Writing Assignment 3 - First Year Engineering - Pittsburgh Campus Writing

Writing Assignment Overview

For Assignment 3, you will research and analyze the field of engineering which most interests you — presumably, the field/department in which you intend to major. You will research:

professional societies in this field
working atmospheres, conditions, and salary ranges for engineers in this field
jobs and job opportunities in this field

Another essential research component of the paper is research into your own interests and best capabilities. “Research” into your own past — through childhood and through the high school years — provides details about what kinds of work, study, and play have been most engaging to you. These research details, along with details provided by more conventional research into particular fields and jobs, allow you to articulate well-supported insights about your career decisions.

Engineering and Me: Why I Want to Be A _____ Engineer

For this assignment you are required to review and cite the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook to research the engineering profession you are interested in. You will find some other helpful resources listed on this page. You will also want to search the library catalog, PittCat, and check the internet for further sources.

Bureau of Labor Statistics - Occupational Outlook Handbook
The Occupational Outlook Handbook is published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and gives an overview of the type of work, educational requirements, and career outlook for a large number of job types in the U.S.

Find the entry for "Architecture and Engineering" and select your area of interest. Scroll or use the tabs to find particular types of information. "State & Area Data" includes employment and wage statistics, and "More Info" includes links to professional societies and associations.
Bureau of Labor Statistics - Wage Data
Wage statistics at the national, regional, state, and local scales. When browsing these tables, look for the heading "Architecture and Engineering Occupations."

What do engineers do at work?

What Engineers Do
What do engineers really do? How do they spend their days? The answers will surprise you, especially if you think they mostly sit at a desk doing math. The engineers below do it all: design, invent, fix, improve, research, travel, present, inspect, draw, write, calculate—but most of all, they work with really interesting people on great projects that are changing the world for the better.
Dispelling the Myth of the Math Prodigy
The idea that success in STEM fields such as engineering, math, and physics requires “genius” is one of the factors identified as an obstacle to increasing the numbers of women in those fields.
EngineerGirl
Diversity of thought is crucial to creativity, and by leaving women out of the process of innovation we lose a key component of diversity and stifle innovation. We want the creative problem-solvers of tomorrow to fully represent the world's population, because they will be the ones to ensure our health, happiness, and safety in years to come.
First Look
Breakthroughs and trends in the world of technology
National Academy of Engineering
Founded in 1964, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is a private, independent, nonprofit institution that provides engineering leadership in service to the nation. The mission of the National Academy of Engineering is to advance the well-being of the nation by promoting a vibrant engineering profession and by marshalling the expertise and insights of eminent engineers to provide independent advice to the federal government on matters involving engineering and technology.
Sure shot
Engineers play a vital role in shepherding COVID-19 vaccines from lab to arm (or nose).

Finding Information

Professional societies define and promote the missions and goals of various professions. Below are links to the major professional societies in engineering.

American Institute of Chemical Engineers
American Society of Civil Engineers
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Biomedical Engineering Society
IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
IEEE, pronounced "Eye-triple-E," stands for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. The organization is chartered under this name, and it is the full legal name.

However, as the world's largest technical professional organization, IEEE's membership has long been composed of engineers, scientists, and allied professionals. These include computer scientists, software developers, information technology professionals, physicists, medical doctors, and many others in addition to IEEE's electrical and electronics engineering core. For this reason the organization no longer goes by the full name, except on legal business documents, and is referred to simply as IEEE.
Institute of Industrial & Systems Engineers
National Society of Professional Engineers
The NSPE is the umbrella organization for all disciplines of engineering. From their Mission Statement: "Through education, licensure advocacy, leadership training, multi-disciplinary networking, and outreach, NSPE enhances the image of its members and their ability to ethically and professionally practice engineering."
Society of Petroleum Engineers

PittCat Search Tips

For this paper, try including terms such as career, salary, profession, or job satisfaction in your PittCat search.

bioengineering AND career
"industrial engineering" AND salary
"civil engineering" AND "job satisfaction"

Remember to refine by date to show only recent publications! Use the options at the left of the search results to refine by date, language, type of resource, and more.

