In today’s diverse job market, not all engineering graduates pursue careers within traditional engineering professions. Many find themselves in roles that require a blend of skills from various disciplines, such as business and finance, healthcare, and education. The exploration of those roles starts with undergraduate studies of engineering students. This tendency highlights the versatility of an engineering education and the broad range of career pathways available to graduates.
We are examining the short-term and long-term employment trajectories of engineering graduates. We are also investigating the influences of individual and environmental factors on the varied career pathways of engineering graduates to understand how these are shaped by undergraduate experiences, and to better prepare students for a wide array of career opportunities, whether within traditional engineering or in other sectors.
Funded Project:
“From Engagement Typologies to Engineering Career Paths: Who Takes a Non-Traditional Track and Why?” funded by SSHRC Insight Grants, 2022 to 2026.
PI: Greg Evans; Co-applicants: Ruth Childs, Qin Liu, and Susan McCahan
Student Theses and Representative Publications:
- Wilson-Ihejirika, D’Andre J.; Liu, Qin; Li, Joanna M.; Nisar, Mustafa; & Lin, Jiawen. (2023). Engineering pathways from high school to workplace: A review of the literature. Proceedings of the Annual Conference & Exposition of the American Society for Engineering Education, Baltimore, Maryland. https://strategy.asee.org/43335