Different roles, different demands. A competency-based professional roles model for early career engineers, validated in industry and higher education

Craps, Sofie; Pinxten, Maarten; Knipprath, Heidi; Langie, Greet

doi:10.1080/03043797.2021.1889468

Cited by 26 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Early careers within engineering have been conceptualised according to role type and focus, for example: technical, managerial, entrepreneurial, project-based [2]. An alternative approach by [3] provides a nuanced insight into the types of roles occupied by junior engineers by considering role expectations, rather than role type. Examination of engineers' pathways to senior roles provides information about the early career paths and mobility patterns.…”

Section: Early Careers In Engineering 1early Engineering Careersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early career patterns, experiences, and influences: reflections from women engineers in senior roles

Marinelli¹,

Lord²,

Male³

2022

Towards a New Future in Engineering Education, New Scenarios That European Alliances of Tech Universities Open Up

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Early career experiences provide the foundation for career progression and inform career choices and decisions. For women in the engineering profession, positive early career experiences have been linked to persistence and retention within the profession A recent focus on early careers within engineering has provided insight into early career role types and related competencies, competency and capability gaps experienced by novice engineers, and their perceptions of meaningful engineering work. There is opportunity to diversify and contextualise this understanding by exploring early career experiences of women working within the engineering profession, and by considering the influence of gender on early career experiences and decisions. This paper reports on an empirical investigation of the career experiences of 22 women engineers in senior roles within engineering organisations in the Australian context. Phenomenological and temporal analysis of their career reflections provides evidence of three early career patterns of varied sequence and focus. The influences shaping these career paths are described. By making explicit possible, diverse early career paths, determinants and outcomes, this paper aims to continue to bridge the engineering education-practice gap and to contribute to greater equality, diversity, and inclusion within the profession.

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Section: Early Careers In Engineering 1early Engineering Careersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Early career patterns, experiences, and influences: reflections from women engineers in senior roles

Marinelli¹,

Lord²,

Male³

2022

Towards a New Future in Engineering Education, New Scenarios That European Alliances of Tech Universities Open Up

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…To aid students in getting a grip on the variety of engineering jobs, Craps et al [37] developed a competency based professional role model describing three roles that early career engineers can take on when entering the labour market. These roles, independent of discipline, are product leadership (focusing on radical innovation and research and development), operational excellence (focusing on product or process optimisation and increasing efficiency) and customer intimacy (focusing on tailored solutions for particular customers).…”

Section: Knowing What To Become: the Prefer Instrumentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This PREFER model is a unique reflective instrument that offers a compact view of engineering practice in the early stage of the career in a flexible manner. The model was validated with both education and industry stakeholders, and 13 expert panels including engineers and HR representatives identified the professional competencies that industry requires to be successful in these roles [37]. Based upon the PREFER model, two innovative tests were developed: PREFER Explore is a personal preference test, aiming to inform students about the three professional roles and their personal preference for one (or two, three) of them [7], [38].…”

Section: Knowing What To Become: the Prefer Instrumentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Enhancing (future) students’ sense of belonging to increase diversity and inclusion in engineering

Craps¹,

Cannaerts²,

Veldman³

et al. 2022

Towards a New Future in Engineering Education, New Scenarios That European Alliances of Tech Universities Open Up

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The shortage of engineering talent leads to a loss in economic output. This shortagecombat has to be fought on several fronts, one of them is attracting and retaining more currently underrepresented students. This paper discusses the need to improve a sense of belonging and to increase professional awareness, or the understanding of the different roles an engineer can take on, in order to increase diversity in engineering. Based on an extensive literature review an overview is given of previous research on this topic from an interdisciplinary perspective. Research has shown that professional identity development has high impact on persistence and study success. Although identity development is a hot topic in engineering education research, several studies indicate that engineering students still have difficulties in grasping what it is to be an engineer and often fall back upon the rather stereotypical, harsh technological, male image. However, research also shows that it is important for students to know what to expect and value in order to develop feelings of belonging or fit. The former European project PREFER has developed promising tools in this regard. However, these tools have not been tested regarding inclusiveness. The paper also outlines the next steps that will be taken by the authors as part of an interdisciplinary project URGENT to increase attractiveness and retention of underrepresented groups in engineering education. This URGENT project proceeds on the outcomes of the PREFER project and will focus on the attraction and retention of female students and students with a migration background.

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“…14 In this project, the professional roles model is further optimized and validated in close collaboration with industry and the Engineering professional bodies in the three partner countries of this project: Belgium, Ireland, and the Netherlands. 15,16 As part of that, based on mixed methods research at KU Leuven, detailed key competencies were identified for the three different roles. 17 The study of the design and implementation of dedicated skills into the curriculum has been performed at TU Delft, and as a result, new curriculum elements have been implemented at several engineering universities across Europe.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…15,16 As part of that, based on mixed methods research at KU Leuven, detailed key competencies were identified for the three different roles. 17 The study of the design and implementation of dedicated skills into the curriculum has been performed at TU Delft, and as a result, new curriculum elements have been implemented at several engineering universities across Europe. 18,19 In parallel with this, TU Dublin, KU Leuven, and the company BDO have developed two tests to measure the interests and the alignment with the different professional roles and competency profiles.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of first-year student conceptions of their future roles as engineers between Belgium, Ireland, and The Netherlands

Saunders-Smits

Craps

Carthy

et al. 2021

International Journal of Mechanical Engineering Education

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Recent research by KU Leuven showed that 33% of the engineering graduates in Flanders changed jobs in the first year, with 60% of those citing job content as a reason. Also, industry often reports that recent graduate hires lack the right skills for the job. It appears that students seem to enter the labour market less prepared both in perception and skill level. This study investigates the perceptions of first-year students on their future role and the competencies they need by developing an engineering role model on the business model of Tracey and Wiersema. The premise of the PREFER-model is that most vacancies for junior engineers fall into one of three roles: Product Leadership (i.e., focus on radical innovation), Operational Excellence (i.e., focus on process optimization), and Customer Intimacy (i.e., focus on client-tailored solutions). A survey was administered to first-year students from the three largest engineering degrees in Belgium, Ireland, and the Netherlands. A total of 197 students in Belgium (KU Leuven – Engineering Technology), 89 students in Ireland (TU Dublin – Engineering), and 372 students in the Netherlands (TU Delft – Aerospace Engineering) participated. In this survey, students were also asked to express their preference for three fictional job vacancies reflecting the three different roles. The results showed that first-year students do not have a clear view of the future and have an idealized perception of the engineering profession centred around the Product Leadership role. Students were also found to overestimate their level of preparedness when it comes to their mastery of competencies. It is suggested that having a discerning professional roles model as well as instruments that allow students to assess their role alignment and associated role competencies will help mitigate these issues.

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Different roles, different demands. A competency-based professional roles model for early career engineers, validated in industry and higher education

Cited by 26 publications

References 49 publications

Early career patterns, experiences, and influences: reflections from women engineers in senior roles

Early career patterns, experiences, and influences: reflections from women engineers in senior roles

Enhancing (future) students’ sense of belonging to increase diversity and inclusion in engineering

Comparison of first-year student conceptions of their future roles as engineers between Belgium, Ireland, and The Netherlands

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