RODRIGUES, Eliana1, MEDEIROS, Eduardo3 & SOUZA, Henor2
1 DETEF-Escola de Minas-UFOP, Ouro Preto/MG/Brasil, elianafr@em.ufop.br
2 DETEF-Escola de Minas-UFOP, Ouro Preto/MG/Brasil, henor@em.ufop.br
3 Dept.Eng.Mecanica-UFMG, Belo Horizonte/MG/Brasil,
bauzer@vesper.demec.ufmg.br
Abstract: A research has been carried out in order to establish how the present economic crisis is affecting the performance of Brazilian engineering students. In its first phase this research has investigated the correlation between the students motivation and their job perspectives at the end of the course. A control group comprising engineering students from several courses of a typical Brazilian Federal University, Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto has been chosen for this research. This research has been carried out by means of questionnaires and interviews, aimed at associating the lack of motivation of the group with the present economic situation. This study has been organised in a way which is believed should prove to be helpful in detecting major problems, some of which can be associated with economics related problems. In fact the results strongly hint at the association of a lack of motivation (and hence inefficient training) and the scarcity of job offer created by a severe economic recession. After all it is the responsibility of the authorities and the educators to ensure that this training which is vital to the development of the country should not suffer, even if the conditions are not favourable. The authors strongly feel this crisis is serious and could produce worrying consequences resulting in unsuitably trained engineers. They also feel that adequate steps should be taken to produce a fair assessment of the scenery if the damage is to be lessened. This research is intended to provide a better insight into this problem.
Keywords: economics crisis, engineering, professional motivation, training
During the so called "Brazilian miracle", a name given because of the tremendous economic growth which Brazil experienced during the early seventies, the University played a key role as the main source of qualified labour. As the development of industry demanded a large amount of highly qualified engineers new faculties were founded. The job of an engineer was in high demand, and the ratio of candidate to university vacancy reached 20 to 1, for many top engineering courses. Unfortunately the artificial economic conditions which supported the economic growth ceased to exist, for a variety of reasons, generally associated with a change in the international funding scenery, which had been badly hit by soaring oil prices.
During the eighties and nineties, the world economy was hit by a sequence of events which left many countries and economic groups in a most unfavourable situation. The consequences were particularly felt in Brazil, a country where the engineering sector had reached high standards. In fact in recent years, with the severity of the economic crisis, being a qualified engineer in Brazil no longer guarantees a good job. Certain industry sectors are still able to maintain a reasonable if seasonable job offer. The Brazilian Aeronautic Industry for example, after a boom in the eighties was nearly forced to close its doors during the early nineties but it is presently again in best shape, having found a receptive international market for its products. On the other hand from the early seventies up to now the Brazilian population has nearly doubled and it is simple a mathematical conclusion that there are not enough engineering posts for all engineering graduates.
The difficulties felt at the production end of the economic chain are also an indication that university professionals from other areas are not coping much better. Figure 01 represents a typical overview of the unemployment percentage by education level in Belo Horizonte, the second most important industrial centre in Brazil. It can be observed that unemployment is rising and also that even those with the benefit of a better education are not doing too well. The other side of the picture, is that employers have a wider choice now, with the jobs originally intended for people from secondary school being occupied by Universisty graduates. In engineering terms it means that jobs available to technicians are now being occupied by full degree engineers.
Figure 1. Unemployment in the town of Belo Horizonte [ref. 4].
The sad consequences of the crisis is that youths have lost their job perspectives, a fact which can also be clearly observed in engineering courses. The other consequence is that University candidates are now seeking professions with a better perspective at the end of the course, since engineering related activities require a strong consumer market and a stable industrial sector to do well. On the other hand the health of a country depends heavily on its ability to produce good quality products. This ability relies heavily on the engineering skills of its professionals. University lecturers have now the tremendous responsibility of maintaining high training standards even in this unfavourable environment.
Adequate performance assessment is of paramount importance in any training programme. Motivation and its association with outside factors is one of the top items in this procedure. It is a mandatory requisite which helps to understand where the problems lie.
A group of students from a typical Federal University: UFOP, the Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto, has been considered during the present research. This control group was formed by students from a variety of Escola de Minas da UFOP courses, which is the oldest engineering faculty in Brazil, founded by the emperor with a long tradition in training engineers for the mining and steel industries. The school offers presently undergraduate and postgraduate courses not only in mining and steel making but also in other engineering areas. Escola de Minas is suitably located in Ouro Preto, the old capital of Minas Gerais State, close to Belo Horizonte the present state capital, and inside the industrial heart of Minas Gerais.
The research group comprised mainly first year, third (middle) year and fifth (final) year students, with a smaller number of students from the second and fourth year. The total universe of students involved in this phase of the research was 196, encompassing 33% first year students, 26% from the middle of the course, 21% of final year students and the remaining 20% from the other years.
The results obtained in this research were essentially collected by means of written multiple choice questionnaires, and handed in to the student by a lecturer not directly involved in this research. The students were asked not to identify themselves, but they could offer any additional written contribution if they desired to do so. The lecturers responsible for handing in the questionnaires were told to explain to the students the purpose of the research. The questions were formed with the objective of establishing essentially, the following items:
professional motivation
dedication to the studies
course funding status
future perspectives and professional wishes of the students
perception of the students with respect to their chances of getting a job
The economic factor was inferred indirectly correlating the expected difficulty in obtaining a job with the actual availability, considering that the latter is the result of the economic situation. In fact motivationwise it is permissible to say that perception is of greater relevance than the job offer proper. Some of the researched group was also keen to provide some additional information during personal interviews, later carried out by the lecturers involved in this research.
