Those who left engineering included four computer systems managers or programmers, four physicians, three attorneys, two full-time homemakers, one executive recruiter, one human resources manager, one machine operator, and one doctoral candidate in science and technology. The respondents were asked to list the features of their undergraduate education that had proved to be most valuable in their career development. No other item was mentioned by more than two individuals. I realized that I wasn t alone in struggling with new concepts and could garner support and help from teammates. No one said anything negative about group work, although two respondents indicated that they disliked it initially and only later came to see its benefits.
People do get better as the curriculum progresses.
Teamwork is a way of life out in the real world. Two students suggested that students struggling to make it through most of their chemical engineering courses might reconsider their choice of a career path. I fully believe that anybody will make passing marks in any subject area that truly interests him or her. If, on the other hand, you find the problems and concepts difficult, do not take this as a sign of intellectual failing, but rather as a sign of disinterest. Several points about the survey responses are particularly noteworthy from a chemical engineering faculty perspective.