Students Who Stand Out: Faculty Perspectives on the Competencies that Define Outstanding Students Entering the Workforce

The future of work will be defined by increased connectivity between technology and people. The engineering workforce is situated at this intersection and needs a broad and ever-evolving system of competencies to address socio-technical issues. Although engineering practice continues to adapt at the human-technology frontier, education has been slower to respond. As a result, there is a purported competency gap between academia and industry. Within engineering education, faculty members play a critical role in the academic preparation and professional formation of students. Thus, it is instructive to consider faculty members’ perspectives on the competencies that define a student’s ability to succeed in the workplace. This study employed a qualitative approach through interviews with 11 engineering faculty members to characterize these perspectives. The findings indicate that faculty members emphasize students’ intra- and interpersonal competencies and their involvement in competency-building activities outside of the classroom. This paper concludes by leveraging the findings into a broader discussion of competencies needed for the future of work and equity and access related to competency-building activities.