Identification and validation of a set of global competencies for engineering students

• Autores: Aaron G. Ball, Holt Zaugg, Randall Davies, Isaku Tateishi, Alan R. Parkinson, C. Greg Jensen, Spencer R. Magleby
• Localización: The International journal of engineering education, ISSN-e 0949-149X, Vol. 28, no. 1, 2012, págs. 156-168
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • The ‘flattening of the world’, using Thomas Friedman’s phraseology, is driving corporations to increasingly use collaborativeengineering processes and global teams to operate on a global scale. Globalization of the traditional university engineeringcurriculum is necessary to help students prepare to work in a global environment. More research is needed to identify, aggregate,and validate a comprehensive set of global competencies. The purpose of this research was to identify and validate a comprehensiveset of global competencies for engineering students. A review of the literature was first conducted from which numerous globalcompetencies were identified. From this list of competencies, a set of global competencies with an associated conceptual model wasdeveloped to group the competencies by contextual topics. Two surveys were then developed and distributed separately to academicand industry professionals to obtain a critique of the importance and comprehensiveness of the global competencies that wereidentified. From this research a comprehensive set of 23 global competencies was identified and arranged within five broadcategories. The 23 competencies were validated by two professional groups who rated each of the competencies based on theirimportance. Not all of the competencies were considered to have equal importance, but each was considered to be at leastsomewhat important; preference was typically placed on dispositional-based global competencies. Academic and industry expertslargely confirmed that it was important for engineering students to develop these global competencies.