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Closing the professional skills gap for engineering graduates: Recent trends in higher education

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Conference

2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Baltimore , Maryland

Publication Date

June 25, 2023

Start Date

June 25, 2023

End Date

June 28, 2023

Conference Session

Industrial Engineering Division (IND) Technical Session 3

Tagged Division

Industrial Engineering Division (IND)

Page Count

19

DOI

10.18260/1-2--43338

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/43338

Download Count

204

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Paper Authors

biography

Ekaterina Koromyslova South Dakota State University

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Dr. Ekaterina Koromyslova is an Associate Professor in Operations Management. She teaches several courses, including Operations and Supply Chain Management, Engineering Economic Analysis, and Research Methods in Management. She has several years of industry experience as an analyst-consultant for manufacturing companies and as a leading manager in supply chain and logistics. Her research interests are in engineering education, including learner-centered teaching strategies, inductive teaching and learning, interdisciplinary teamwork, and development of students’ professional skills.

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biography

Carrie Steinlicht South Dakota State University

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Dr. Carrie Steinlicht is an Senior Lecturer of Operations Management. She has directed many Capstone projects with Industry partners for students in Manufacturing Engineering Technology and Operations Management. She has several years of industry experience and has consulted with multiple companies specializing in process efficiency, process design, process improvement, materials analysis, and metallurgy.

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Miriam Kanini Peter

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Abstract

The research paper discusses how higher education has responded to the existing gap between employers’ expectations and qualifications of recent college graduates in professional skills reported by national surveys of employers. During the last decade, the National Association of Colleges and Employers has been reporting that less than 50% of employers evaluate college graduates as proficient in the competencies such as professionalism/work ethic, oral/written communications, teamwork/collaboration, leadership, and other related skills. The paper presents a two-fold analysis of Engineering/Industrial/Operations Management undergraduate programs offered by Colleges of Engineering in the higher education institutions in the United States. The analysis includes a review of the programs’ curricula and published course catalogs to determine the degree to which professional skills are incorporated in these programs. Another facet of the analysis includes review of literature related to the initiatives the engineering colleges pursue to address the gap in student professional skills. The paper includes discussion of the higher education trends and their match with the rapidly changing workforce arena with prognoses for the future of engineering professions. It also provides best practices and benchmarks of the Engineering/Industrial/Operations Management undergraduate programs which successfully address the workforce requirements and needs. The authors outline recommendations for strategic changes in the programs/curricula for successful fulfillment of the mission of higher education to prepare highly qualified graduates and to address the human resource development challenges.

Koromyslova, E., & Steinlicht, C., & Peter, M. K. (2023, June), Closing the professional skills gap for engineering graduates: Recent trends in higher education Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--43338

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