Engineering Education in China and Australia: Addressing the Demand-supply Gap

摘要

Australia's recent mining boom has mainly been created by China's need for minerals. A large number of migrant engineers move to Australia from China, Australia's largest trading partner, if China's Special Administration Region, Hong Kong is taken into account. Education is Australia's third largest export and China is the largest source of Australian international students (the number in 2008 was 12,770). Higher education including engineering education is an important source of income to Australians. On account of the above ground, international students from China, particularly engineering ones, are important to Australia. It can be argued that comparing and contrasting engineering education in China and Australia is critical in determining the extent that engineers from China can help reduce the skill shortages in the engineering workforce in Australia.