differently if they could start over at UCB.

• Seniors in all majors report that they would spend more time or put forth more effort toward interacting with faculty if they could start over at UCB. However,
• Aerospace Engineering seniors are much more likely then other seniors to say they would devote more effort to participation in research/internships; Computer Science seniors are least likely to say so.
• Civil/Architectural Engineering seniors are most likely among the Engineering majors to say they would devote more time or effort toward extracurricular activities; Electrical Engineering seniors are least likely to say so.
• Mechanical Engineering seniors are more likely than other seniors to say they would devote more effort toward career advising; again, Electrical Engineering seniors are least likely to say so.

Campus Services (Display 8c): Use of various campus services is quite similar across all majors. However,

• Electrical Engineering seniors consistently rank lower in use among several key services on campus including registration, the University Libraries, the UMC, advising in the college, Academic Records and transcripts, and Wardenburg.
• Aerospace Engineering use academic advising in their college more than seniors in any other Engineering major. [Note that display 5c shows that they are the most satisfied with academic advising in the major as well.]

After Graduation Activities (Display 9c): Among those who expect to graduate by summer 1998, few Engineering seniors say it is "highly likely" they will pursue graduate study within a year of graduating from UCB.

• About half of the Aerospace Engineering seniors say it is "highly likely" they will pursue graduate work after graduating from UCB.
• None of the Electrical Engineering seniors say it is "highly likely" that they will pursue graduate study within a year of graduating from UCB and 100% say it is "highly likely" they will be employed full time in the year following graduation.

One Best Thing About the Major Program (from Open-ended Comments) (Display 10c):

• Engineering seniors mention faculty performance and interaction as the one best aspect of their major program. This is especially true for Architectural/Civil Engineering and Computer Science seniors (mentioned by about one-half of seniors in these disciplines).
• A substantial number of Engineering seniors also mention the availability of hands-on experiences as the best aspect of their major program.
• Aerospace Engineering seniors are particularly pleased with the general academic experience and reputation of the University/College and with academic advising.

One Thing You’d Like to See Changed About Major Program (Display 11c):

• Overall, the most frequently mentioned aspect in need of change among Engineering seniors is courses (i.e., curriculum, core, and major requirements). Over 40% of Electrical Engineering seniors and close to 40% of Architectural/Civil Engineering seniors mention courses as the area most in need of improvement.
• Aerospace Engineering seniors most frequently mention the need for more hands-on experiences as an area for programmatic improvement; Computer Science seniors are more likely than other Engineering seniors to mention faculty performance and interaction as in need of improvement.

Last revision 07/30/03