A Case for Leadership Development in Engineering Curricula: A Mixed-Methods Study

• In Event: Leadership and Organizational Culture

Abstract

To be adequately prepared for industry, undergraduate engineering students need to recognize the importance of professional competencies and develop their leadership identities. This study used sequential explanatory mixed methods to investigate student perceptions of leadership-coupled professional competencies that enable leadership identity development. Quantitatively, cluster analysis was employed to classify undergraduate of 19 leadership-coupled professional competencies. Qualitative analysis followed to understand better the developmental markers associated with clusters of interest. The mixed quantitative and qualitative results suggested that students who place higher value on leadership-coupled professional competencies were at more advanced stages in their leadership identity development. Implications are discussed regarding the benefits of cultivating professional competencies and leadership identities in the undergraduate engineering curriculum to support better workforce preparation.

Authors

• Nicholas Anthony Clegorne, Kennesaw State University

• Denise R. Simmons, University of Florida