A systems approach to the engineering workforce

The engineering function, work force and associations should be viewed as a system, for an adequate understanding of the complex interactions involved, for development of coherent policies and for achieving optimal overall performance. Such an approach embraces professional, para-professional and other categories, and requires a coherent system of qualifications, education, occupational identifiers and role definitions. For engineering education, it facilitates effective design of educational programs for each category and educational articulation between them. For industry and society, it fosters work force effectiveness and harmony. The paper provides the basis for systematising the complex of elements that make up the engineering system.

Characterising the Australian engineering workforce and engineering graduate occupational outcomes using national census data

The purpose of undergraduate engineering education is to develop graduates who are capable of commencing professional engineering practice. Professional education should equip graduates with the skills, knowledge and attitudes required for their initial professional practice. It should also enable the capacity to continue the professional development required to refresh knowledge and skills as the graduates mature and the nature of professional engineering work develops. However, it is true that many graduates from professional engineering programs, either immediately or at some later time, pursue a career outside of professional engineering. The reasons for this are widely speculated upon, and are no doubt complex. In this regard, the professional engineering workforce, the undergraduate engineering education system, the links between them, and the occupational outcomes for engineering graduates in Australia are similar to many other developed nations. Using the latest Australian national census data we present a detailed analysis of the makeup of the professional engineering workforce and the occupational outcomes for graduates of undergraduate engineering programs in Australia. The data show that the Australian professional engineering workforce is comprised of people with a wide range of educational qualifications, and, even immediately post-graduation, many Australian engineering graduates pursue non-engineering occupations. This analysis presents important findings for those designing undergraduate engineering curricula that seek to equip students for the best employment outcomes, given the nature of the professional engineering work environment, and the short- and long-term occupations that engineering graduates actually pursue in Australia.

Comparative academic performance of engineering and technology students at Deakin University, Australia

Students completing three-year engineering technology and four-year professional engineering undergraduate courses may undertake a number of common study units. To gain an objective understanding of the academic performance characteristics of both student groups in the engineering and technology programs at Deakin University (Australia), a study was  undertaken of close to 9000 unit enrollments. It was found that: overall the BTech withdrawal rate was about 20% higher than for BE students; the rate of withdrawal was significantly different between the two student groups; the grade distribution for completing students was not significantly different between the two groups; the mean final grade was not significantly different between the two student groups; the failure rate was not significantly different between the two student groups; and the overall wastage rate (withdrawn rate plus fail rate) was significantly higher for BTech students. Other related results are also reported.

Comparative academic performance of lifelong learners in engineering and technology

The engineering-technologist degree is an important element of continuing engineering education for many members of the engineering workforce. This paper reports on the study of close to 9000 unit enrolments to gain an objective understanding of the withdrawal, persistence, and academic-performance characteristics of both engineering-technologist and professional-engineering students.

Is off-campus engineering study off the agenda? Professional accreditation and distance education

In engineering, distance/off-campus study is an essential element of access to education for those in remote locations and/or seeking to upgrade their qualifications via the lifelong learning route whilst employed. Internationally, engineering education accrediting bodies have moved toward outcomes-based assessment of graduate competency, but are still struggling to relinquish their historical attachment to the measurement of inputs. A genuinely outcomes-based accreditation system based on the demonstrated individual student attainment of appropriate graduate attributes (which might be delivered/gained by a range of means) offers the best way forward for an equitable, representative and socially just undergraduate engineering education system that encourages suitably qualified candidates from a range of social, employment, educational, gender, age and geographic circumstances to aspire to the professional sphere of the engineering workforce. Until outcomes-based education becomes the norm in engineering, it is likely that distance learners in engineering will face significant difficulties.

Engineering education down under : distance teaching at Deakin University, Australia

Deakin University in Australia is one of the leading providers of distance education in the South Pacific region. The School of Engineering offers four-year professional engineering-degree programs and three-year technologist programs. The over 600 total students studying engineering at Deakin fall into four categories:

• 18-19 year-old students fresh from high school, who largely study on-campus,
• older students in the technical workforce, seeking a university degree to upgrade their qualifications,
• industry-based students studying in university-industry partnership programs,
• overseas students studying either on-campus, or off-campus through education partners in Malaysia and Singapore.

Geographically these students form a very wide student base. The study programs are designed to produce multi-skilled, broadly focused engineers and technologists with multi-disciplinary technical competence, and the ability to take a systems approach to design and operational performance. A team of around 25 academic staff deliver courses in seven different majors in the general fields of manufacturing, environmental engineering, mechatronics, and computer systems. We discuss here the history of the School, its teaching philosophy, and its unique methods in delivering engineering education to a widely scattered student body.

Examination of the relationship between advanced manufacturing technologies (AMTs) and workforce development activities : implications for organisational performance

This study examines the relationship among organisational performance, advanced manufacturing technologies and workforce development activities. A model of this relationship is proposed with the workplace needs acting as a mediator between technology and workforce development activities. This survey examined the technology and developmental practices of manufacturing companies in Hong Kong.

Portfolio careers for medical graduates: implications for postgraduate training and workforce planning.

Portfolio careers in medicine can be defined as significant involvement in one or more portfolios of activity beyond a practitioner's primary clinical role, either concurrently or in sequence. Portfolio occupations may include medical education, research, administration, legal medicine, the arts, engineering, business and consulting, leadership, politics and entrepreneurship. Despite significant interest among junior doctors, portfolios are poorly integrated with prevocational and speciality training programs in Australia. The present paper seeks to explore this issue. More formal systems for portfolio careers in Australia have the potential to increase job satisfaction, flexibility and retention, as well as diversify trainee skill sets. Although there are numerous benefits from involvement in portfolio careers, there are also risks to the trainee, employing health service and workforce modelling. Formalising pathways to portfolio careers relies on assessing stakeholder interest, enhancing flexibility in training programs, developing support programs, mentorship and coaching schemes and improving support structures in health services.