The obtained results have been tabulated, normalised and then organised into the results described in the following text.
The first parameter to be observed when motivation is to be established is the time dedicated to a particular activity. Figure 2 shows the amount of time dedicated by the students to their courses.
Figure 2. Percentage of time dedicated by the students to the
course
a) full time; b) part time; c) none outside the classroom
It can be observed that the majority of the students, i.e. 60%, dedicate themselves fully to their courses, spending a major part of their time outside the classrooms studying. It is interesting however to observe that not all the "part time students", that is the remaining 40% which use totally or some of their free time for activities not related to their courses, work for a living. It has been observed that for those who declare themselves to be unable to have a greater dedication to their courses only 64% use their time outside the university for working. In fact 9% of this group has declared that they would rather do nothing than spending their time studying. Having to work through college is on the other hand essentially another characteristic related to the present economic difficulties. Figure 3 illustrates how the students are able to support themselves.
The group which relies only on the family for support is by far the largest, encompassing 69% of the universe considered, which is near the figure previously found for students who are fully busy with their courses. However even for those who can do without a job there is a percentage who believe their time is better spend without studying, strongly hinting at the lack of motivation. A certain caution should be exercised, since a group of about 22% students have a partial if satisfactory dedication to their courses, because they need to supplement their familiar income with part time activities. Another factor which has appeared in this research is only moderately correlated with this study, and strongly associated with the general social conditions in Brazil. Only 6% of the students do not require any help from their families to support themselves, indicating the difficulties of taking a higher degree in Brazil if the family is not able to provide at least partial help.
Figure 3. How students are able to support themselves during the
course
a) group which does not rely on the family; b) group which works but
also requires family help c) group which relies only on the family; d)
group which relies on scholarships
The next most important factor is the opinion a student has formed about his/her course, with respect to enhancing one's chances of obtaining a job. Only a small minority (7%) believe their course to be fully adequate. Now, even assuming that the assessment of part of the students is incorrect because generally speaking they do not possess enough experience to judge what is important to their future carriers again it shows a strong disbelief in their courses, which receive some of the blame for the inadequacies of the system.
Figure 4. How do students rate their courses
a) adequate in terms of the market; b) too theoretical; c) requires
additional subjects or courses taken outside the normal syllabus
Another important factor is shown in figure 5. This figure illustrates how the students see themselves in their future profession. The percentual difference between those intending to pursue postgraduate training and those who wish to work as an engineer right after graduating is not significant. This could either be another indication that a large number of students believe their training is insufficient to get a proper job, or that they believe that it probably better to try to get a postgraduate scholarship until things get better, or more probably, a combination of both reasonings. Obviously a percentage of the students also wants to take postgraduate degrees for other possibly more legitimate causes. But again it shows how the students do not see themselves as full professionals at the end of their courses. On the other hand there is also a positive aspect in the fact that many of the students want to get the most of their professional training.
Figure 5. What do the students intend to do at the end of their courses
(all courses)
a)Take a Postgraduate course; b) work as an employer; c) start their
own business; d) any activity will do
Figure 6. What do the students expect from their future professional
activities.
a)Take a Postgraduate course; b) work as an employer; c) start their
own business; d) any activity will do.
A similar observation can be obtained from figure 6, where the only exception is for the students taking the mining engineering course. There are a few possible explanations for this situation but the authors believe that this is probably because Post-Graduation in Mining Engineering is not widely available in Brazil, and also since the number of graduates is relatively small and therefore the students believe that they wouldn't particularly increase their chances of getting a job as a mining engineers after obtaining a post-graduate degree.
Figure 7. Students Motivation along the duration of their courses
a) unchanged during all the course b) highly motivated with a steady
drop along the course; c) oscillated considerably; d) increased during
the course.
Figure 8 - Students Motivation along the duration of their courses
a) unchanged during all the course b) highly motivated with a steady
drop along the course; c) oscillated considerably; d) increased during
the course
Last, but not least, one may consider the motivation issue. Figures 7 and 8 address the case for the students motivation along the duration of their courses. It can be observed that only a very small percentage of students either kept the same (10,9%) or increased (0,5%) their motivation during their courses. For the majority the feeling of uncertainty is clear, now clearly showing that they feel partially or wholly unsatisfied with their courses. It is most significant factor which can seriously affect one's performance in any activity, particularly when adequation is equal to hard thinking and studying.
The previously described research indicates a general feeling of uncertainty and disbelief in their chosen professional area and courses, present in the group of students being considered. The study has also revealed a lack of motivation to study, in some cases even when there is nothing else to do. A major concern about their profession was also clearly present in most cases, with a large number of students believing their undergraduate courses were not wholly suitable for the present market situation. This perception is probably closely linked with the overall severe situation of the job market, which has been badly hit by the economic crisis.
Possibly, the most important conclusion for the educators is that they have to take corrective measures to make the situation less severe. Somehow they have to maintain high standards possibly correcting this lack of motivation by explaining to the students that their chances will be better if they improve their dedication to the course. No matter if the economy improves or if it doesn't they have to be prepared for the future. It is the educator's job not only to provide a good tuition, but also to provide encouragement, even in a not favourable situation, clearly pointing out to the students theses facts.
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