Aspects of Young People s Orientation Towards a Career in Electrical Engineering

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1 Aspects of Young People s Orientation Towards a Career in Electrical Engineering Ph.D eng. ARDELEANU Mircea-Emilian Electrical Engineering Faculty, University of Craiova B-dul Decebal nr.107, Craiova, Romania mircea_emilian@yahoo.com Abstract For young high school graduates, the moment when choosing their future career is highly important. In order to ensure success in their life and career, for which they consider to have professional skills and dedication, young people must be well advised. It was found that due to inappropriate orientation (choice) in their profession, many young people leave higher education after a year or two of study or become professionally unfulfilled. This article presents a research that was conducted during October 13-18, 2014, based on a questionnaire on a representative sample of second year students from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of Craiova. The results obtained indicated factors of influence in choosing a profession and the higher technical education institution and also that targeting the wrong career is an element of risk that may lead to dropping out technical higher education (after the first year) resulting in some concrete measures which can be applied to reduce the percentage of dropout in higher education and improving vocational guidance Keywords young high school graduates, career, career conseselling, technical higher education, school dropout I. INTRODUCTION For young high school graduates, when choosing their future career is very important and should be treated and analysed with maturity and seriousness. In order to ensure success in their professional and personal life, their career choice, for which they consider to have the skills and professional dedication, young people must be well informed on the specific activity of the chosen profession, on employment opportunities and the professional practice that are offered, the education system that will form them, in a word, a good career guidance. It was found that due to inappropriate orientation (choice) in their profession, many young people leave higher education after a year or two of study or become professionally unfulfilled. This article presents a research that was conducted during October 13-18, 2014, based on a questionnaire on a representative sample of second year students from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of Craiova (FEE), aiming at the information sources that high school graduates have about the educational offer of FEE, and their knowledge on the electrical engineering profession and some suggestions on improving counselling activity in choosing an engineering career. II. ASPECTS REGARDING CAREER CONSSELLING In order to succeed in their career, young people need to form throughout their entire school period, numerous skills and abilities. The guidance on career is nowadays a continuous process (lifelong guidance) that accompanies the process of continuous learning (lifelong learning). They are even more necessary, because today's professional career is accompanied (much more common than a few decades ago) by phenomena such as outplacement, returns in the training system, unemployment etc. [1]. The focus on choosing a successful career for any high school graduate is a sustained activity, complex and important both for him and for the factors or agents that advise and channel him towards the desired job. Career guidance = information activities + counselling + career education. [1] - Information activity The way and the sources from which high school students are informed and document from about their future profession, about the educational offer proposed by higher education institutions in Romania are very important. The correctness and accuracy of the content of data collected from various sources of information are important for young high school graduates in their career choice and in the choice of educational institution to assure their desired scientific and professional education. The existence of multiple information sources, classic (brochures, discussions with family, friends, study visits, professional orientation films, etc.) and modern (Internet, social networks, mobile telephony) creates a broad spectrum of information points as well as analysis for young people found at their turning point, when choosing a future career. - Counselling Career counselling aims, in terms of the issues dealt with in this paper, at activities to develop skills, guidance towards a specific career, support in deciding on a career, constituting psychological intervention actions. 10

