Supports and barriers that recent engineering graduates experience in the workplace
Supports and barriers that recent engineering graduates experience in the workplace
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应届工程毕业生在工作场所遇到的支持和障碍
DOI：
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发表时间：
2010
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
S. Sheppard
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Samantha R. Brunhaver;Russell Korte;M. Lande;S. Sheppard
工程教育的目标之一是培养世纪的工程人才。然而，工程教育的批评者指出，学生在学校缺乏准备。本文探讨了职业支持和障碍，最近的工程专业毕业生在工作场所经历的一个队列。社会认知职业理论（SCCT）将支持和障碍描述为个人认为有可能帮助或阻碍他们追求特定职业目标的环境因素。1在这项研究中，支持和障碍，确定在四个美国的工程部门-基于公司。这些数据是从对59名刚从大学毕业的新聘工程师的半结构化访谈中收集的。在其中两家公司，即大型食品公司和小型国家机构，新雇员在被分配到一个永久性职位之前要完成一个轮换期，在三个不同的部门工作，工作主要是基于项目管理的。在另外两家公司，大型汽车公司和小型计算机公司，工程师被分配到一个永久性的职位，并做技术和项目管理工作的混合。从这些公司的访谈进行了定量和定性分析。访谈分析表明，工作场所的支持和障碍都是由公司、管理者和同事造成的。例如，当经理向新工程师提供所需的信息时，她会起到支持的作用;而当她忙碌而不能及时提供反馈时，她会起到阻碍的作用。许多支持和障碍被发现是所有四家公司共同的。此外，新的工程师提到的几个因素是支持和障碍，这表明当地的情况和个人的观点发挥作用，以及新的工程师的经验。最后，数据还表明，支持和障碍可能会影响新工程师的工作满意度。这项研究的结果是一个三管齐下的分类法，旨在帮助公司对他们的新员工产生更大的同情心，帮助教育工作者更好地为学生提供信息和为工程工作场所做好准备，并使学生能够更巧妙地调查潜在的雇主和职业。每个组的影响和研究结果进行了讨论。
One of the aims of engineering education is to prepare students for engineering in the 21 st century. Yet critics of engineering education point to the lack of preparation students obtain in school. This paper examines the career supports and barriers that one cohort of recent engineering graduates experienced in the workplace. Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) describes supports and barriers as environmental factors that individuals perceive as having the potential to either aid or hinder their pursuit of a particular career goal. 1 In this study, supports and barriers are identified in the engineering departments of four U.S.-based companies. The data were gathered from semi-structured interviews with 59 newly hired engineers who had recently graduated from college. In two of the companies, Big Food Company and Small State Agency, new hires complete a rotation period in which they work in three different departments before being assigned to a permanent position and the work is mostly project management-based. In the other two companies, Big Car Company and Small Computer Company, engineers are assigned to a permanent position and do a mix of technical and project management work. The interviews from these companies were analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. The analysis of interviews shows that both supports and barriers in the workplace are created by the company, by managers, and by coworkers. For example, a manager would serve as a support when she supplies needed information to the new engineer and as a barrier when she is too busy to provide feedback in a timely fashion. Many supports and barriers were found to be common across all four companies. In addition, several factors were mentioned by the new engineers as being both supports and barriers, suggesting that local circumstances and individual perspectives play a role in the experiences of new engineers as well. Finally, the data also suggest that supports and barriers may influence new engineers’ job satisfaction. The outcome of this research is a three-pronged taxonomy meant to help companies develop greater empathy for their new hires, to help educators better inform and prepare students for the engineering workplace, and to enable students to more skillfully investigate potential employers and careers. The implications and research findings are discussed for each group.