Understanding the important skills and competencies for different engineering career paths for graduates of Canadian engineering programs

Engineering career paths across Canada are becoming more varied and it is important to understand which skills and competencies are important for different career paths to better inform engineering curriculum design. This research showed that communication and interpersonal skills were very important for graduates of Canadian engineering programs regardless of the career path that was taken. It also showed that societal impact was less likely to be noted as important for graduates of Canadian engineering programs. The research also showed that there are statistically significant differences in the important skills across different career paths. In particular, the importance of technical skills and business skills seemed to vary significantly across different career paths, such as Technical Specialists, Academics, Managerial and Entrepreneurial career paths This work can help instructors and academic advisors support students in developing specific competencies important to specific career paths, and can inform better alignments between industry and academia.