2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This research examines the literature on engineers’ happiness at work—the phenomena that lead engineers to be happy in their work, and the impact that happiness has on their productivity. It identifies and analyzes the research methods and approaches scholars have used to study the topic, and shares key findings about the drivers and impacts of happiness at work in engineers from the literature. Finally, it presents proposed next steps scholars could take to continue to expand the body of knowledge around the drivers and impacts of happiness at work for engineers.

This literature review research EXPLORES ways engineering leadership educators and leaders of engineering teams can make more informed decisions about the investments they make that are intended to enhance their teams’ positive affect—the positive emotions and expressions they experience at work. Such investments might include actions they perceive will enhance company culture, employee benefits, compensation, and paid time off. With limited financial and time resources, leaders need to allocate those investments efficiently to maximize productivity and performance of their teams.

This analysis draws from scholarly work written between 2014 and the present. I chose to use this timeframe because my initial research indicated that little has been written about this topic, so a 10-year timeframe allows for a collection of literature sufficient to identify relevant theories, concepts, methods, and scholarly interests. It is recent enough to reflect current conditions, technological advances, and any changes in work-related happiness that occurred during or after the COVID-19 pandemic and associated adjustments to work practices. Also, the previous 10 years included periods of economic growth and recession, so results should not be skewed by one prevailing macroeconomic condition.

The literature I reviewed on happiness and productivity in general shows a correlation between happiness and performance, and the engineering literature reflects the same dynamic—happy engineers perform at a higher level than do unhappy engineers. The literature also reveals a wide range of factors that either drive engineers’ happiness at work or are correlated with it, including level of experience, income level, culture, and perceived functionality of the system in which they work. Besides increasing productivity and performance, increasing happiness also has other positive impacts on engineers. They exhibit higher levels of motivation, expediate work more effectively, and reach and sustain flow state more often.