Attributes of Success for Engineering Ph.D.s: Perspectives from Academia and Industry

Abstract

An exploration of engineering doctoral education is needed for several reasons. First, the realignment of undergraduate curricula based on studies of employers' needs and expectations are common in undergraduate education (i.e., Engineer of 2020) (National Academy of Engineering, 2004). These types of studies are not usual in doctoral education but are needed for Ph.D. programs to respond to the changing environments in industry and academia. Second, it is important to differentiate the industrial and academic expectations of engineering Ph.D.s since, according to NSF (2008), 73.3% of engineering Ph.D.s obtained jobs in industry. Finally, there is little understanding about how graduate education facilitates students' acquisition of these attributes.