Exploring Diverse Work Personas of Engineering Design Graduates through Cluster Analysis
- Conference
- Location
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Portland, Oregon
- Publication Date
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June 23, 2024
- Start Date
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June 23, 2024
- End Date
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July 12, 2024
- Conference Session
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Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM) Technical Session 12
- Tagged Division
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Educational Research and Methods Division (ERM)
- Permanent URL
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https://peer.asee.org/47404
Paper Authors
Xiao Ge
Stanford University
orcid.org/0000-0002-3689-868X
Xiao Ge’s design research focuses on understanding creative work theory and practice to improve practices of creativity, interdisciplinary teamwork, and engineering education. Her research at Stanford spans across disciplines in the Mechanical Engineering Department and the Psychology Department at Stanford University.
Mark Schar Stanford University
The focus of Mark’s research can broadly be described as “pivot thinking,” the cognitive aptitudes and abilities that encourage innovation, and the tension between design engineering and business management cognitive styles. To encourage these thinking patterns in young engineers, Mark has developed a Scenario Based Learning curriculum that attempts to blend core engineering concepts with selected business ideas. Mark is also researches empathy and mindfulness and its impact on gender participation in engineering education. He is a Lecturer in the School of Engineering at Stanford University and teaches the course ME310x Product Management and ME305 Statistics for Design Researchers.
Mark has extensive background in consumer products management, having managed more than 50 consumer driven businesses over a 25-year career with The Procter & Gamble Company. In 2005, he joined Intuit, Inc. as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer and initiated a number of consumer package goods marketing best practices, introduced the use of competitive response modeling and "on-the-fly" A|B testing program to qualify software improvements.
Mark is the Co-Founder and Managing Director of One Page Solutions, a consulting firm that uses the OGSP® process to help technology and branded product clients develop better strategic plans. Mark is a member of The Band of Angels, Silicon Valley's oldest organization dedicated exclusively to funding seed stage start-ups. In addition, he serves on the board of several technology start-up companies.
Helen L. Chen
Stanford University
orcid.org/0000-0001-6415-7814
Helen L. Chen is a Research Scientist in the Designing Education Lab in Mechanical Engineering and co-founder of the Integrative Learning Portfolio Lab in Career Education at Stanford University. She earned her undergraduate degree from UCLA and her PhD in Communication with a minor in Psychology from Stanford. Her scholarship is focused on engineering and entrepreneurship education, portfolio pedagogy, reflective practices, non-degree credentials, and reimagining how learners represent themselves through their professional online presence.
George Toye
Ph.D., P.E., is adjunct professor in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University. While engaged in teaching project based engineering design thinking and innovations at the graduate level, he also contributes to research in engineering education, effect
Sheri D. Sheppard Stanford University
Sheri D. Sheppard teaches both undergraduate and graduate design-related classes, conducts research on fracture mechanics and finite element analysis, and on how people become engineers. From 1999 to 2008, she was a Senior Scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, leading its engineering study. Sheppard has contributed to significant educational projects, including the Center for the Advancement of Engineering Education and the National Center for Engineering Pathways to Innovation (Epicenter). Her industry experience spans Detroit’s Big Three: Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler. At Stanford, she has served as faculty senate chair, associate vice provost for graduate education, founder of and adviser to MEwomen, and leads the Designing Education Lab (DEL), which aims to revolutionize engineering education. Her achievements have earned her numerous honors, such as Stanford’s Walter J. Gores Award and the American Society for Engineering Education’s Chester F. Carlson and Ralph Coats Roe Awards. She earned her PhD from the University of Michigan.
Abstract
(Paper type: Research) Engineering schools increasingly endeavor to diversify their educational offerings to meet students’ needs of pursuing various career trajectories. However, students’ aspirations are often shaped by engineering stereotypes and less informed by profiles of real-world engineering practices. Moreover, little research has been done to portray diverse profiles of engineering graduates. This study aims to fill this gap by conducting a cluster analysis to synthesize archetypical work profiles (i.e., work personas) based on a survey sample of 719 graduates of Mechanical Engineering with on average 16.8 years after completing a graduate-level design program from a U.S. university. What are the different work profiles of engineering design graduates and how can these different profiles be characterized? To answer the question, we used Principal Component Analysis (PCA) in combination with k-means Cluster Analysis which constructed five types of personas based on self-reported behaviors in engineering, design and innovation activities. We used job functions and a variety of self-efficacies to further validate and analyze the distinct personas that the engineering graduates have pursued. Of the five clusters, we find many attributes of Cluster One (C1) (6.1% of the survey population) diverge from engineering, design and innovation activities; we have focused on analyzing the Early Career Engineers C2 (25.3%), Expected Engineers C3 (29.8%), Managerial Engineers C4 (17.4%) and the Innovative Engineers C5 (21.34%). Innovative Engineers C5 shows consistently high engagement with all the different engineering design-affiliated work activities. Early Career Engineers C2 and Expected Engineers C3 exhibit similar shapes of engagement, with relatively lower scores in marketing & sales behaviors than the other behaviors. Managerial Engineers C4 have the most MBAs and expand what engineers do. The various engineering design routes engineering designers have taken as evidenced from the dataset expand our understanding of what engineers could do. The current study provides concrete insights for guiding engineering students in exploring various career options and contributes to engineering education research on career pathways.
Keywords: Workplace, Engineering Professions, Quantitative Analysis, Cluster Analysis, Graduate Education, Career Paths
Ge, X., & Schar, M., & Chen, H. L., & Toye, G., & Sheppard, S. D. (2024, June), Exploring Diverse Work Personas of Engineering Design Graduates through Cluster Analysis Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://peer.asee.org/47404
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