ERIC Number: EJ945701
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Jun
Pages: 27
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0311-2543
EISSN: N/A
Generic Engineering Competencies: A Review and Modelling Approach
Male, Sally A.
Education Research and Perspectives, v37 n1 p25-51 Jun 2010
This paper puts forward the view that engineering educators have a responsibility to prepare graduates for engineering work and careers. The current literature reveals gaps between the competencies required for engineering work and those developed in engineering education. Generic competencies feature in these competency gaps. Literature suggests that improving the development of generic competencies in engineering graduates has met with barriers. One identified problem is that a relatively low status is assigned to generic competencies in engineering education. This review focuses on competencies that are required by professional engineers across all engineering disciplines, in Australia, Europe, New Zealand, and the USA. The literature suggests that engineering educators should focus on developing "generic engineering competencies" rather than separate generic competencies and engineering competencies. A method, developed at the University of Western Australia for identifying the generic engineering competencies required by engineers graduating in Australia, is outlined.
Descriptors: Engineering Education, College Graduates, Engineering, Foreign Countries, Competence, College Faculty, Teacher Responsibility, Job Skills, Literature Reviews, Employment Qualifications, Outcomes of Education, Gender Bias
University of Western Australia. 35 Stirling Highway Crawley, Perth, 6009 Australia. Tel: +61-8-6488-2388; Fax: +61-8-6488-1052; e-mail: gse@uwa.edu.au; Web site: http://www.education.uwa.edu.au
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia; New Zealand; United States
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A