Spotlight on Educating Our Future Professionals: What Human Factors and Ergonomics Means to Students

Abstract

One of the primary goals for members of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society should be to increase student awareness of the opportunities found in the field of human factors/engineering psychology. By increasing awareness of our discipline, we can improve our chances of attracting bright, talented, and energetic students to the various undergraduate and graduate programs around the country, which can only serve to enrich our profession and benefit society. Toward this end, we asked students at different levels of education what human factors and ergonomics meant to them. First, we assessed the awareness of the concept ergonomics in college-bound high school seniors. Second, we surveyed undergraduate students about their awareness of human factors/engineering psychology as a viable major. Third, current human factors/engineering psychology undergraduate and graduate students were asked why they chose to pursue this field of study. Implications for promoting the discipline of human factors/engineering psychology are discussed.