It's not just students that have misconceptions, it's the general public. If I tell someone I'm a civil engineer, I usually get one of the following three responses - if they even know civil engineers exist: "You build bridges." "Oh, you drive trains" and "that sounds like a lot of math". The recent push for STEM outreach in schools I hope will lead to more people knowing we exist and that we do much more than design bridges.
I also agree with Christopher, and had that same misconception myself. Even in college we spent so much time solving problems that we didn't really touch on technical writing much. It wasn't until I started my career that I realized that engineering involves A LOT of writing and communication skills are extremely important.
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Maegan Nunley P.E., M.ASCE
President
Luna Engineering
Columbus OH
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-04-2020 11:00 AM
From: Danielle Schroeder
Subject: Common MisconSTEMtions?
After multiple years of STEM outreach events, I have started to include some common misconceptions in my slides when I talk to kids.
The one I have found most important to cover is that you do not need to be the best in Math and Science to become a civil engineer! You definitely need to like these topics as it will be a good amount of your job, but that you not to be the top of your class in these topics.
What are the most common MisconSTEMtions (misconceptions) have you found that students have about studying STEM, or Engineering specifically?
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Danielle Schroeder EIT, A.M.ASCE (She/her)
Associate Engineer
Pennoni Associates
Philadelphia PA
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