To be or not to be an engineer? – Perceptions among 3rd cycle basic school students

Abstract

The present study analyses the perception of students before university application, in Portugal. Basic education qualification (9th year of schooling) is considered the general education in Portugal, since students do not have to make choices about their future. At the end of 9th year, students will choose if they want to pursue their studies in arts, science and technology or humanistic areas or if they want to enroll in professional studies. This explains the application of questionnaire in classes of 9th grade to analyze students' perception about engineering profession and STEM careers. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper in the scientific community, concerning the study of engineering perception in Portuguese basic schools. This first intervention allows concluding that there is a lack of motivation to endorse engineering courses.