Students see pay dirt in mining

Michael Cybulski ?€? ''some great experience''

ahead working in mines.

THE lucrative pull of the mining industry is being felt by teenagers, with universities reporting a marked increase in demand for careers in the booming sector.

The University of Queensland has had a spike in engineering enrolments in the past couple of years and, specifically, an increase in mining engineering enrolments.

Professor Peter Knights, the head of the mining division at UQ's school of mechanical and mining engineering, said the rising profile of the mining industry had made an impact on student career decisions.

Highly publicised pay packets, job security and overseas opportunities had created a fresh appeal for courses which were previously down in numbers, he said.

"Three or four years ago, we found that about 70 per cent of our mining engineering students were from regional backgrounds and were only interested in working in the mines because of family connections," Professor Knights said.

"Now, we're noticing that the number of students who have no history of mining in the family has risen quite substantially,'' he said. ''They're the students who have read about the opportunities in the media and have made their decision accordingly."

Alan McAlpine, manager of careers and employment at the Queensland University of Technology, said some students were "very clear" in their intentions to enter an industry which offered "very big remuneration rewards".

"I have no doubt that the financial incentive converts some students to that way of thinking," he said.

"Some students are very clear in the values that are driving them to choose a particular course. Others are totally unashamed to admit they are wanting to eventually earn the big money," Dr McAlpine said.

Some of the more popular university pathways into mining were mechanical, electrical and chemical engineering courses, as well as geology, accounting and commerce.

Recent school leaver Michael Cybulski, 17, wants to study electrical engineering at university next year and said the appeal of working in the mines was obvious.

"I don't want to restrict myself to a mining engineering degree because I want to be able to go into other fields too. But I have a friend who wants to do geology and he's trying to convince me to come with him to the mines after we both finish our degrees," Michael said.

"His idea is that we go up there as new graduates and get some great experience and earn some good money," he said.

Michael studied engineering as a subject at his school, St Laurence's College in South Brisbane, and, because he has applied for engineering at university, his high school subject will earn him an extra OP point.

Dr McAlpine said there were plenty of incentives for students to study engineering.

"The mining industry is very supportive at a university level. They're very encouraging of new students and always on the lookout for quality graduates," he said.

UQ has 11 scholarships on offer, funded by mining organisations such as Rio Tinto, Xstrata and Macarthur Coal. Many of them are worth up to $30,000.

Authors: mining - Yahoo! News Search Results