2 - Career education Career education is a comprehensive educational process both for choosing a career, for which young people believe they have the necessary skills and vocation, activity performed over the years of high school study and for the theoretical and practical knowledge on the chosen specialization profile and development of skills and abilities necessary for managing their own careers, acquired in the educational process conducted in higher education institutions. Career planning is a process by which a person is shaping a career direction, sets its own career goals and initiates actions to achieve these goals. In the process of career planning, young people make several steps [1, 3]: - Self-knowledge Self-knowledge is a consistent, continuous and conscious process of knowing one s personal traits, skills, abilities, competencies, interests, which must be aware of when choosing the right profession. This knowledge is necessary for a rigorous and correct development in the desired direction through education, training and self-education. - Exploring professions It is an important step in career orientation. Young people need to collect as many and varied information about existing professions to find a profession that is consistent with the interests, skills and competencies that characterizes them. It is also an important stage in the information of educational offers about higher education institutions, in order to find that university or college that can provide the desired specialized training. - Making a decision Decision making is a complex process, which involves, based on information gathered about the profession and higher education institutions, activity analysis and comparison of existing solutions. The decision once chosen is followed by admission and attendance of teaching and educational activities in the school chosen. - Searching for a job, employment and career development These actions relate to young specialists who already graduated from a higher education institution. There are many situations in which students are employed while still at university, making it possible to quickly develop a career by making a good connection between theory and practice. - psychosocial maturity; - school learning and training; - the particular way of outlining one s self-image; - personal models that require attention and which are adhered to due to the emotional transfer they operate; - the socio-familial environment; - the unrepeatable psycho-affective resonance of environment on each person; - the personal history of happenings, events, accidents, chances experienced by each individual; - the particular spiritual needs of knowledge, exploratory and intellectual expansion; - the need of self-assertion, action, compensation, success, autonomy, independence. III. ORIENTATION ANALYSIS TOWARDS A CAREER IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING In this study we started from the concrete situation which shows that in recent years the school dropout rate after the first year in the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Craiova is approx %, raising the issue of locating the causes of this phenomenon. From previous studies some causes have emerged, which are reasons for dropout after the first year of study in FEE Craiova: - the large number of failed exams; - trgeting the wrong career choice; - subjects considered difficult and demanding teachers; - lack of motivation; - financial and family problems. This article analyses, fact resulting from the above described items, that one of the main causes of dropout is not knowing the specific activity in electrical engineering and the demands of higher technical education (failure to adapt to the demands of higher education), in a word a wrong professional orientation. In this respect, we conducted a research on a representative sample of 67 students in the second year of FEE, 50 (74.6%) boys and 17 (25.4%) girls between 13 and 18 October 2014 (fig. 2). Fig.1 Block diagram on the process of career planning In order to shape and establish goals and objectives, certain aspirations in the scope of a future career, the young high school graduate makes the following steps [1]: Fig.2 Distribution of respondents by gender 11

3 As regard to the type of high school graduated, the situation of respondents shows that a total of 21 students come from theoretical high schools (31.3%), a total of 35 come from technological high schools of technical profile (52.2%) and a number 11 (16.5%) are graduates of specialized schools (informatics, economics or vocational). In terms of percentage, this situation is shown by fig. 3 the Internet (46. 3%); discussions with friends, family, relatives etc. (38. 8%); visits conducted by academics in their high schools (16. 4%); visits organized by teachers in schools with students in higher education institutions in the actions "Open days" (10. 4%) and less or hardly any from the radio or TV commercials, ads in newspapers. Fig. 4 graphically presents the percentage results on the information sources of high school graduates. Fig. 3 Percentage representation according to the type of high school graduated 1). theoretical high schools; 2) technological high schools of technical profile; 3). specialized schools. In terms of place of residence, of the total persons surveyed, the majority come from urban areas (large, medium and small cities), a rate of 92.6%. The research was based on a questionnaire which intended to find: - the sources of information about Craiova s Faculty of Electrical Engineering (FEE) and its educational offer; - what did students know upon registration about the job of an electrical engineer? - why did they chose to study at the faculty? - what must be done so that students know more about the work in electrical engineering and about this faculty? In order to establish the means of information used by students in their orientation to the FEE of Craiova, they had to indicate which of the following sources of information provided the data necessary for making their choice: informative visits conducted by academics in their high school and leaflets; videos submitted from local TV stations; advertisements on local radio stations; use of the Internet or other information sources including family, friends, neighbours etc. Respondents were able to indicate one or more sources of information (54 showed one source of information, 11 showed two sources of information and 2 showed 3 sources of information). The analysis of the results of the questionnaire responses to this question showed, in terms of sources of information about FEE Craiova, that the main sources from which young people have learned about this faculty are: Fig. 4 the percentage results on the information sources of high school graduates Another relevant question which the study participants answered was "What did you know about the profession of an electrical engineer? Regarding the knowledge about the work of an electrical engineer, we obtained relevant answers such as: they work in electrical installations; design of systems and equipment; it is a job for the future; a job of responsibility but a substantial proportion, 47% of respondents, did not answer or said they knew nothing or next to nothing about this profession. 12

