Practitioners nationwide are underwhelmed with young civil engineers and they believe that change is needed in education. Yet, educators today are pressured to diversify the learning outcomes for students in fewer credit hours because of state mandates, accrediting agencies, and some university policies. All the while, the attitudes and expectations of young people are different than those we’ve met before, and they are increasingly attracted to other careers, even after completing a rigorous engineering degree. Further, our profession is changing at a fast pace, as are the tools we use to do our job (such as civil engineering design and modeling software and GIS). All of this leads to a complex issue. There are many stakeholders involved in engineering education, and they all have different perspectives, needs, and motivations.

To collect data from the industry to support this month’s Exclusive feature, “Exploring engineering education: How can we better prepare entry-level civil engineers?”, CE News editors conducted two surveys, one to our readers in professional practice and another to educators. With a short response period, we were thrilled to receive 487 responses from practitioners and 101 from academics. (Thanks to all of you who took to the time to weigh in on this important issue.) The data highlights the diverse views of the various constituents.

But some truths came to light. What should universities prioritize in undergraduate civil engineering education? Practitioners believe the following five aspects of education are most important, in order of response: fundamental theories, technical skills, soft skills development (report writing, presentations, letter writing), case study-based learning, and team-based project work. Of course, our study is not a scientific one, and while interesting, it is not enough to support major change in engineering education. (Even still, we will share the results with academics!)

But luckily, research has been underway about how we can more effectively educate engineers and create more pathways to this major. With funding by a National Science Foundation grant, the Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education at the University of Washington led a five-year, 5,000-student study called the Academic Pathways Study. With academic leaders from all facets of engineering at campuses nationwide participating, the study identified strengths and deficits in engineering education, the tendencies of students as they progress through their schooling, differences in men and women, and why it is difficult for students to transfer into an engineering major from others.

Karl Smith, civil engineering professor at the University of Minnesota and cooperative learning professor at Purdue University’s School of Engineering Education, said, “A principal take away from the research is that we’re not very clear or transparent (especially early on — first two years) about what it means to be an engineer, and hence many students have difficulty developing an engineering identity. … There are very few systematic studies (observation, interviews, et cetera) of practicing engineers so unlike medicine or law, the education system is designed based on what we think engineers do rather than detailed descriptions of the practice.”

Smith said, “Civil engineering firms could encourage systematic study of the nature of practice (such as Dana Cuff’s Architecture: The Culture of Practice) and encourage the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), civil engineering programs, and other stakeholders to base their listing of outcomes (for ABET, Inc., accreditation and the ASCE’s Body of Knowledge) and curricular recommendations on this evidence from practice.”

Smith, about to retire from Minnesota, is so passionate about the issue of engineering education that he’s taken on the role at Purdue. With people like Smith, and those practitioners who engage with faculty and students, we will improve — and we need to. This is one point on which everyone agrees.

Shanon Fauerbach, P.E.,

sfauerbach@stagnitomedia.com