Comparison of Importance and Satisfaction of Job Elements by Engineers

By Carolyn Wilson

Reprinted from ASEE Connections

For this Databyte, data from the National Science Foundation’s 2017 National Survey of College Graduates was used to look at the importance of various job aspects compared to satisfaction in those job aspects among 9,348 engineers.

Figures 1, 2, and 3 display the percentage of engineers who rated each job aspect as very important and the percentage of engineers who were very satisfied with their jobs. Regardless of their degree level, engineers’ level of satisfaction with their salary and job benefits do not match the importance graduates attach to these aspects of their jobs. The results indicate that many desire better benefits and a higher salary. Among bachelor’s and master’s graduates, benefits and salary showed the largest gap between importance and satisfaction. Doctoral graduates rated intellectual challenge, job benefits, and job security as very important, but showed dissatisfaction with salary, opportunities for advancement, and job benefits.

While 33 percent of bachelor’s and 41 percent of master’s graduates rated their job’s contribution to society as very important, higher percentages of both groups rated their job’s contribution to society as very satisfying. A higher percentage of doctoral graduates rated their level of responsibility as very satisfying than considered it to be very important. While engineers may not all be very satisfied in the job aspects they find very important, they seem to find more satisfaction in areas they may not consider as important, indicating a clash between the aspects that may keep them engaged in their current position versus the aspects that may drive their desire for career advancement.

Figure 1: Aspects of Engineering Jobs Rated Very Important vs. Very Satisfying among Bachelor’s Graduates

Figure 2: Aspects of Engineering Jobs Rated Very Important vs. Very Satisfying among Master’s Graduates

Figure 3: Aspects of Engineering Jobs Rated Very Important vs. Very Satisfying among Doctoral Graduates