The Attributes of a Global Engineer Project

1. The Attributes of a Global Engineer Project Stephen P. Hundley Patricia L. Fox Lynn Brown Alan Jacobs Catherine Didion Daniel Sayre Hans J. Hoyer

2. Attributes of a Global Engineer Goal: Enhance the employability of engineering graduates and increase the international competitiveness of ASEE’s members • Process began in early-2008 and involved Corporate Member Council (CMC) members developing a list of competencies • Initial list of 48 attributes • After further review and validation from CMC members, a total of 20 attributes of a global engineer emerged

3. Attributes of a Global Engineer • Partnered with IFEES organizations/societies • Survey translated into 13 languages • Launched via SurveyMonkey • Collected over 1,000 usable cases • Analytic work centered on understanding the most important attributes at various stages of an engineer’s development

4. Attributes of a Global Engineer • Demonstrates an understanding of engineering, science, and mathematics fundamentals • Demonstrates an understanding of political, social, and economic perspectives • Demonstrates an understanding of information technology, digital competency, and information literacy • Demonstrates an understanding of stages/phases of product lifecycle (design, prototyping, testing, production, distribution channels, supplier management, etc.) • Demonstrates an understanding of project planning, management, and the impacts of projects on various stakeholder groups (project team members, project sponsor, project client, end-users, etc.)

5. Attributes of a Global Engineer (continued) • Demonstrates an understanding of the ethical and business norms and applies norms effectively in a given context (organization, industry, country, etc.) • Communicates effectively in a variety of different ways, methods, and media (written, verbal/oral, graphic, listening, electronically, etc.) • Communicates effectively to both technical and non-technical audiences • Possesses an international/global perspective • Possesses fluency in at least two languages

6. Attributes of a Global Engineer (continued) • Possesses the ability to think both critically and creatively • Possesses the ability to think both individually and cooperatively • Functions effectively on a team (understands team goals, contributes effectively to team work, supports team decisions, respects team members, etc.) • Maintains a positive self-image and possesses positive self-confidence • Maintains a high-level of professional competence

7. Attributes of a Global Engineer (continued) • Embraces a commitment to quality principles/standards and continuous improvement • Embraces an interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary perspective • Applies personal and professional judgment in effectively making decisions and managing risks • Mentors or helps others accomplish goals/tasks • Shows initiative and demonstrates a willingness to learn

8. Most Important and Proficient Attributes Rankings • Communicates effectively in a variety of different ways, methods, and media* • Possesses the ability to think both critically and creatively* • Shows initiative and demonstrates a willingness to learn* • Functions effectively on a team • Possesses the ability to think both individually and cooperatively • Demonstrates an understanding of engineering, science, and mathematics fundamentals • Demonstrates an understanding of information technology, digital competency, and information literacy • Maintains a positive self-image and possesses positive self-confidence University Graduates High School Graduates Early-Career Professionals 1-5 yrs * These 3 attributes are common across all career-levels and cultures

9. Variation In Top 5 Most Important and Proficient Attributes • Early-Career Professionals (1-5 yrs): • - Functions effectively on a team • - Possesses the ability to think both individually and cooperatively * The assumption is that students are given the tools and competency (knowledge) during the first stages of their education Stage 3 • The global university graduate will demonstrate an understanding of: • engineering, science, and mathematics • fundamentals • - information technology, digital competency, and information literacy Stage 2 • The high school graduate: • -Demonstrates an understanding of engineering, • science, and mathematics fundamentals • Maintains a positive self-image and possesses • positive self- confidence Stage 1

10. Summary: Missing Attributes and Uses/Recommendations Missing Attributes • Cultural sensitivity; tolerance to other people/perspectives; open-mindedness and ability to adapt; ethical behavior across cultures; social responsibility; research/analytical thinking skills; problem-solving capabilities; ability to peer review; entrepreneurship Uses/Recommendations • Improve curriculum; better prepare graduates for global work; alignment with ABET; selection tool for students/employees; develop learning modules and assessment rubrics; emphasize the “soft skills” needed by engineers; improve teachers’ approaches toward teaching international concepts

11. Summary and Conclusions • All attributes have been validated as being important for a global engineer; some attributes are more important than others and the proficiency-levels needed at different “stages” of a professional’s development necessarily vary • Considerable agreement across all languages on the “most important” and “most proficient” attributes needed, with some variance between order of importance and proficiency • The means for importance and proficiency of each attribute are lower for H.S. Graduates, increase for University graduates, and are the highest for Early-Career Professionals; thus, this results in a stair-stepping effect for attributes at each stage • There are statistically-significant language- and role-based differences for some of the attributes, although most of the differences are not in the top attributes • Most qualitative verbatim responses identify a nuanced or more specific discussion of missing attributes, how attributes might be used, and additional recommendations

12. Next Steps: • 2012-2014 • Attribute outcome definitions, adaptation, and improvement • Development of outcome statements for each attribute • Validation of outcomes statement for attributes through focus group research • Create cross-cultural working groups to develop curricular guides related to specific attributes • Pursue grant funding to pilot-test implementation • Upcoming Focus Groups: • Argentina (WEEF) • Phoenix (Conference on Industry-Education Collaboration)

13. Wrap-up • Q&A / Discussion • Contact Information: • Stephen P. Hundley, Ph.D. • Chair and Associate Professor • Department of Technology Leadership and Communication • Purdue School of Engineering and Technology • Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) • shundley@iupui.edu • +317-274-2876 (work) • +317-847-8383 (mobile)