2018 Microwaves & RF Salary & Career Report: Education (.PDF Download)
In August, we published the first installment of our annual Microwaves & RF Salary & Career Report findings, which focused on job satisfaction within the industry. In this second part, we’ll focus in on the topic of education. What did our report reveal? Let’s dive right in.
The main question for this section of the survey asked: “How are engineers maintaining their education?” According to the results, white papers are the leading source—73.8% of respondents take advantage of them. This should come as no surprise given the amount of white papers circulating out there, and the fact that, for the most part, they’re easily accessible.
Magazines are the second-leading source, with 72.2% saying that they read magazines to sustain their education. Websites, webinars, and articles/blogs are also favored by many—they’re exploited by 65.8%, 65.3%, and 64.2% of respondents, respectively. These results suggest that engineers count on a variety of resources to maintain their education, which is basically what one would expect in today’s world.
Degrees of Education
Responses were eye-opening regarding the question: “What is the minimum education an engineer should have?” While 46.2% of respondents hold a master’s or doctoral degree, only 18.7% believe that a master’s degree represents the minimum level of education that an engineer should have (1.4% report the minimum to be a PhD). The majority of respondents—63.8%—say a bachelor’s degree should be the minimum.
So, do engineers really need a master’s degree? Or is solid practical experience obtained by working in the industry more valuable than the classroom experience gained by pursuing advanced degrees? The results indicate that a large percentage of engineers tended to agree with the latter. Many readers attest that certain aspects of RF/microwave engineering can only be learned through real-world experience.