Teaching Professional Skills in Engineering Programmes: The Academic Perspective

My interest in preparing engineering students for a successful career in industry stems from personal experience of recruiting, mentoring and managing graduates in civil and structural engineering consultancies. The range of skills, abilities and values of each graduate was varied, and it became apparent that academic achievement, whilst important, was not the defining skill for achieving early responsibility or promotion within the company. More often, the graduate who could communicate well and self-direct his/her work was given more responsibility and opportunity. The intent in this paper is to present a plan for a PhD research study in order to elicit critique and advice in the design of the study, including the research questions and the methods proposed