At last count : Engineering undergraduates in 21st Century Australia
- Authors: Dobson, Ian
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: World Transactions on Engineering and Technology Education Vol. 10, no. 4 (2013), p. 253-257
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- Description: The number of enrolments in undergraduate programmes in engineering has grown at more than the national average this century. The main areas of enrolment growth in Australian higher education have been of women and overseas students, and the latter group has been particularly relevant in the case in engineering. The analysis undertaken for this article is based on statistical data from the ministry responsible for Australia's tertiary education. However, women remain underrepresented in engineering programmes, and there is a risk that the high proportion of overseas students means that Australia is exporting engineering talent at a cost to the development of its own knowledge-intensive labour force. © 2012 WIETE.
- Description: 2003010825
Is there a conflict between teaching and research? the views of engineering academics in Europe
- Authors: Aarrevaara, Timo , Dobson, Ian
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Global Journal of Engineering Education Vol. 15, no. 2 (2013), p. 75-81
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- Description: This article presents an analysis of data from the international Changing Academic Profession (CAP) and the Academic Profession in Europe: Response to Societal Changes (EUROAC) surveys to compare engineering academics that prefer teaching over research, and vice versa. It also highlights the attitudes of each of these groups to teaching and research, the two major academic activities. There has long been debate about whether research and teaching are mutual activities or in competition with each other. According to the survey results, the majority stated a leaning towards research, but this preference was stronger in some countries than in others. In fact, data from the CAP survey reveal that 30% of engineering academics from the 12 participating European countries believe that teaching and research are hardly compatible with each other, but opinions from different countries vary considerably. Even though much higher proportions of academics agree that their research reinforces teaching, even on this measure, there are considerable gaps between countries. © WIETE 2013.
- Description: 2003011212
It's a man's world : The academic staff gender disparity in engineering in 21st Century Australia
- Authors: Dobson, Ian
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Global Journal of Engineering Education Vol. 14, no. 3 (2012), p. 213-218
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- Description: This article examines the academic staff gender disparity in engineering in the 21st Century through an analysis of Australian university staff statistics. The proportion of female academics in engineering is rising, but at a slow rate. In addition, women are more likely to be in junior classifications and less likely to be tenured than their male colleagues. Female engineering academics also tend to be younger than their male counterparts. Although the proportion of the engineering academic workforce made up by women is likely to increase beyond the current rate of about 16%, it will be a long time before engineering ceases to be a male-dominated discipline. © WIETE 2012.
Publishing and presenting: A cross-national analysis of engineering academics in Europe
- Authors: Aarrevaara, Timo , Dobson, Ian
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Global Journal of Engineering Education Vol. 15, no. 3 (2013), p. 148-154
- Full Text: false
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- Description: The international Changing Academic Profession (CAP) survey was used to compare several measures of research output in participating European countries. When looking at the output of books, articles, reports and conference presentations, results indicated variations between countries and between the engineering field of education and other fields of education. European university engineering academics produced relatively more research reports/monographs written for a funded project, but tended to produce at lower rates than academics overall in the other three forms of written research output. © WIETE 2013.
Time is on my side : How do engineering academics spend their days - an international study
- Authors: Aarrevaara, Timo , Dobson, Ian
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: World Transactions on Engineering and Technology Education Vol. 10, no. 3 (2012), p. 184-191
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- Description: This article uses empirical data from the international Changing Academic Profession (CAP) survey to establish similarities and differences in work patterns among the world's academic engineers. Overall working hours and the distribution of work between teaching, research and other activities are examined. Summary results indicate that in periods when classes are in session, engineering academics from South Korea and Hong Kong reported a longer working week than equivalent staff from other countries. Engineering academics from Mexico and South Africa spent the highest proportion of their time on teaching, whereas those from Argentina, China and Italy spent the highest proportion on research. The most likely reason for international differences in the length of the working week is that national systems (such as higher education) have been constructed from the individual histories and cultures in each country. © 2012 WIETE.
- Description: 2003010832