Expectations of and support for engineering graduates : a preliminary review of the industry perspective

The competencies that successful engineers should possess have been widely identified in the literature. So too has the need for change in the education context and much research is being conducted on methods by which these can be achieved. rom another perspective, organisations assist their new graduates through development opportunities. Entry-level engineering positions are seen by employers to be a learning experience and industry spends significant amounts of time and resources with the aim of developing their new graduates to fit into their organisation and into the roleof a professional engineer. Little literature exists, however, on the initiatives that are being taken by employers to develop their graduate engineers in the workplace, particularly in the engineering sector.