2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Board 46: “Good communication skills are super, super important”: Developing students’ professional communication skills for career-ready engineers

Presented at College Industry Partnerships Division (CIP) Poster Session

With a national shortage of skilled technicians and engineers in the microelectronics industry, developing talent to fill roles in the workforce is critical for the U.S. national security and economy. Given this, a public-private-academic ecosystem was formed with the goal of further developing the U.S. microelectronics workforce. This Work in Progress Paper describes one of seven findings of a workforce needs assessment study completed by this group. Communication was a key finding of this assessment and was a link between the technical and professional skills identified. This finding guided the research questions for this paper: (1) What value do hiring professionals and supervisors in microelectronics engineering place on communication when hiring entry-level microelectronics technicians and engineers? (2) How do microelectronics industry professionals describe desired communication skills? Looking specifically at communication, the following sub theme was identified. Within microelectronics, effective communication among individuals and within interdisciplinary teams is necessary as it allows technical information to be quickly "distilled" and understood by management and other non-technical stakeholders. However, participants shared that individuals often lack sufficient oral and written communication skills that allow them to quickly and succinctly articulate the "so what" to non-technical stakeholders. This paper includes detailed examples of how microelectronics professionals describe and value communication skills and identifies ways that focusing on communication as a professional skill improves student development, the associated student outcomes, and career readiness.

Authors

Dr. Jennifer Linvill Purdue University [biography]

Dr. Jennifer S. Linvill is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Technology Leadership & Innovation at Purdue University. Her research examines organizational communication, particularly in the contexts of destructive workplace behaviors, leadership, teams, and workforce development. Notably, Dr. Linvill is a Co-Principal Investigator on the SCalable Asymmetric Lifestyle Engagement (SCALE) production proposal, funded by the Department of Defense, with colleagues in Purdue’s College of Engineering. The project focuses on developing a scalable and sustainable workforce development program for microelectronics that will serve as a model for other workforce development efforts (i.e., artificial intelligence, hypersonics). In this role, she examines organizational and leadership issues that span across an ecosystem of partners within the following areas: defense, government, industry, community colleges, and universities. Dr. Linvill’s research is strategically designed to address organizational challenges and create novel solutions to those challenges. Her work has been presented at national and international conferences and has been published in The Routledge Handbook of Communication and Bullying and in Communication, relationships, and practices in virtual work (IGI Global). Dr. Linvill applies an organizational communication lens to her classes on Business Principles, Ethics, Negotiation and Decision Making, Organizational Behavior, and Organizational Leadership, and to Awareness Trainings related to destructive workplace behaviors presented at local high schools. Dr. Linvill is a Member of the Advisory Committee on Equity for the Office of the Vice President for Ethics and Compliance at Purdue University. She has also served as a Mentor for the USAID Liberia Strategic Analysis Program, mentoring an early-career Liberian woman on leadership and communication skills, professional development, and networking.
Imani N. Adams Purdue University [biography]

Imani Adams is a Ph.D. student at Purdue University in Engineering Education. Prior to starting her Ph.D., Imani worked in industry for ten years after completing her M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from The Ohio State University and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Imani’s research interest is in African American youth engagement with engineering in formal and informal spaces. Apart from academics, Imani is involved with Purdue’s Engineering Education Graduate Student Association and the Black Graduate Student Association.
Emily M. Haluschak Purdue University at West Lafayette (COE) [biography]

Emily M. Haluschak is a PhD student in the school of Engineering Education at Purdue University. Emily is interested in leveraging integrated curriculum development in K-12 settings to positively impact underserved populations in the field of engineering. She utilizes past experiences in STEM program evaluation, education policy, and chemical engineering research.
Ms. Breejha Sene Quezada Purdue Engineering Education
Prof. Tamara J. Moore http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7956-4479 Purdue University at West Lafayette (COE) [biography]

Tamara J. Moore, Ph.D., is a Professor in the School of Engineering Education, University Faculty Scholar, and Executive Director of the INSPIRE Institute at Purdue University. Dr. Moore's research is centered on the integration of STEM concepts in K-12 and postsecondary.

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