Resumen de Building leaders: A national examination of the leadership capacities within engineering undergraduate students
Clinton M. Stephens, David M. Rosch
The demand for leadership capacity in engineering graduates is growing. However, little research has been done to examinethe current state of leadership education of engineering students. Using a college experience framework, we tested howengineering students’ leadership-oriented experiences and outcomes differ from non-engineering students. This studyexamined a national representative sample of students (N = 90,444) encompassing 101 higher education institutions. Theresults suggest that engineering students are less involved in group experiences in high school, but do not differ fromcomparable peers in self-reported leadership capacity coming to college. The involvement gap continues throughout theirhigher education. While their self-reported leadership capacity remains similar to comparable non-engineering students,the results suggest their ability to interact on diverse teams remains depressed. This study has significant implications forthe processes engineering educators utilize to support their students in building working relationships and successfulteams.
