Think first job! Preferences and expectations of engineering students in a French ‘Grande Ecole'

Cecile Gerwel Proches (1) , Nathalie Chelin (2) , Siegfried Rouvrais (3, 4)

1 UKZN - Graduate School of Business and Leadership (University of KwaZulu-Natal )
2 DE - Direction Entreprises (Institut Mines-Télécom-Télécom Bretagne)
3 PASS - Process for Adaptative Software Systems
4 IMT Atlantique - INFO - Département Informatique

A career in engineering may be appealing owing to the prospect of a good salary and a dynamic work environment. There may, however, be challenges for students wishing to enter their first job. In engineering education, career preparation courses may be included so as to prepare students adequately for their first job, future careers, and to reinforce career decision-making skills. This study explored the first-job preferences and expectations of engineering students at a generalist French ‘ Grande Ecole ' before their compulsory internship. The study ultimately provided insight into ways in which future engineers may best be equipped for their first jobs. A qualitative research study was employed, using four focus groups to collect data, which was analysed thematically. Key findings indicate the resolute importance that engineering students place on having a challenging job, teamwork, independence, opportunities for development, and a participative style of being managed. The research findings may be of value in order to renew an engineering curriculum with better alignment between students ' expectations and industry needs.

Mots clés: Engineering education; Engineering; Skills; Skill development; Skill and knowledge; Competencies; Career; Career planning; Career path; CDIO skills & aptitudes; Grande ecole; Job satisfaction; Salary; Workplace learning; Working and learning situations; Teaching; Learning style; Learning; Decision making; Decision; Internship; Qualitative method; Teamwork; Industry

Domaines: Interface homme-machine [cs.HC]; Réseaux et télécommunications [cs.NI]; Education; Sciences de l'information et de la communication

Cecile Gerwel Proches, Nathalie Chelin, Siegfried Rouvrais. Think first job! Preferences and expectations of engineering students in a French ‘Grande Ecole'. European Journal of Engineering Education, 2017, pp.1 - 17. ⟨10.1080/03043797.2017.1396444⟩. ⟨hal-01630005⟩