How Do Engineering Students Think About the Effects of Robotization of Working Conditions?

Abstract

Research on the social and labour market impacts of robots increasingly emphasises the role of education in preparing future employees. This paper presents the results of a questionnaire-based survey conducted among engineering students. The survey was conducted using a measurement tool that was on the one hand partly developed in-house and on the other hand partly adapted from the General Attitudes Towards Robots Scale (GAToRS). The students (N = 320) expressed their views on the one hand how are their beliefs influenced by the experiences of robotisation they obtained in their studies or work? On the other hand what are their expectations regarding robotisation in the near future? The results indicate that they consider climate change, the scarcity of natural resources and the availability of fast and safe transport routes to be the factors that will have the greatest impact on human working conditions. The students see the role of expertise in Hungary changing in five years' time, with low-level skills being replaced by the need for specific competences. They believe that robots will create new working conditions and a new working culture that will replace physically demanding, dangerous and boring work. The survey also revealed that female students have stronger reservations and fears about robotisation than their male counterparts.