2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Examining How Required Courses Shape Industrial Engineering Students’ Career Thinking

Presented at Bridging Education and Real-World Impact: Training, Career Development, and Urban Systems

Scholars have described the social-technical divide that arises in engineering education, in which the technical content is viewed as central to the work of engineering while social contexts and impacts are often only tangentially considered, if at all, despite engineering being an inherently sociotechnical discipline. This raises concerns because the content programs choose to emphasize in their undergraduate curriculum can impact the way students come to view and understand the field, including perceptions of what skills and knowledge are valuable to learn for their future careers. An underemphasis on the social and contextual dimensions of engineering can create a narrow representation of the field that leaves students inadequately prepared to navigate the realities of engineering work. Additionally, previous research has shown that women and students of color often pursue STEM degrees, including engineering, with an interest in how they can leverage their degree to create positive social impact. Thus, examining how the engineering curriculum might underemphasize the sociotechnical nature of careers in the field has implications for how educational experiences can shape the participation of populations that are underrepresented in engineering.

This paper is part of a larger study that seeks to understand the messaging undergraduate engineering students receive about the knowledge and skills that are valued in their discipline through their curriculum and interactions with others in the field. We draw on the figured worlds framework by Holland et al. to understand the mechanisms by which disciplinary culture becomes internalized by students, impacting their values, beliefs, and actions within the field. The present study seeks to answer the question: How do industrial engineering (IE) students’ experiences in required courses shape their thinking about their future careers? We draw on data from surveys and observations of key engineering practices emphasized in required IE courses to contextualize findings from semi-structured interviews with fifteen undergraduate IE students at a large midwestern university. All students participated in two interviews either in their first and second or third and fourth year of study, allowing us to capture a range of perspectives across the program’s curriculum. Interview transcripts were analyzed using qualitative methods. Findings highlight students' post-graduation plans and how their experiences in their required courses have impacted their career thinking. In particular, we highlight the extent to which students view social and contextual skills and knowledge as central to careers in IE and their reflections on how their required coursework has prepared them for their future careers. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Authors

Hayley N. Nielsen http://orcid.org/0009-0009-1223-3550 University of Michigan [biography]

Hayley N. Nielsen (she/her) is a Ph.D. student in the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education at the University of Michigan. Her research interests include equity-centered teaching, learning, and curriculum in higher education, with a particular emphasis on STEM fields. She earned a B.S. in Physiology and a M.A. in Teaching and Teacher Education from the University of Arizona.
Vibhavari Vempala http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7119-1498 University of Michigan [biography]

Vibhavari (Vibha) Vempala is a PhD student in Engineering Education Research at the University of Michigan. Her research interests include access to opportunities, social networks, and career management of engineering students. Vibha received her B.S. in Engineering from the joint department of Biomedical Engineering at The North Carolina State University and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a M.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Michigan.
Berenice Alejandra Cabrera University of Michigan [biography]

Berenice Alex Cabrera (she/her) is a Ph.D. student in Higher Education at the Marsal School of Education at the University of Michigan. She earned a B.A. in Biology and Latinx Studies and a minor in Chemistry from San Francisco State University (SFSU). She also earned a Master’s in Cell and Molecular Biology from SFSU and a Master’s in Higher Education from the University of Michigan. Alex taught biology at community colleges in California before attending the University of Michigan where her research interests pivoted to engineering education. Her current research interests focus on examining the messaging undergraduate engineering students receive with respect to the type of work that is valued in engineering. Her research is centered around the goal of making engineering curriculum more socioculturally relevant and the field more inclusive of women and students of color.
Dr. Lisa R. Lattuca http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1547-5992 University of Michigan [biography]

Lisa Lattuca, Professor of Higher Education and member of the Core Faculty in the Engineering Education Research Program at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Erika Mosyjowski http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5700-641X University of Michigan [biography]

Erika Mosyjowski is the Research and Faculty Engagement Manager in the Center for Socially Engaged Design within University of Michigan College of Engineering. She earned a PhD and MA in Higher Education from Michigan and a Bachelor's in Psychology and Sociology from Case Western Reserve University.
Dr. Joi-Lynn Mondisa http://orcid.org/https://0000-0002-3959-6548 University of Michigan [biography]

Joi Mondisa is an Associate Professor in the Department of Industrial and Operations Engineering and an Engineering Education Faculty Member at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor.
Dr. Shanna R. Daly http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4698-2973 University of Michigan [biography]

Shanna Daly is an Associate Professor in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan. She has a B.E. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Dayton and a Ph.D. in Engineering Education from Purdue University.

Note

The full paper will be available to logged in and registered conference attendees once the conference starts on June 22, 2025, and to all visitors after the conference ends on June 25, 2025

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