Conference Session

Insights and Practices for Engineering Leadership Development

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Meg Handley, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Dena Lang, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Andrew Michael Erdman, The Pennsylvania State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Leadership Development Division

findings suggested that recruiters first wanted to hearabout engineering students’ experiences within student organizations, engineering projects, andinternships or co-ops. However, it was not enough to name involvement in these experiences.Students who effectively demonstrate engineering leadership communicate what they learnedabout their leadership through their experiences, connect their experiences, interests, and skills tothe company, and confidently interact with the recruiter. Communication centered on self-awareness, where a student reflected on their personal leadership development based on variousexperiences. Recruiters wanted to see that students showed an understanding of leadership asbeing more than just a position as identified in

Conference Session

Insights and Practices for Engineering Leadership Development

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

David Bayless, Ohio University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Leadership Development Division

used as the overarching tie in the leadership “S-triangle”pedagogy, which is illustrated in Figure 1. This approach links understanding of self, style, andsituation through hands-on application of leadership experience and discussions withPaper 18207 Page 2experienced leaders, as well as exploration of focused activities to help students reflect onleadership roles and characteristics.This work is the third evolution of an assessable “hands-on” capstone project for the semester-long leadership development course. The original effort was added to the curricula as a separateand late-in-class activity to reinforce learning through application. [5] This effort was

Conference Session

Insights and Practices for Engineering Leadership Development

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Ricky T. Castles, East Carolina University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Leadership Development Division

2016 semester, course leadership was formalized in the Microprocessors course atECU. Students were encouraged to engage in leadership through coming to class prepared,helping other students learn, and asking questions when they struggled to understand courseconcepts. Leadership outside of the class was encouraged through the formation of studygroups. The instructor also created a Piazza site for the students to use an online forum allowingthem to ask questions and to answer each other’s questions. Students were surveyed at themidpoint and end of the semester in order to reflect on their own participation in the course andto evaluate the leadership of their lab partner. Students were encouraged to provide constructivefeedback in order to help

Conference Session

Engineering Leadership Development: Theories, Models, Frameworks, and Tools

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

William J. Schell IV P.E., Montana State University; Bryce E. Hughes, Montana State University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Leadership Development Division

the engineering community of practice. What isunclear from the engineering identity research and related literature is if students are providedopportunities for reflective learning regarding their leadership experiences, the fourthenvironmental condition. As shown through the discussion of engineering identity this reflectionis typically left to chance at best or, at worst, actively discouraged through the viewpoint thatleadership is a “soft” skill not worthy of consideration in an engineering curriculum. Thequestion of incorporating effective reflective learning is central to the work underway.Moving engineering students from a positional to relational understanding of leadership has twobenefits: first, they should have a more stable sense

Conference Session

Engineering Leadership Development: Theories, Models, Frameworks, and Tools

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Mike Klassen, University of Toronto; Serhiy Kovalchuk, University of Toronto; Doug Reeve P.Eng., University of Toronto; Robin Sacks, University of Toronto

Tagged Topics

Diversity

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Leadership Development Division

thatexamines leadership transitions throughout the career trajectory of engineers. The first phaseinvestigated the engineering leadership transitions that take place during undergraduateeducation [17]. The current phase of research investigates the school-to-work transition ofengineering graduates, while subsequent phases will focus on the transition from technical tomanagerial roles, including the lifetime reflections on career trajectories of engineers who end upin positions of senior leadership.The current phase of the project analyzed the experiences of individuals as nested cases withinfour engineering companies. We used two main sampling criteria to select early career engineersfor the participation in the study: (1) they should have completed

Conference Session

Insights and Practices for Engineering Leadership Development

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

Alan R. Parkinson, Brigham Young University; Gregg Morris Warnick, Brigham Young University; Randall Davies, Brigham Young University

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Leadership Development Division

approximately 650 B.S., 100M.S. and 20 Ph.D. degrees annually. These degree totals reflect the direction of the Board ofTrustees that BYU remain predominantly an undergraduate institution. About half of the B.S.graduates go on to graduate school at BYU or other schools around the country.Profile of 2015 Freshman ClassIn order to understand why the college elected to require leadership training for all students, it ishelpful to go into some detail regarding the profile of the freshman class. The average ACT scorefor incoming freshmen in Fall 2015 was 29.0 This represents approximately the 92nd percentilefor the exam. Thus, in terms of this criterion at least, the students have good academicpreparation. But perhaps just as significant, relative to

Conference Session

Engineering Leadership Development: Theories, Models, Frameworks, and Tools

Collection

2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Authors

J. S.. Shelley, California State University, Long Beach; Kenneth Wayne Santarelli P.E., California State University, Long Beach; Christopher R. Warren, California State University, Long Beach; Amelia Bahrami, California State University, Long Beach

Tagged Divisions

Engineering Leadership Development Division

efficacy and success of the program are addressed. Each item represents a uniquedimension, or learning objective, where positive gains indicate improvements prior to and afterparticipation in the program. Results indicated positive, statistical change in four out of sixintended dimensions: students’ confidence, self-awareness, and ability to recognize theirstrengths and weaknesses were all significant, as was the students’ perception of the success ofthe program. Analysis of the remaining two dimensions, students’ preparedness to work in teamsand student’s ability to perceive the value in cooperation for group success, also indicatedimprovement in the intended direction. These results reflect an all-around improvement instudents’ perceptions of