[nancyminusone]

I wonder how many young EEs of today can point to Arduino as their first exposure to electronics. You'll probably have a harder time finding those who don't.

As for "progression", I suppose you're disappointed that very few bicycle owners become professional cyclists.

[lemonwaterlime]

A young EE is in a degreed program and is getting that progression formally as part of their degree. A person not in that degreed program is taking a random walk through the skills and potential mentors (if and when they exist). That's clearly the issue.

This also goes beyond programming on a microcontroller as the Maker Movement is about more than just electronics.