Student Demand by Engineering Discipline: Trends and Observations at One Institution

Abstract

Engineering students most commonly select their discipline (i.e., program) before or during their first year of studies. Knowing what the student demand is for different engineering disciplines is important for program planning and the curriculum changes, and it may be helpful to students in their selection in situations where placement is done on a competitive basis. In this study, the demand for thirteen different disciplines at a large Canadian university with a common first-year program (i.e., where students start in their discipline in second year). The findings of this study are consistent with national trends in that mechanical, civil, electrical, chemical, and computer engineering are in high demand, while manufacturing, environmental, mining, materials, and geological engineering are in lower demand. This study also considers the trends in demand, and reveals recent growth in biomedical, integrated, and computer engineering. Lastly, by considering patterns in student rankings, a mapping of programs commonly grouped together by students was determined.