Achieving critical mass: Execution of a 5-year strategy to raise awareness levels for engineering as a career option

A developing economy's rate of economic growth and number of jobs generated in the country is determined by the knowledge and skill of the prevailing workforce. Such an economy needs a well-designed and comprehensive strategy to enhance employability of its youth including students by focusing on creating a database of vocational engineering skills available in the country, expansion of avenues to provide vocational training and increase the range of coverage of understanding about the technical aspects of engineering education. Concerned with the dwindling interest and innovation in the engineering profession in India, a 5-year strategy was charted to provide direction to the talented yet uninitiated youth about engineering as a career. This involved creating a master plan using IEEE TISP as foundation, and localization with collaboration of Local Government Entities, which has been seen as an important factor missing from similar global initiatives. The end result was a two-pronged approach: TISP Kerala by willing societal contributors from the IEEE community and ‘Additional Skill Acquisition Program’ (ASAP) by the Govt. of Kerala driven through the state-wide education machinery. With TISP, 393 Volunteers (IEEE Student Members & Pre-University Educators) were trained in Train the Trainer Programs across 8 Locations in Kerala over the span of one week; 60,000 Pre-university students were trained by these volunteers over the course of the following years to ensure sustainability of the program. ASAP helped reach out to more than 80,000 students across the state and continues to mature as a program in combination with TISP. The strategy has helped raise interest in Engineering as a career option in the state.