The role of higher education in establishing career perceptions related to manufacturing: An exploratory study

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to explore pre-service STEM teacher perceptions, or misperceptions, about manufacturing, and to identify potential practices for how the K-12 system can better inform students, parents, teachers, and society on education and career paths in manufacturing. The research design and methodology were grounded in participatory action research to qualitatively investigate pre-service teacher perceptions of manufacturing. Data collection was done through photovoice, in which participants took pictures and wrote a narrative related to their perceptions of manufacturing, and photo-elicitation, in which participants completed a focus group session to further elicit and dig deeper into their perceptions. The preliminary findings identified four themes related to the pre-service teacher societal perceptions of manufacturing, including (1) manufacturing is a black box; (2) manufacturing has poor working conditions; (3) the media has a large influence on manufacturing perceptions; and (4) teachers and educational institutions have great potential to influence manufacturing perceptions. Recommendations for educational practice and implications for future research are provided. In particular, the study should be extended to pre-service teachers across concentrations to gain a more holistic understanding of perceptions related to all K-12 teachers entering the workforce, not just teachers with a focus on engineering/technology.