You can also use the Advanced Search to combine terms and search specific fields or sections in the records. For example:

engineering and "vocational guidance" in the Subject heading field

Books: Careers in Engineering (a selection)

Careers in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering by Victor Edwards; Suzanne Shelley
ISBN: 9780429888168
Publication Date: 2018-09-03
The scope of opportunities in chemical and biomolecular engineering has grown tremendously in recent years. Careers in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering conveys the breadth and depth of today's chemical and biomolecular engineering practice, and describes the intellectually enriching, socially conscious and financially lucrative opportunities available for such graduates in an ever-widening array of industries and applications.
Careers in Science and Engineering by Michael Shally-Jensen (Editor)
ISBN: 9781619258600
Publication Date: 2015
Careers in Science & Engineering explores a variety of growing fields to help undergraduate students in engineering gain a head start in learning more about the many career opportunities available for those who want to pursue a career in science or engineering.
Women of Color in Tech by Susanne Tedrick
ISBN: 9781119633495
Publication Date: 2020
Break through barriers to achieve a rewarding future in tech. Women of Color in Tech: A Blueprint for Inspiring and Mentoring the Next Generation of Technology Innovators will help you overcome the obstacles that often prevent women of color from pursuing and staying in tech careers. Contrary to popular belief, tech careers are diverse and fun--and they go far beyond just coding. This book will show you that today's tech careers are incredibly dynamic, and you'll learn how your soft skills--communication, public speaking, networking--can help you succeed in tech.

The databases below can be useful sources for articles related to careers in engineering. Searching is similar to the Advanced Search in PittCat. They can also be helpful for finding more scholarly literature for future assignments and research.

Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
This collection provides a mix of scholarly and more general audience resources. It covers scholarly journals for most academic areas of study, including biological sciences, communications, computer sciences, engineering, language and linguistics, arts and literature, medical sciences, and women's studies. It also covers news sources and general audience magazines and periodicals.
Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window
Business Source Complete provides full-text business journals and hundreds of scholarly, peer-reviewed journals covering all aspects of business; marketing, management, economics, finance, accounting, international business and more.
IEEEXplore This link opens in a new window
Access to technical literature in electrical engineering, computer science, and electronics.

A Google search can help you find relevant resources on the internet, including information from professional societies and companies and job postings. Use keyword searches similar to those suggested for a basic PittCat search: "chemical engineering", career, salary, "job satisfaction".

Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Use Google Scholar to find articles from a wide variety of academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and universities, as well as scholarly articles available across the web.

Use these simple techniques to improve your search results:

To search by author, include the word author in your search, e.g., author:"donald knuth"
To search for an article by title, enclose the title in quotes, e.g., "Are We Planning for Sustainable Development?"
Use the date limiters on the left-hand side of your results screen to filter by specific date.

Watch our video on how to set up Library Links to get access to full-text content.

Evaluating Websites and Other Resources

When you are searching library databases, you can be sure the sources are of high quality and appropriate for academic work. However, it can be difficult to know what information is credible online. Ask yourself the following questions when considering a website:

Authority: Who is the author? Can you tell by the domain (e.g., .com or .edu) or Web address?
Purpose: What is the purpose? To provide research and scholarly information? To provide educational or factual information? To entertain? To advertise, market or sell something? To advocate ideas? To persuade you? Or, is there another purpose?
Currency: When was the Web site last revised, modified or updated?
Design: Is the Web site clearly organized and easy to read, use and navigate?

(The questions above are directly quoted from an earlier version of a University of Maryland Libraries guide on Evaluating Web Sites.)

See the guides below from the libraries at the University of Pittsburgh, University of Maryland, and Cornell University for more information and useful questions to consider in evaluating websites and other sources for reliability.

For practice, take a look at these websites found through a Google search on "engineering careers". Evaluate the websites based on the above criteria.

University of Pittsburgh Library System

Course & Subject Guides

First Year Engineering - Pittsburgh Campus Writing

Writing Assignment Overview

Engineering and Me: Why I Want to Be A _____ Engineer

What do engineers do at work?

Finding Information

Evaluating Websites and Other Resources