Engineering Major Students' Perceptions of Nanotechnology

Abstract

Nanotechnology will be among the most needed workforce areas in the near future. It is also a creative and highly dynamic field of innovative research areas that displays numerous open fields for future graduates. The central thesis of this paper is to better understand undergraduate engineering students’ awareness, exposure, and motivation towards nanotechnology, how those constructs correlate with each other, and whether there are differences by gender or year of study. This exploratory study used mixed methods to answer the research question. Results revealed that engineering students have more motivation to pursue further nanotechnology knowledge or study than they have exposure or awareness about nanotechnology. The results showed that male students have more awareness about nanotechnology than female students. Educational implications are that it is necessary to provide students with more opportunities to learn about and study nanotechnology during their undergraduate experience. While students are interested in learning more, their current levels of awareness and exposure may hold them back in pursuing nanotechnology-related careers.