Obstacles To A Liberal Engineering Education

The recognition of the importance of liberal studies in engineering education goes back to the passage of the Morrill Act in 1862. Since that time there has been concern that engineering education is not successfully incorporating liberal studies into the curriculum, beginning with the first major study of American engineering education directed by Dr. Charles Mann of the University of Chicago. Among its recommendations was that students be taught so as to develop character, and surveys of 7000 members of professional engineering societies ranked “character” at the top of a list of 6 attributes while “technique” came in last place. The results of this study, completed in 1918, are echoed in other studies that followed over the next 50 years, including the Wickenden Studies (1930), the Jackson report (1939), the Grinter report (1955), and the Olmstead report (1968), all indicating concern for the lack of integration of liberal arts into engineering education.