Pathways from School to Work (PATHS): A Longitudinal Study of Undergraduate Engineering Students from College into the Workforce

这项拟议的研究从纵向角度审视工程师如何从本科环境过渡到工作环境、如何在早期职业就业市场中导航以及如何体验他们的第一个专业职位。作为这项调查的一部分，拟议的研究将探讨以下领域：学生如何寻找和筛选各种职业选择，以及他们如何最终确定一个特定的工作机会或行动方针;毕业生的早期职业道路如何包括不同程度的创新，创业，领导，商业和/或技术工作，在不同的组织环境和角色;以及毕业生的经历如何在毕业后的早期对工程学产生“推动和拉动”作用。这项工作的一个主要内容是制定一套可以立即应用于学术和行业实践的建议，围绕准备、支持、招聘和留住工程学毕业生。这些建议将解决如何将新的见解整合到职业道路中：工程课程和联合课程;校园职业发展中心的资源和流程;以及新工程招聘的行业/公司招聘和入职实践。将召集一个由学术界和业界代表组成的咨询小组，以完善这些建议，并就如何向公众提供这些建议以产生最大影响进行磋商。关于从学校到工作的途径的细节和动态的调查结果对工程教育和工程劳动力有以下广泛的影响：（1）工程专业的学生可以通过更清晰的毕业后选择做出更好的决定;（2）工程专业的毕业生可以更好地为过渡到工作场所做好准备;（3）组织可以更好地留住他们的工程人员，并在他们的队伍中建立多样性。

The proposed study takes a longitudinal view of how engineers make the transition from undergraduate to workplace environments, navigate the early career job market, and experience their first professional positions. As part of this investigation, the proposed study will explore such areas as: How students seek out and sift through various career options, and how they finally settle on a particular job offer or course of action; how graduates' early career paths include varying degrees of innovation, entrepreneurship, leadership, business, and/or technical work, in different organizational settings and roles; and how graduates' experience "pushes and pulls" towards and away from engineering in these early post-graduation years.A major element of this work is to develop a set of recommendations that can be immediately applied to academic and industry practice around preparing, supporting, recruiting, and retaining engineering graduates. These recommendations will address how to integrate new insights into career pathways into: Engineering curricula and co-curricula; campus career development centers' resources and processes; and industry/firm-based recruitment and on-boarding practices for new engineering hires. An advisory group composed of academic and industry representatives will be convened to refine these recommendations and consult on how to deliver them to the public with maximum impact. Findings on the details and dynamics of pathways from school to work have the following broad implications for engineering education and the engineering workforce: (1) Engineering students can make better decisions with more clearly mapped post-graduation options; (2) Engineering graduates can be better prepared for the transition to the workplace; and (3) Organizations can better retain their engineering employees and build diversity in their ranks.