Baltimore , Maryland
June 25, 2023
June 25, 2023
June 28, 2023
NSF Grantees Poster Session
22
10.18260/1-2--43140
https://peer.asee.org/43140
160
Karen Webber, is Professor Emeritus of Higher Education in the McBee Institute of Higher Education at The University of Georgia and the PI of the NSF-funded project related to this proposal. Professor Webber's research includes a variety of issues related to postsecondary institution and student success including undergraduate research, gender studies, institutional research and data analytics in higher education.
Baccalaureate students’ acquisition of knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for career success emerge from a combination of classroom and co-curricular activities. Work-related experiential activities (WREAs) offer the opportunity for students to engage in experiential activities before degree completion, and these experiences offer students an important way to refine their skills that facilitate career success. Generally, prior research confirms the benefits of work-related experiential activities in students’ transition to the workforce, but more evidence is needed to examine the contribution of WREA participation in the development of career competencies. This paper is part of a larger study funded by NSF’s EHR Core Research Division for Engineering Education and Research. Sixty-three percent of the students surveyed in spring 2021 and spring 2022 at five institutions in one U.S. state said they completed one or more WREAs during their baccalaureate studies. With only a few significant differences by students’ gender, race/ethnicity, or financial aid status, student responses indicated high value in developing skills related to career competence, particularly related to professionalism and communication. Student perceptions are detailed, and implications for engineering education are discussed.
Webber, K. L., & Stich, A., & Grandstaff, M., & Case, C. (2023, June), Board 402: The Importance of Career Competencies for Engineering Students Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--43140
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