| _version_ | 1866901864902033408 |
|---|---|
| author | Friedrichsen, Dennis Holgaard, Jette Egelund Kolmos, Anette Winther, Maiken Routhe, Henrik |
| author_facet | Friedrichsen, Dennis Holgaard, Jette Egelund Kolmos, Anette Winther, Maiken Routhe, Henrik |
| contents | Early-career engineers encounter various surprises in engineering practice when they transition from being students to becoming early-career professionals. Studies on employability identify transition issues, and in our present study the guiding research question is: what can come as a surprise to early-career engineers when entering engineering practice? In this article, we analyse qualitative data collected from interviews and identify several aspects that surprise early-career engineers. Our findings indicate that generic competences, and the importance of generic competences, may be surprising to early-career engineers. This raises questions about engineering education and whether degree programmes should take steps to better prepare students for engineering practice. Although technical competences remain the bedrock on which engineering practice rests, generic competences are identified as central in order to successfully collaborate and communicate, and therefore remain a vital component of employability alongside of areas such as the multiple roles an early-career engineer will take on, the parallel projects they must navigate, and the mutual dependency they will experience. As this article will show, these areas of concern play an important role in ensuring that early-career professionals are able to do their jobs satisfactorily. |
| format | Recurso digital |
| id | zenodo_https___doi_org_10_5281_zenodo_14254822 |
| institution | Zenodo |
| language | |
| publishDate | 2024 |
| publisher | Zenodo |
| record_format | zenodo |
| spellingShingle | Surprises at Work: A STUDY OF EARLY CAREER ENGINEERS Friedrichsen, Dennis Holgaard, Jette Egelund Kolmos, Anette Winther, Maiken Routhe, Henrik Early-career engineers encounter various surprises in engineering practice when they transition from being students to becoming early-career professionals. Studies on employability identify transition issues, and in our present study the guiding research question is: what can come as a surprise to early-career engineers when entering engineering practice? In this article, we analyse qualitative data collected from interviews and identify several aspects that surprise early-career engineers. Our findings indicate that generic competences, and the importance of generic competences, may be surprising to early-career engineers. This raises questions about engineering education and whether degree programmes should take steps to better prepare students for engineering practice. Although technical competences remain the bedrock on which engineering practice rests, generic competences are identified as central in order to successfully collaborate and communicate, and therefore remain a vital component of employability alongside of areas such as the multiple roles an early-career engineer will take on, the parallel projects they must navigate, and the mutual dependency they will experience. As this article will show, these areas of concern play an important role in ensuring that early-career professionals are able to do their jobs satisfactorily. |
| title | Surprises at Work: A STUDY OF EARLY CAREER ENGINEERS |
| url | https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14254822 |