Professional Competencies with Behaviorally Anchored Ratings for Graduate Students

Michael W. Keller; Bradley J. Brummel; Valerie N. Streets; Alison J. Kerr; Rami M. Younis; Leah Tecle; Daniel W. Crunkleton

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Conference: 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Columbus, Ohio
Publication Date: June 24, 2017
Start Date: June 24, 2017
End Date: June 28, 2017
Conference Session: Professionalism and Preparations Developed by Graduate Study Programs—Graduate Studies Division Technical Session 7
Tagged Division: Graduate Studies
Page Count: 18
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--28760
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/28760
Download Count: 8406

Paper Authors

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Michael W. Keller The University of Tulsa

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Michael Keller is an associate professor of mechanical engineering at The University of Tulsa. His research and teaching interests are in solid mechanics, both experimental and theoretical, and materials science.

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Bradley J. Brummel University of Tulsa

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Dr. Brummel is an Associate Professor of Industrial/Organizational Psychology at The University of Tulsa. He received his PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He conducts research on training and development with a specific focus on professional development, ethics, and coaching.

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Valerie N. Streets University of Tulsa

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Valerie N. Streets is a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Tulsa. She received her Ph.D. in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Old Dominion University in 2016. Her research focuses on underrepresented groups and the professional development of the STEM workforce.

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Alison J. Kerr University of Tulsa

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Alison Kerr is a graduate student at The University of Tulsa. She is pursuing a doctoral degree in Industrial-Organizational Psychology. Her research interests include training development and evaluation as explored across a variety of academic disciplines and organizational settings. She is currently assisting on a number of training projects aimed at developing engineering students on relevant non-technical professional skills including ethical practice and presentation.

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I am a Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Tulsa and an Adjunct Professor of Energy Economics, Policy, and Commerce. My research interests are in the areas of Fluid Dynamics, Mathematical Modeling, and Sustainable Energy.

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Abstract

Professional development, at all levels, is focused on improving performance across a broad range of skills. Defining and describing professional competencies is one of the central tasks to creating an effective professional development strategy or framework. In engineering education, a common practice is to draw these competencies from the accreditation framework adopted by ABET. Competencies defined in this manner are certainly valid for engineering programs, but tend to focus too heavily on the technical skills of graduates. This focus is understandable considering that engineers must be first, and foremost, technically competent, but this focus overlooks other professional skill sets. In this paper, the development and initial validation of a set of professional competencies and related behavioral anchors is described. These proposed competencies were formulated as a part of a National Science Foundation-supported research project focused on the professional development of graduate students. The University of Tulsa Professional Competency Model adopted here is informed by existing frameworks that have been used in the organizational psychology and leadership literatures. As such, these professional development areas include skills that are more commonly aligned with other disciplines, especially those in business and management. However, as many engineers ultimately aspire to take on leadership roles within their organizations, these skills are vital to their development. The competency model described here is intended to work in tandem with the traditional technical competencies expected in graduate engineers.

An initial competency set was defined by faculty from three engineering disciplines (Mechanical, Chemical, and Petroleum). These competencies include skills such as written communication, creativity, conflict management, and leadership. After this initial set was chosen, feedback from employers was sought through the Industrial Advisory Boards of the three engineering departments. Unlike most accreditation-based competencies, a set of behavioral anchors was also formulated to define performance levels. Behavioral anchors were classed into three categories, development opportunity, average performer, and area of strength. The proposed behavioral anchors are central to the overall definition of these professional skills as they provide reference to performance rather than simply describing expectations. The psychometric properties of the competency descriptions and behavioral anchors were examined using a small test group (N=13). Future analyses will assess the relationship between the proposed competencies and those implemented in other settings.). Additionally, the relationship between the proposed competencies and those implemented in other settings will be reviewed.

Citation
Format

Keller, M. W., & Brummel, B. J., & Streets, V. N., & Kerr, A. J., & Younis, R. M., & Tecle, L., & Crunkleton, D. W. (2017, June), Professional Competencies with Behaviorally Anchored Ratings for Graduate Students Paper presented at 2017 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Columbus, Ohio. 10.18260/1-2--28760

TY - CPAPER
AB - Professional development, at all levels, is focused on improving performance across a broad range of skills. Defining and describing professional competencies is one of the central tasks to creating an effective professional development strategy or framework. In engineering education, a common practice is to draw these competencies from the accreditation framework adopted by ABET. Competencies defined in this manner are certainly valid for engineering programs, but tend to focus too heavily on the technical skills of graduates. This focus is understandable considering that engineers must be first, and foremost, technically competent, but this focus overlooks other professional skill sets. In this paper, the development and initial validation of a set of professional competencies and related behavioral anchors is described. These proposed competencies were formulated as a part of a National Science Foundation-supported research project focused on the professional development of graduate students. The University of Tulsa Professional Competency Model adopted here is informed by existing frameworks that have been used in the organizational psychology and leadership literatures. As such, these professional development areas include skills that are more commonly aligned with other disciplines, especially those in business and management. However, as many engineers ultimately aspire to take on leadership roles within their organizations, these skills are vital to their development. The competency model described here is intended to work in tandem with the traditional technical competencies expected in graduate engineers.

An initial competency set was defined by faculty from three engineering disciplines (Mechanical, Chemical, and Petroleum). These competencies include skills such as written communication, creativity, conflict management, and leadership. After this initial set was chosen, feedback from employers was sought through the Industrial Advisory Boards of the three engineering departments. Unlike most accreditation-based competencies, a set of behavioral anchors was also formulated to define performance levels. Behavioral anchors were classed into three categories, development opportunity, average performer, and area of strength. The proposed behavioral anchors are central to the overall definition of these professional skills as they provide reference to performance rather than simply describing expectations. The psychometric properties of the competency descriptions and behavioral anchors were examined using a small test group (N=13). Future analyses will assess the relationship between the proposed competencies and those implemented in other settings.). Additionally, the relationship between the proposed competencies and those implemented in other settings will be reviewed.

AU - Michael W. Keller
AU - Bradley J. Brummel
AU - Valerie N. Streets
AU - Alison J. Kerr
AU - Rami M. Younis
AU - Leah Tecle
AU - Daniel W. Crunkleton
CY - Columbus, Ohio
DA - 2017/06/24
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Professional Competencies with Behaviorally Anchored Ratings for Graduate Students
UR - https://peer.asee.org/28760
DO - 10.18260/1-2--28760
ER -