Perception: Industrial Engineering Jobs

Students select a field of study for several reasons: parents, future monetary gain, and true interest. During the inquiry process, students often ask what type of jobs are available, average salary information, job mobility and marketability, but the true question that they are wanting to answer is will I be able to find a job upon graduation. According to the United States Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook, industrial engineering will grow 5% from 2012 to 2022, which will produce an employment change of around 10,000 jobs, but will this growth be able to provide enough opportunities for current and future industrial engineering students? Also, what is the perception of industrial engineering job opportunities by incoming engineering students? This paper analyzes and compares the results from 3 surveys administered by the University of Arkansas. It will 1) explore survey results for students interested in industrial engineering to help gain insight on how entering engineering students perceive industrial engineering job opportunities, 2) compare the student responses to faculty, alumni, and industry partners, 3) determine the differences, if any, by demographic groups, such as gender or ethnicity, and 4) analyze survey results to current market trends. Results show that a majority of students, faculty, alumni, and industry partners interested in industrial engineering perceive a strong job market for industrial engineering at the time of the survey and in 5 years. Faculty perceived a more optimistic market than students, alumni, and industry partners with 100% indicating “Good” or “Very Good”, compared to approximately 80% for students, alumni and industry partners.