4 Moreover, in order to have a complete view of how the students turned to study electrical engineering at FEE Craiova, they had to answer the question "Why did you choose this faculty? The answers showed that the choice was not random but one that was based on some knowledge, and among them: - the electrical engineer job is for the future and offers multiple employment possibilities; - it is a nationally renowned faculty; - on the advice of friends, family members; - the existence of practical skills and affinities for this professional profile; - the importance of electricity for life, human progress, etc. In 1993 M. Katz stated ten important values for any individual that are related to the work process and that represent milestones in deciding on personal choices in career choice. These values are known in the literature as SIGI PLUS (System for Interactive Guidance Information) [2]. The analysis of the answers to these last questions revealed that the criteria for the choice of the profession of electrical engineer and attend FEE of Craiova studies also include some of the ten values provided in SIGI PLUS, namely: - a high income - salary earnings as a result of the work made; - prestige - a certain prestige recognized by peers; - safety - job stability; - doing the work desired - practicing in the field of interest for which one has the skills needed; - direct employment - it is considered important to choose a job that provides rapid employment. In order to improve the knowledge activity and image communication and educational opportunities of FEE Craiova to potential students, respondents had to answer the question: "What do you think should be done to better advertise the image and the educational offer of the faculty among high school graduates? From the analysis of the responses to this question on knowing the faculty s educational offer (fields and specializations, career opportunities, scholarships, productive practice at important companies, etc.) students felt that the most effective means of information would be: - presentation of the faculty through visits made by teachers and students in high schools; - visits made by high school students in higher education institutions in the program "Open days"; - creating an attractive website, well presented and well documented (updated); - the use of social networks. Still, a relatively significant percentage, 30%, did not answer this question. In order to increase the efficiency of career guidance in choosing the profession which shall ensure professional success, in the present study the profession of electrical engineer, students were asked to answer the question: "What do you think should be done to better inform high school graduates on the occupational offer and career development of an electrical engineer?. Respondents indicated as efficient means for high school graduates to be better informed about the profession of an electrical engineer, employment opportunities and career success: - visits by FEE Craiova graduates in high schools by presenting the faculty and showing their career success; - information visits of high school students in industrial units; - promoting the faculty and the electrical engineer profile through the media; - knowing the occupational offer in this profile (knowing industries, potential employers). It should be noted that a significant number, 36 of the respondents (53%) did not answer this question. IV. CONCLUSION Orientation in career choice, starting from the first step done, meaning the choice for a particular profession and a certain higher education institution, must be well thought out by high school graduates. They must make this choice in an informed manner, having all the data available for defining the job profile selected. A wrong orientation, which is done randomly and not according to serious criteria, represents an important risk factor in terms of dropout after the first year of study. The research carried out on a representative sample of second year students from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering Craiova indicated that the main sources of information in choosing the profession and higher education institution are: discussions with family, friends, college graduates; faculty presentation visits conducted in high schools by academics and students; the Internet. The important idea emerged that 47% of students knew nothing or almost nothing about the electrical engineering profession, still raising the question: why did they chose this field? For a better vocational guidance and counselling of young people towards electrical engineering, several communicative aspects have emerged: - intensifying the visits of teachers and students in high schools and discussions with young high school graduates and an objective presentation, in an attractive way, of the 13

5 educational offer, the facilities offered to students (scholarships, dorm, material base, foreign exchanges with similar institutions in EU countries, practice with important industrial companies, etc.) as well as opportunities for the further development of career; - the existence of attractive and updated presentations on the Internet; - organising high school visits in higher education institutions in the action "Open days" and in economic units. Moreover, a strong commitment of high school teachers must be made, through discussions with students on their choice of profession according to their skills and competencies and involving in discussions with parents, presenting their children s chances of successful professional development and encouraging and supporting them in choosing a career according to their intellectual, physical, mental qualities and skills etc. REFERENCES [1] * * * Ghidul studentului pentru orientare si consiliere în carieră, Universitatea ARTIFEX, Bucuresti [2] Jigău, M. (coord.), Consilierea carierei. Compendiu de metode si tehnici, Aditura Sigma, Bucuresti,2007 [3] Bócsa,E.,Munteanu R., Consiliere şi orientare în carieră, Ghid pentru studenți şi absolvenți, Universitatea din Petrosani, 2010 [4] Silvas,Al., Consiliere si orienare, Universitatea Petru Maior, 2008 [5] Pricopie,R.,Frunzaru,V.,s.a., Acces şi echitate în învățământul superior din România, Editura Comunicare.ro, 2011; 14