Reducing student and graduate attrition in engineering: The case for developing identity and career preview

There is growing recognition that the development of career preview and salient identity is a neglected area within higher education, and yet incorporation is far from easy. Many academics are yet to recognise the importance of incorporating these discussions in their teaching, and increasing pressure on academics works against the inclusion of yet another topic. Limited time also means that new learning must to be accommodated within existing courses and budgets, and increasing casualisation makes it increasingly difficult to sustain any new initiative across multiple student cohorts and semesters. There is, however, increasing evidence that students who understand the profession in which they intend to work, who have experienced work in multiple contexts, and who have openly discussed self and career in relation to their expectations of study, become agentic learners and more resilient, better prepared graduates. This presentation reports findings from a project that worked with 1,200 undergraduate engineering students to determine what they knew about engineering careers, what they expected to do as engineers, and where they felt they lacked skills or attributes. The presentation outlines why there is such support for the incorporation of self and identity as core components of all higher education programs, and suggests some of the ways in which educators might begin to have this dialogue their students.