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Globalization of Engineering Education: Are we preparing U.S. students to succeed in the Global Economy?

Quamrul H. Mazumder, Ph.D Assistant professor Department of Computer Science, Engineering Science and Physics University of Michigan – Flint 303 E. Kearsley Road, Flint, MI 48502 qmazumde@umflint.edu Dhruba Baishya University of Michigan – Flint 303 E. Kearsley Road, Flint, MI 48502

Abstract

To succeed in the competitive global environment, it is essential to incorporate appropriate courses in the engineering curriculum. The current U.S. curriculum does not adequately prepare engineering students to work, manage and communicate effectively with engineers and other professionals around the globe. A study was conducted to evaluate the current status of engineering education around the globe and the need for updating the curriculum that will prepare U.S. engineering graduates for global work environment. The study included U.S. engineering students, international students currently studying in the USA, engineering students from outside U.S and engineering faculty for their viewpoints. It appeared that the non-US students have better preparation than US students to work in a global business environment. A number of areas were identified and presented that can improve the current US engineering and engineering technology education is presented in the paper

Introduction

We are witnessing a rapid evolution and call for globalization that affects every aspects of our life. A shrinking global village, the upcoming new economies, and globalization of the economy itself have triggered the need for globalization of education. In this study our focus revolves around globalization of engineering education, because we believe, to succeed in the competitive global business environment, it is essential to incorporate appropriate courses in the engineering curriculum. When compared with the evolution of education, globalization of engineering education is at its infancy stage. Researchers, academic institutions, and industry have employed multifarious projects to understand and model globalization of engineering education

We strongly emphasize that optimum work needs to be done to prepare upcoming U.S. students who will be competent in an increasingly demanding global work environment. In order to establish new models, we made an attempt to understand and analyze perspectives of current (U.S. and non-U.S.) students, academic faculty, and engineering professionals currently working in industry. One of the goals of this study was to test the hypothesis that the current U.S. curriculum do not adequately prepare engineering students to work, manage and communicate effectively with engineers and other professionals around the globe. Our survey data and statistical observations strongly favors towards acceptance of the above hypothesis.

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Mazumder, Q., & Baishya, D. (2008, June), Globalization Of Engineering Education: Are We Preparing Students To Succeed In The Global Economy? Paper presented at 2008 Annual Conference & Exposition, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 10.18260/1-2--3477