That's a good question. To have Purdue as the first is a good sign, but I would ask one of your current professors thier opinion. They would probably be able to give you the best advice. They're doing what you want to do, after all.

I'd recommend getting the Ph.D. in engineering and then moving to this. If engineering is anything like the technical fields I am more acquainted with, people will definitely look down on the engineering education degree, and will probably even resent your telling them how to teach a subject that you don't have a Ph.D. in.

Yeah, the one professor I talked to so far said there was a decent chance I wouldn't be taken as seriously as if I had an Engineering PhD.

@semck

Yes, that's my real concern. On the other hand, it seems a little silly to get a PhD in something I know I don't want to continue doing research in. From a practical standpoint, getting the education PhD should make more sense (I mean, I already have a MSEE). But, politically, I'm concerned I'll be shooting myself in the foot.

Yeah.

I think talking around to some engineering profs you trust is the right approach, really. They'll know much more than we do about the culture of their field, which would be crucial here.

Yes, engineering professors will look down their noses at your education degree. You know what? Fuck 'em, and their opinions. Especially if you don't want to get a PhD in EE. Politics Schmolitics. Your posts in this thread make you sound like a church-going atheist who's afraid of being 'outed'. Don't let the Guardians of Academic Respectability dictate your life decisions. If teaching future EEs is what you want to do and you feel it would help you achieve that goal, get the Engineering Education degree. There is sure to be a greater demand for it as American high school seniors and college freshmen realize that a degree in history, communications, or basket-weaving is in fact worse than no degree at all and turn instead to profitable scientific fields of study. Just make sure you don't run up tens of thousands of dollars in debt in the process.

@Tolstoy,

In some ways, I'm inclined to agree with you. On the other hand, it's hard to just say "fuck 'em" if they're the ones who would need to hire me...

I'm working on my BS in Computer Eng., and have dabbled somewhat in the idea of teaching. One of my required courses is in the EE dept., and the professor's PhD is in Physics, not EE. So if you were planning on teaching college level EE classes, this might be something you might want to consider.

I've taken 600 level Physics courses. They aren't fun. If I were to get a PhD, it would be in EE or Education.

What I think I would really like is to do research in education and lecture undergrad engineering courses. I'm just not sure how reasonable that is with either degree.

Also, does anyone have access to Tufts Library Network?

I used to

lol Thanks. If I ever make a time machine, I'll be sure to make you my first stop.

Engineering, like business are fields I would imagine that people who have no work experience will not be taken seriously as teachers.

Education degrees in college are considered by most other programs as a joke since some universities award them without needing upper level classes. You wouldn't need a graduate degree to lecture in most undergraduate classes, but within the engineering departments you will probably be at the bottom behind those with graduate degrees or over 10 years work experience in engineering.

Well, that's a different issue entirely. Even if I got a PhD in Engineering, I still wouldn't have industry "work" experience. I do have engineering experience, however. I've published papers, presented at conferences, etc.

@Random

Yes, that's certainly possible. Unless I'm lucky enough to get into a Dept that actually cares about educating students, then I might be rather valuable.

I'm not an engineer by any means, but many of my friends from college were. Why would you want to teach 16 year-olds about electrons and concrete when you could just slide into a high five figure job right after graduation? Surely that's more appealing than years as the just-older-enough-it-feels-weird grad student followed by thousands of hours in a room full of hormone-addled, pimply children.

I don't know, why do poets spend their life in poverty writing purposefully cryptic short stories when they could be writing blockbusters for Hollywood?

Have you talked to the career/guidance people at Purdue and other universities that offer the Engineering Education degree to see how their recipients are doing, placement-wise? If they are successfully landing teaching jobs of the type you want, that's a good sign. If they're not, that's a bad sign.

@THM

I've only very recently started looking into this. I've sent out emails to a few different people involved with the programs and I'm waiting for them to reply. This is just the easiest way to get opinions from a variety of people.

No real engineer would use poets in a hypothetical defense of his point. Shenanigans.

lol yeah, you're right. I'll be sure to hand in my IEEE membership card on the grounds I'm not a real engineer.

Depending upon the department and what you did your research in you may not need work experience. EE is one of the few engineering programs where cutting edge research is done at universities and not always at a job unless you work for a major company with research divisions like IBM, Intel, Motorola, or Bell Labs.

What would you do in an EE PhD (Incidentally, EE is Electronic Engineering, right?)

I mean it seems like the most interesting engineering in electronics is material science, developing or modeling nano-structures with new/interesting electronic porperties, something to do with the balistics of electron transport... or maybe some plasma physics, but i'm not sure that free electron clouds with positive holes are considered plasmas...

At the moment i am studying a post grad cert in education, and i have to say i approve of your thinking on poets, of course i don' know that i will ever go on to teach university level physics (but there are a few interesting ideas that i might like to get a physics PhD in or maybe a Masters, i'm not torn between a masters in education and a masters/PhD in physics...) My current plan is to teach first (for the monies) and then look at part-time education towards getting a masters.

Plus the fuck-em approach is the way to go if you ask me, along with finding a way to go virtual and teach millions for very little though engineering does need a practical side, (but convincing engineering firms to work with an online university might be easier than convincing current universities-types to give up their lucrative fees... Look at that trend in massive online education and think abkut the future of education, there is a trend in the US)

"Yeah, the one professor I talked to so far said there was a decent chance I wouldn't be taken as seriously as if I had an Engineering PhD."

If that's true, that's too bad. Mastery of the subject to be taught is only half the battle.

@ abge
I am afraid that the PhD is likely to continue to be viewed as the ''rite of passage'' into uni/college teaching, at least for scientific/technical subjects. With some good reasons:
1) A major part of the training is research based. Any academic must publish and publish well and often (we have had this discussion before).
2) You will get a chance to teach as you go through the PhD; it is training on the job.
3) If you successfully complete it, you will prove that you have the determination to get the job done no matter what.
4) A reasonable thesis will produce a good couple of papers, maybe more. It is your ‘’debt’’ to a good supervisor.
5) The networking at conferences etc. is an integral part of the process and is invaluable.
6) Everyone I have ever known gets bored with their work on a PhD, particularly as the topic inevitably narrows down and gets more focussed as you progress. It is normal and something would be wrong if it didn't happen.
7) You may decide at the end of it all that your subject is not for you. You should, however, have a wealth of other opportunities which the Doctorate will open for you.
My only caveat, apart from the financial one, is that much hinges on your principal supervisor. If you know him/her well, perhaps from a successfully completed Masters, then grab the opportunity with both hands. Hope that helps.

What fulhamish said, #7. If you do choose to do a doctorate, the choice of principal supervisor is possibly the most crucial one.

" If you successfully complete it, you will prove that you have the determination to get the job done no
matter what."

That sounds like 'no matter how shit the training is...' - or just a justification for academic snobbery... It is supposed to be hard so they can justify anything; i have the pleasure of being trained right now by a department of education, and they happen to be the best educators i've ever had the good fortune of learning from.

And anyone who wants to lecture in my uni has to do a year long course with the school of education; while the pre-requisite of having a masters or PhD still likely applies. I do know someone elsewhere who does education outreach with his university.

Take that brain power and go join some innovative Tier 1 automotive supplier and build the next phase towards self-driving vehicles to relieve us of the burden of the commute -- i.e. so we can spend more time on WebDip.