Abstract
Recent research by KU Leuven showed that 33% of the engineering graduates in Flanders changed jobs in the first year, with 60% of those citing job content as a reason. Also, industry often reports that recent graduate hires lack the right skills for the job. It appears that students seem to enter the labour market less prepared both in perception and skill level. This study investigates the perceptions of first-year students on their future role and the competencies they need by developing an engineering role model on the business model of Tracey and Wiersema. The premise of the PREFER-model is that most vacancies for junior engineers fall into one of three roles: Product Leadership (i.e., focus on radical innovation), Operational Excellence (i.e., focus on process optimization), and Customer Intimacy (i.e., focus on client-tailored solutions). A survey was administered to first-year students from the three largest engineering degrees in Belgium, Ireland, and the Netherlands. A total of 197 students in Belgium (KU Leuven – Engineering Technology), 89 students in Ireland (TU Dublin – Engineering), and 372 students in the Netherlands (TU Delft – Aerospace Engineering) participated. In this survey, students were also asked to express their preference for three fictional job vacancies reflecting the three different roles. The results showed that first-year students do not have a clear view of the future and have an idealized perception of the engineering profession centred around the Product Leadership role. Students were also found to overestimate their level of preparedness when it comes to their mastery of competencies. It is suggested that having a discerning professional roles model as well as instruments that allow students to assess their role alignment and associated role competencies will help mitigate these issues.
Highlights
In every engineering curriculum, preparing students for their engineering profession is an established learning outcome
The results showed that first-year students do not have a clear view of the future and have an idealized perception of the engineering profession centred around the Product Leadership role
Regarding students’ views about their professional future and with reference to Figure 1, the results indicate that only a small proportion of the first-year students have a clear view of what the future utility of their engineering degrees may be
Summary
In every engineering curriculum, preparing students for their engineering profession is an established learning outcome. Over the last 20 years, it has become clear that triggering engineering students to reflect on their professional future is important and forms a new challenge for engineering institutions. Karatas et al observed that first-year science and engineering students’ beliefs about science and engineering are often flawed and unsophisticated.[6] On the one hand, this is not completely surprising given that the engineering domain is very broad and there are endless career directions. To date, there is no overarching internationally validated framework to let engineering students reflect on their professional future to aid educators in helping students develop their engineering identity
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