Exploring the Impact of Global Undergraduate Experiences on Engineers' Career Pathways and Approaches to Engineering Work

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In the increasingly globalized world, it is essential that engineering graduates develop the knowledge and skills to be successful in this environment. This project will work towards achieving that goal by exploring how global experiences during the undergraduate years and beyond may connect to global career outcomes. Several studies have explored the development of global engineering competency and related skills within the context of undergraduate engineering programs, but we have little information about the long-term impact of global experiences and the career pathways that students follow after they enter the engineering workforce. This project will advance our understanding of the formation of engineers by providing insights on the impact and value of global experiences for engineers by gathering data from engineering graduates at various stages of their careers. Findings from this project will lead to recommendations for the design of global programs for engineering students and can provide motivation for continued investment in development, implementation, and improvement of access to such programs. In addition, our research on how the formation of engineers continues after graduation can inform professional development support for practicing engineers to continue global learning throughout their careers. Understanding how we can support global learning for engineers both during and after the undergraduate years improves our ability to develop a globally competitive and innovative workforce.The purpose of this project is to explore the impact of global undergraduate experiences on engineers’ career pathways and approaches to engineering work. We will conduct a multiple-case study of three long-running global engineering programs to address three research questions: 1) How do global career outcomes compare between engineers who participated in global programs as undergraduate students and those who did not? 2) What global experience, global self-concept, and career choice variables are predictors of global career outcomes? 3) How do global experiences during the undergraduate years and after entering the workforce influence engineers’ approaches to engineering work and career choices? To address RQ1 and RQ2, we will administer a survey about career trajectories, career outcomes, and global experiences during and after college to all the alumni of the three programs which will be the cases for this study. Based on the survey response, we will identify a comparison group within each case with similar composition of disciplines and industry sectors by recruiting engineering alumni from the same university and administer the survey to this group. To address RQ3, we will conduct interviews with participants from the global programs and comparison groups to understand participants’ approaches to engineering work, global career outcomes, and experiences they believe prepared them to engage in a global work environment. Finally, we will make a cross-case comparison by developing case summaries and holistically comparing the findings. This project will contribute new insights about global career outcomes in engineering, the nature of global engineering work, and the ways in which engineers engage in lifelong global learning. Our results will lead to recommendations for the design of global engineering programs for students and global professional development opportunities for practicing engineers. The project will be informed by both an academic advisory board and industrial advisory board. The academic advisory board is comprised of researchers and practitioners of global engineering programs, while the industrial advisory board is comprised of individuals with 80+ years of combined engineering work experience, including training and recruiting new engineers. Through our industrial advisory board and dissemination plan, we plan to communicate our results broadly in the industry setting to increase industry and university collaborations related to the formation of global engineers.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.