Understanding the Engineering Education-Workforce Continuum

The committee's objectives:

• Objective 1: Collect and synthesize data from existing sources that shed light on the characteristics of those working as engineers and those formally educated as engineers who are not working in engineering in the United States. These characteristics will include age, gender, educational background, occupational sector, job category (e.g., engineer, management), compensation, and job-related competencies.

• Objective 2: Collect and synthesize existing data that shed light on factors that influence the career decisions of those working as engineers and those formally educated as engineers who are not working in engineering. These factors will include personal values and beliefs, motivation, self-efficacy, educational experience, economic incentives, job satisfaction, and job mobility.

• Objective 3: Based on the data reviewed and/or collected, consider the implications of current career pathways of working engineers and engineering graduates more broadly for undergraduate engineering education, post-secondary engineering programs, continuing engineering education initiatives, employers of engineering talent (e.g., on-the-job training), and US national interests.

Based on its analysis of the available information and data, the committee held a workshop and produced a consensus report.