Table 1. Equipment inventories for selected occupational curricula-original costs and estimated costs for metric conversion-Continued

"Modification of government excess machine tools, estimated at $1000, may exceed inventory value. • Small tools.

Depends on changes in the printing industry.

This inventory listed many used or surplus machine tools.

M/large

M/small

Some Prospects for Technical Occupational Education and Engineering Education

It is easier to say what occupational education is not than to try to write a definition which would be acceptable to most of the people working as occupational educators. On the one hand, occupational education is more than merely learning job skills; but on the other hand it does not include the training of scientists, engineers, medical professionals and academic teachers, although they are most certainly being educated for their future occupations. The accompanying diagram of a "career ladder" in certain technical areas can be roughly divided into thirds, with rather fuzzy boundaries between them. On such a diagram, occupational education concerns itself with the middle third. The boundary "engineer-technologist - technician" is in a state of flux, and some people expect changes to occur in this region during the next two decades which will be of such a magnitude as to dwarf the technical problems of engineering education which may arise from metric conversion. During this period, the faculties of colleges of engineering will adapt to the distinction between engineering and engineering technology. It is frequently remarked that many young men are trained as engineers and then find employment as engineering technologists in effect; that is, they work as highly qualified assistants to the engineers who are the source of originality in solving engineering problems, and who have the management skills and judgment needed to carry complex projects to successful completion. In this role they become specialized in ever narrower fields and lose the flexibility and breadth of view which is essential to being an engineer.

The implementation of this distinction is beginning to occur in the structure of engineering education. Curricula leading to the associate degree in engineering technology are well established in junior colleges, community colleges, and technical institutes both public and proprietary; and bachelordegree programs in engineering technology are being started in independent colleges and proprietary schools. Plainly, changes will also occur in the established schools of engineering. (Similar changes may be expected to occur in the structure of career ladders in the medical occupations and in the occupations based in behavioral science which are expected to become important occupations in the near future.)

In recognition of this imminent reorganization of the engineering profession, and as a measure of its magnitude, the Engineers Council for Professional Development have predicted that the ratio of engineers to technicians-and-technologists may be expected to change from the present ratio of about three to two to ratio of about one engineer to each 8 to 12

technicians and technologists.

The contributions of the persons named below are gratefully acknowledged:

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers University of Texas