IEI concerned about 17% fall in engineering students

The Institute of Engineers (IEI) has expressed concern about a 17% fall in the number of Leaving Cert students choosing engineering as a career option.

The IEI said a study it conducted in five universities found there were just 923 students in the first year of engineering courses, compared to 1,110 in the fourth year of the same courses.

Anne Butler, the institute's president, said she feels the fall in numbers is due to an image problem.

"We need to market the fact that engineering is actually a very exciting, very fulfilling career," she said.

"We've had some market research done…and we realise that we really aren't selling ourselves properly."