There is wide recognition of the importance for the competitiveness of Europe for there to be a sufficient supply of appropriately qualified scientists and engineers. There is also a recognition that across Europe the demand for studying engineering programmes at universities is unlikely to result in sufficient numbers of graduates that meet this need. The overall aim of this special interest group will be to provide a forum for those interested in enhancing the attractiveness of engineering education to better understand the reasons for this and to recommend ways of improving the attractiveness of engineering education. It recognises that the issue of attractiveness cannot be tackled in isolation from other special interest groups including ‘Curriculum Development’ and ‘Gender and Diversity’. It further acknowledges the role of industry as a stakeholder both in employing engineering graduates and in contributing to the attractiveness of engineering education.
Themes
- Identify examples of good practice enhancing the attractiveness of engineering as a career both to traditional and non-traditional groups. The focus will be on attracting students of the right quality to both Bachelor and Masters degrees.
- Compilation of employability attributes in engineering graduates and identification of good practice for embedding these in engineering curricula.
- Promotion of Engineering Education in the EU outside the EHEA including the identification of examples of good practice for increasing the number and quality of non-EU students on engineering programmes in the EHEA.
Participation
Participation in the group is open to those interested in enhancing the attractiveness of engineering education to potential students. They include academics, industrialists and those involved in initiatives to enhance the attractiveness of engineering education.
Potential activities
- Participation in the Academic Network EUGENE.
- Contribution to SEFI Conference through seminars or workshops.
- Contribution to relevant journals including the European Journal of Engineering Education.
Communication
Members of the AWG meet at the SEFI annual conferences, and seminars and workshops in between. The Group also has a Yahoo email group which participants are able to join by request to the Chairperson.
Get involved
Any SEFI member or any person associated with an institutional or corporate SEFI member may join the AWG.