Best chances

The first worldwide survey on chemical engineering education is available. One of the results: The study of chemical engineering offers best chances on the employment market worldwide.
There is a huge demand for chemical engineers in a wide range of industrial sectors. This fact, however, raises several questions: To what extent does education in this discipline meet the demands of employers worldwide. What are the career prospects of chemical engineering graduates? Is there any guarantee that chemical engineers working on joint projects can communicate effectively in today’s globalized world?
The WCEC World Chemical Engineering Council, founded in Melbourne in 2001, has just conducted the first worldwide survey among young chemical engineers entitled ”How does Chemical Engineering Education Meet the Requirements of Employment?” The focus was on general skills and abilities leading to a professional qualification, not the specific content of curricula. 2,158 young chemical engineers from 63 different countries took part in the survey. For
seven countries (PR China, USA, UK, Mexico, Germany, France, Australia) the volume of data collected permitted a comparative evaluation by country in addition to the overall analysis. Some of the most important results are given in the following.

Study fees and duration of study
Chemical engineering is no longer an exclusively male-dominated discipline. The share of females is approximately 30% worldwide, and in USA, France and Australia even 40%. Altogether 45% of all participants pay study fees in excess of US$ 1,000 per annum. In USA, France and Australia over half of the students pay fees, whereas in Germany this is decidedly the exception. The mean value for study time up to a PhD degree is 7.6 years. This figure is also valid for Germany, whereas with 8.8 years that for USA is far higher. In France the time taken to obtain a PhD degree is 6 years. For bachelor’s and master’s degrees the average study duration is 4.5 and 5.3 years respectively. The UK achieves the shortest study times (3.8 years bachelor’s, 4.3 years master’s degree). No evidence was found for a conceivable correlation between shorter study time and payment of study fees.
Best chances on the employment market
The study of chemical engineering offers best chances on the employment market worldwide. 31% of all students (35.1% of women, 26.1% of men) commence their careers directly on completing their studies. 90% of all graduates find employment within 6 months of graduating. Women commence their careers on average 0.8 months (2.2 months after graduation) earlier than men (3.0 months after graduation).
Internationality of study and career
In countries, such as PR China, USA and Mexico, students study predominantly in their own countries and also commence their careers there. In Europe and Australia the tendency is far greater to study abroad at least for a time and to embark on a career there.
Abundant, wide range of employment for chemical engineers
The assumption that chemical engineers find their first employment predominantly in the chemical, petrochemical or pharmaceutical industries is either outdated or simply erroneous. The first professional employment of all participants was distributed over a total of 27 sectors. In USA, PR China, France and Australia there is a strong tendency for branches outside the traditional fields to employ chemical engineers. This trend is least marked in Germany.
Education still too strongly research-oriented
Participants were asked to rank the relevance of skills and abilities required during their education and then for their employment on a scale of 1 to 5. Only the attributes
-appreciation of the potential of research, and
-ability to apply knowledge of basic science
were rated as more important during education than for employment. This is a consequence of the broader range of employment for chemical engineers and of the declining number of openings in industrial research, a situation to which education has still failed to adapt.

Evident shortcomings with respect to important skills and abilities
The most important abilities for employment were:
-ability to work effectively as a member of a team,
-ability to analyze information,
-ability to communicate effectively,
-ability to gather information, and
-self-learning ability.
All these points indicated shortcomings, or at least room for improvement, in education. The abilities manifesting the greatest deficits in education proved to be:
-business approach,
-management skills,
-project management methods,
-methods for quality assurance,
-ability to communicate effectively,
-knowledge of marketing principles, and
-sense of ethical and professional responsibilities.
PhDs consider themselves to be distinctly less equipped for their careers than those with a bachelor’s or master’s degree. This, too, is a consequence of the declining demand by industry for research-intensive work.
Quality of education
Participants attested the universities their efficient organization of study programs and meaningful assessment methods and also adequate motivation and feedback by the teaching staff. The lowest rating was for “excellent and inspiring lectures”, from which it can be deduced that the proportion of mediocre academic staff is too high. Women rated the quality of their education more critically than men.
Satisfaction with choice of career
85% of all participants stated that they were satisfied with their decision to study chemical engineering. For PhDs the figure was 91.7%, for those with a bachelor’s degree 87.6% and with a master’s degree 85.1%. Payment of study fees enhances participants’ satisfaction with their choice of study by 6%. For men the mean value for satisfaction with their choice of profession was 87.6%, whereas for women it was only 81.5%. The striking exception is female chemical engineers in Germany. Only a mere 40% are satisfied with their choice of career.