Conference proceeding
Stakeholder perspectives on professional skills priorities in engineering curriculum: A systematic literature review
Proceedings of the 35th Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AAEE 2024), pp.862-871
35th Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education, 35th (Christchurch, New Zealand, 08/12/2024–11/12/2024)
12/2024
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Abstract
CONTEXT: The Washington Accord sets out the professional competencies that should be developed through an engineering student’s education. Although this includes both technical and professional competencies, engineering curriculum has historically prioritised the development of technical skills. This is further compounded by the competing perspectives of three key stakeholder groups – academic, industry, and students.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this literature review is to develop understanding of different stakeholders’ perspectives of what professional skills are important for an engineering graduate. In this study the following research questions are addressed: (1) what has been the focus of empirical
studies on the professional skills expected of engineering graduates?; and (2) how do the professional skills expected of engineering graduates vary by stakeholder group?
APPROACH: A systematic literature review approach guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) framework was applied. A database search returned 1595 records, which were screened based on set criteria including publishing date and quality of journal. Selected papers were then mapped to the seven professional skill competencies of the Washington Accord.
OUTCOMES: In total, 17 papers were identified as meeting the screening criteria. Most reviewed articles being published from 2020 onwards indicated that this area is increasing in interest. Out of the 17 papers, one investigated the perspective of academics, 12 considered professional
engineers, and 7 included students’ perspectives. Teamwork and communication skills were typically ranked among the most important, with environmental and sustainability often ranked lower for importance.
CONCLUSIONS: The review highlighted the importance of communication and teamwork skills as perceived by professional engineers, students, and academics. Environment and sustainability skills were not ranked highly among the stakeholders. Skills such as ethics varied in importance between stakeholders. Given the varying perspectives of the stakeholder groups, it is recommended that future work explores the similarities and differences between the graduate needs of industry, and the skills that academics believe are important for graduates. This would contribute to efforts to better align engineering curriculum with industry needs.
Details
- Title
- Stakeholder perspectives on professional skills priorities in engineering curriculum: A systematic literature review
- Creators
- Zachary Quince - University of Southern QueenslandSamuel Cunningham (Author) - Queensland University of TechnologySarah Dart (Author) - Queensland University of Technology
- Contributors
- Enda Crossin (Author)Matt Pour (Author)
- Publication Details
- Proceedings of the 35th Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AAEE 2024), pp.862-871
- Conference
- 35th Annual Conference of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education, 35th (Christchurch, New Zealand, 08/12/2024–11/12/2024)
- Publisher
- Engineers Australia; Christchurch, New Zealand
- Grant note
- This research project received funding from the Australasian Association for Engineering Education’s 2021 Grant Scheme.
- Identifiers
- 991013285848702368
- Copyright
- © 2024 Quince, Cunningham and Dart: The authors assign to the Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AAEE) and educational non-profit institutions a non-exclusive licence to use this document for personal use and in courses of instruction provided that the article is used in full and this copyright statement is reproduced. The authors also grant a nonexclusive licence to AAEE to publish this document in full on the World Wide Web (prime sites and mirrors), on Memory Sticks, and in printed form within the AAEE 2024 proceedings. Any other usage is prohibited without the express permission of the authors.
- Academic Unit
- Centre for Teaching and Learning; Faculty of Science and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Conference proceeding