The Exposure of Undergraduate Students to Human Factors/Ergonomics Instruction

Abstract

The present study examined the availability of human factors/ergonomics courses to students in the U.S. Fifty schools were selected randomly from each of four categories of universities and colleges (Research I and II, Doctoral I and II, Masters I and II, and Baccalaureate/Liberal Arts I and II). Only one human factors/ergonomics (HFE) course was found in the sample of liberal arts colleges and only 10% of the master's universities had such a course. Of the doctoral institutions 62% had no HFE courses and 44% of the research institutions had no HFE courses. The possible reasons for these results are discussed as well as some possible actions that might be taken within the context of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society's strategic plan to ameliorate this problem and expose students in higher education environments to the field, not only for the students' benefit but also for the discipline.

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