Preparing Next Generation Graduates for a Global Engineering Workforce: Insights from Tomorrow's Engineers

Abstract

Transforming Undergraduate Engineering Education (TUEE) project was launched to produce a clear understanding of the qualities engineering graduates should possess and to promote changes in curricula, pedagogy, and academic culture needed to instill those qualities to meet the needs of industry in the 21 st century. For the initial phase of this multi-year study, ASEE hosted a two-day workshop Integrating Industry Perspectives designed to hear the voice of the primary customer - employers, in an intensive exploration of the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) needed in engineering today and in the coming years. The 34 industry attendees identified 36 KSAs that form the core competencies, an array of skills and professional qualities that will help students succeed in a dynamic, rapidly changing field. Industry seeksa T-shaped engineering graduate who brings broad knowledge across domains and the ability to collaborate within a diverse workforce as well as deep expertise within a single domain. The second workshop Insights from Tomorrow' s Engineers was intended to erect a framework for transforming the undergraduate engineering experience. With help from engineering deans, ASEE invited a broadly diverse group of 41 undergraduate and graduate students to ponder 36 characteristics of engineering graduates most sought by industry. The students then joined a two-day workshop in Washington, DC to brainstorm ways in which engineering instruction could be improved to meet demands of the contemporary workplace. Overwhelmingly, students concluded that schools were paying insufficient attention to an array of knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) needed to produce the desired T-shaped professional - one who brings broad knowledge across domains, deep expertise within a single domain, and the ability to collaborate with others in a diverse workforce.