Talent & Technology: Drawing on Collective Engineering Sentiment To Improve Learning Outcomes

Abstract

With many engineering disciplines projected to have a shortage of workers in the next 10 years and the impending retirement of many senior-level employees, there has been an emphasis on identifying job competencies and skills gaps. SPE, and others, have developed a variety of tools to identify and address these and help members ready themselves for the emerging realities of the future workplace, further their careers, and meet employers’ expectations. As the SPE Soft Skills Committee reported in the February 2016 issue of JPT(Fig. 1), the American Association of Engineering Societies (AAES) released an Engineering Competency Model (CMT) in July 2015. The group engaged subject matter experts from its 17 member societies to develop the model in conjunction with the US Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration over a 2-year period. The administration partners with industries and professions to develop and maintain dynamic models of the foundational and technical competencies that are necessary in economically vital industries and sectors of the American economy. SPE’s parent organization, the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers (AIME) participated as a member society. AIME interfaced with SPE training staff during development of this model. The creation of the competency model included an examination of existing bodies of knowledge, as well as the inclusion and involvement of the stakeholders within the engineering community, including associations, industry, and academia. The tool was vetted via a webinar, a survey, and an in-person review session. The team built the model to provide a universal standard for the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary not only for entering the engineering profession but also for maintaining proficiency during one’s career. It is also helpful to employers, educators, associations, and economic developers. While the Department of Labor has used this pyramidal template to develop models for 23 industries, engineering was the first profession for which this was used. Additional detail can be found at https://www.careeronestop. org/CompetencyModel/. Bridging the Engineering Competency Model With SPE’s Competency Work The ECM competencies are laid out in pyramidal fashion to display foundational skills typically learned earlier in life underneath those skills acquired in later stages of educational and workplace achievement. But it stops short of identifying competencies for specific engineering disciplines and jobs. This is where most of SPE’s technical competencies come in.