The demand for more versatile engineers is growing. Having a broader skillset makes engineers more marketable. Plus, complex global challenges require looking at engineering problems through a multidisciplinary lens. So, what exactly constitutes a "global" engineer? Some authors have focused on social awareness and responsibility and other intercultural skills, while others want engineers to understand their societal role and the broader implications of their work. Nurturing these competencies during undergraduate and graduate education has shown promise; however, there isn’t a clear direction on what skills need to be addressed.
In a recent journal paper for the Journal of Civil Engineering Education, researchers I. Josa and A. Aguado analyzed the perceptions that academia and industry have toward social knowledge and technical and transversal competencies. The authors guided this study by asking: 1) Do civil engineering students, academics, and practitioners see a role for social science and humanities knowledge and other generic skills in civil engineering? 2) What, if any, sociodemographic patterns are influencing perceptions? The authors developed their study and solicited initial feedback from individuals in the civil engineering space and collectively received 583 completed surveys. Results posit that stronger links between universities and industry could help align the perceived need for different social competencies. Get the full the results of their research in “Exploring Perceptions of Social and Generic Competencies among Engineering Students, Professors, and Practitioners” at https://doi.org/10.1061/JCEECD.EIENG-1955. The abstract is below.
Abstract
There is a growing concern in academia and industry regarding the key competencies of engineers. Present-day challenges and complexities demand that engineers possess not only specialized technological knowledge but also certain transversal competencies and knowledge of various areas in the social sciences and humanities. In this study, we examined the perceptions that engineering academia and industry have toward some of these nontechnological key competencies. To achieve this, we administered a questionnaire to civil engineering undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, professors, and professionals (𝑛=583). Additionally, we explored the perceived need for different sets of social knowledge areas and generic skills. The reliability and validity of the results were checked using Cronbach’s alpha and item response theory measures, respectively. Subsequently, we used chi-square tests of independence to determine the significance of the associations between responses and several demographic variables like gender, stakeholder group, educational background, and personal interests. Furthermore, factor analysis was used to identify underlying latent variables of perceptions. The findings revealed a significant gap between academia and industry perceptions, a gap that was more evident for social knowledge than for generic skills. Notably, no relevant mismatches were observed from a gender perspective. The study accentuated the imperative of fortifying the interconnections between academia and industry and the need for more research on the integration of social knowledge domains into engineering education.
Explore this interesting study in full in the ASCE Library: https://doi.org/10.1061/JCEECD.EIENG-1955.
