Empirical research studies of practicing engineers: a mapping review of journal articles 2000–2018

Mazzurco, Andrea; Crossin, Enda; Chandrasekaran, Siva; Daniel, Scott; Sadewo, Giovanni Radhitio Putra

doi:10.1080/03043797.2020.1818693

Cited by 15 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 133 publications

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“…The bulk of the literature on necessary skills for engineering jobs focuses on professional, rather than technical skills: a mapping review of empirical research studies on practicing engineers found that of the 45 papers that discussed the competencies and attributes needed or used by practicing engineers, only 5 investigated specific technical competencies (Mazzurco et al, 2021). Studies of the technical skills needed for engineering jobs have primarily been conducted outside of the United States, including biomedical engineers in the United Kingdom (Ward et al, 2017), civil engineers in Turkey (Gerek & Efeoglu, 2015), and software engineers in Jordan (Jebreen & Nabot, 2021).…”

Section: Technical Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

What engineering employers want: An analysis of technical and professional skills in engineering job advertisements

Fleming,

Klopfer,

Katz

et al. 2024

J of Engineering Edu

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BackgroundEngineering curricula are built around faculty and accreditors' perceptions of what knowledge, skills, and abilities graduates will need in engineering careers. However, the people making these decisions may not be fully aware of what industry employers require for engineering graduates.Purpose/HypothesisThe purpose of this study is to determine how industry employer‐sought professional and technical skills vary among engineering disciplines and levels of education.Design/MethodUsing a large sample (n = 26,103) of mined job advertisements, we use the O*NET skills database to determine the frequencies of different professional and technical skills for biomedical, civil, chemical, electrical, environmental, and mechanical engineers with bachelor's, master's, and PhD degrees.ResultsThe most frequently sought professional skill is problem‐solving; the most frequently sought technical skills across disciplines are Microsoft Office software and computer‐aided design software. Although not the most frequently requested skills, job advertisements including the Python and MATLAB programming languages paid significantly higher salaries than those without.ConclusionsThe findings of this study have important implications for engineering program leaders and curriculum designers choosing which skills to teach students so that they are best prepared to get and excel in engineering jobs. The results also show which skills students can prioritize investing their time in so that they receive the largest financial return on their investment.

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Section: Technical Skillsmentioning

confidence: 99%

What engineering employers want: An analysis of technical and professional skills in engineering job advertisements

Fleming,

Klopfer,

Katz

et al. 2024

J of Engineering Edu

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“…EA has also served as a basis for supervised feedback applied to thesis drafts and their presentations [36], mainly in English. The importance of developing abilities that go beyond the purely technical and theoretical contents of the different STEM disciplines is underlined in many papers (see, for instance, Reference [37] and the very interesting literature review of articles published between 2000 and 2018 in Reference [38]).…”

Section: Error Analysis: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysis of University STEM Students’ Mathematical, Linguistic, Rhetorical–Organizational Assignment Errors

et al. 2021

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Although Error Analysis (EA) has been broadly used in Foreign Language and Mother Tongue learning contexts, it has not been applied in the field of engineering and by STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) students in a systematic way. In this interdisciplinary pilot study, we applied the EA methodology to a wide corpus of exercises and essays written by third-year students of mechanical engineering, with the main purpose of achieving a precise diagnosis of the students’ strengths and weaknesses in writing skills. For the analysis to be as exhaustive as possible, the errors were typologized into three main categories (linguistic, mathematical, and rhetorical–organizational), each of which is, in turn, subdivided into 15 items. The results show that the predominant errors are rhetorical–organizational (39%) and linguistic (38%). The application of EA permits the precise identification of the areas of improvement and the subsequent implementation of an educational design that allows STEM students to improve their communicative strategies, especially those related to the writing skills and, more precisely, those having to do with the optimal use of syntax, punctuation, rhetorical structure of the text, and mathematical coherence.

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“…8, 12). More broadly, in their review of research on practicing engineers, Mazzurco et al (2020) highlight multiple studies that equate lack of preparation with lack of skills. Yet none of the surveys we identified in our review provided respondents with a definition of “prepared,” though they focus heavily on concrete skills or actions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What does it mean to be “prepared for work”? Perceptions of new engineers

Deters,

Paretti,

Perry

et al. 2023

J of Engineering Edu

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BackgroundEngineering education seeks to prepare students for engineering practice, but the concept of preparedness is often ill‐defined. Moreover, findings from studies of different populations or in different contexts vary regarding how well new graduates are prepared. These variations, coupled with the lack of clarity, suggest the need to better understand what it means to be prepared for engineering work.PurposeThis study contributes to research on workplace preparation by exploring how new graduates describe being prepared for engineering work.MethodApplying secondary analysis to data from the multi‐institution Capstone To Work (C2W) project, we used thematic analysis to explore new engineers' descriptions of preparedness. We analyzed written responses to structured questions about the school‐to‐work transition collected weekly during participants' first 12 weeks of work; 105 graduates drawn from four universities provided 956 responses, with a mean of 9 (out of 12 possible) responses per participant.ResultsParticipants' descriptions of preparedness included applying concrete skills, recognizing familiar situations, and having strategies for approaching challenging tasks even when they lacked relevant knowledge or skill.ConclusionOur findings suggest that although many discussions about workplace preparation implicitly focus narrowly on mastery of skills and knowledge, that focus may not fully capture new graduates' experiences, and may limit discussions about the ways in which school can (and cannot) prepare students for work. A more expansive understanding may better support both student learning and workplace onboarding, though more research is needed across stakeholders to establish shared understanding.

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Empirical research studies of practicing engineers: a mapping review of journal articles 2000–2018

Cited by 15 publications

References 133 publications

What engineering employers want: An analysis of technical and professional skills in engineering job advertisements

What engineering employers want: An analysis of technical and professional skills in engineering job advertisements

Analysis of University STEM Students’ Mathematical, Linguistic, Rhetorical–Organizational Assignment Errors

What does it mean to be “prepared for work”? Perceptions of new engineers

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