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Consensus Mapping of Professional Skills Required for Engineering Practice
Conference proceeding

Consensus Mapping of Professional Skills Required for Engineering Practice

Patcharin Chen, Anna Lidfors Lindqvist and Zachery Quince
World Engineering Education Forum & Global Engineering Deans Council Proceedings
WEEF & GEDC 2025 (Daegu, South Korea, 21/09/2025–25/09/2025)
12/2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/WEEF-GEDC66748.2025.11256205
Appears in  Recent Faculty of Science and Engineering Publications

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Abstract

professional skills compentencies consensus mappings COMPASS
Professional engineering skills have evolved significantly in response to the demands of a rapidly changing society. However, a persistent disconnect remains between the skills taught in university programs and those required in the workplace. This research investigates which professional skills are most relevant to common engineering activities in the workplace. The ten high-level competencies from the newly developed ‘Competency in Professional and Authentic Skills for Success (COMPASS)' framework were mapped against 86 engineering activities from the BeLongEng longitudinal study. Consensus-based mapping method was used to analyze taskcompetency alignments through a multi-stage process. This included (1) an initial consensus mapping of high-level competencies, (2) a micro-level analysis of sub-competencies, and (3) a post-mapping frequency analysis to quantify competency occurrence. This approach provides a holistic view of the competencies most relevant to graduate engineers. The mapping showed the strongest consensus around interpersonal and transferable skills such as communication, collaboration and project management, which identifies their broad relevance across engineering contexts. In contrast, core technical competencies such as problem definition, investigation and sustainability were aligned less frequently, suggesting they are more context-specific or embedded within broader tasks. A high rate of partial consensus in the mapping reflects the complexity and variability of engineering practice across disciplines. Overall, the findings demonstrate the value of the COMPASS framework for capturing the diverse professional skills that underpin engineering work. It also shows the complexity of engineering practice and the need for clearer articulation and integration of professional competencies across curricula and ongoing professional development.

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