Aerospace engineering: Investigating student perceptions and industry realities

Aerospace students have different reasons for choosing their university program. Knowing their perceptions of the aerospace industry and their expectations in their future career can assist in determining the best teaching styles and program structures. A survey was conducted among aerospace students at RMIT University involving all four year levels in the Bachelor of Engineering (Aerospace Engineering) program. The results indicate that there is a mismatch between what the university tries to teach and what students actually learn. Students felt that they have been taught more about technical and analytical skills but less about business practices and ethics/social issues even though these were underlined by both academics and industry.