Mapping the Behaviors, Motives and Professional Competencies of Entrepreneurially Minded Engineers in Theory and Practice: An Empirical Investigation

Abstract

serves as the Managing Director of Acumen Dynamics, LLC, a strategy-based education, training, and research firm that focuses on practical knowledge and skills that help organizations align vision and strategy with execution and performance. Working as an independent scholar, thought leader and advisor to corporations, family foundations, academic institutions, government agencies and global think tanks, Pistrui's activities include strategy development, business succession, assessment modeling, technology transfer, executive education, and social science research. This includes programs and activities in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Pistrui has held several scholarly appointments in the U.S. AbstractIn many engineering programs in the United States and around the world, it is no longer sufficient to adequately train engineers with excellent left-brain skills -analysis, logical thinking, and quantitative thought. In fact, the right-brain skills, which include competitive differentiation, business adaptability, innovation and the development of a growth culture, and strategic thinking, are the "key competencies" required to differentiate decision-making in this rapidly changing marketplace.

Erratum to: Exploring the assessment of twenty-first century professional competencies of undergraduate students in environmental studies through a business—academic partnership

“…These modified results require a change in one of the conclusions highlighted in the abstract. In addition, the results are now consistent with a longer and more comprehensive assessment of the impact of engineering curriculum and pedagogy on the development of what Pistrui et al (2012) describes as seven discriminating skills for engineers.…”

The Industry 4.0 Talent Pipeline: A Generational Overview of the Professional Competencies, Motivational Factors, and Behavioral Styles of the Workforce

“…There have been a series of peer reviewed research papers published using the TTI TriMetrix® DNA assessment suite that investigate engineering education and professional development. Drawing from a data sample of 4,965 undergraduate students, and 313 entrepreneurially minded engineers, the work of Pistrui, et al employed the TTI TriMetrix® DNA in a combination of descriptive and multivariate methods and techniques that quantified specific behavioral attributes and professional competencies found in entrepreneurially minded engineers [20]. The doctoral dissertation research of Dietrich (2012) was able to quantitatively distinguish between engineers and entrepreneurially minded engineers in both behavior and mastery of professional skills in the workplace [21].…”

Students Seeking Different Paths to Entrepreneurial Education

“…Unfortunately, there are few studies that both describe an entrepreneurship education program and report student data (e.g., participation, learning outcome assessments) or study some entrepreneurial construct (e.g., entrepreneurial intent) with student data from existing engineering or entrepreneurship programs. Most studies that collect student data assess entrepreneurial intent 9,10 to discover the underlying relationship between intention, participation, and skills (e.g., leadership, creative thinking) [11][12][13][14][15][16] or investigate the impact of entrepreneurship education on student outcomes (e.g., retention) [17][18][19] . However, with notable exceptions 20,21 , these studies do not consider students' socio-demographic characteristics to evaluate or assess programs.…”