2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

A well-developed transportation engineering workforce is essential to adequately address current transportation infrastructure needs in the United States. However, there is a discrepancy between the existing need for more next-generation talent in public sector transportation engineering and the ability of public agencies to recruit new civil engineering graduates to adequately fill these roles. The growing necessity for strategies to attract and retain a skilled and diverse transportation workforce in the public sector has been identified as a critical current issue in the U.S. transportation industry. State Departments of Transportation (DOTs) across the U.S. have commonly described difficulties in the recruitment and retention of young talent in public sector transportation engineering roles. Despite this need, there has not been extensive research conducted on how state DOTs can better attract and retain newly graduated engineers in public sector roles. There exists a general lack of understanding of civil engineering students’ current perspectives on public sector engineering positions and the factors that may attract or detract them from considering these roles. The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that senior civil engineering students find most important during their search for full-time employment and investigate their perceptions regarding public sector transportation engineering roles, specifically at state DOTs. Researchers were also interested in understanding engineering student perspectives on the effectiveness of university-provided support in their job searches. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 undergraduate students in their last year of civil engineering or a related degree program at one midwestern R1 university. Students were recruited from senior-level capstone design courses to discuss their job searches and perspectives on public sector or DOT roles. Researchers used inductive coding and thematic analysis to identify primary themes in student responses regarding important factors in their job search, perceptions of public sector civil engineering roles, and perspectives on university support as they prepare to transition into industry positions. The results of this study will inform strategies for state DOTs to recruit and retain new civil engineering talent in public sector roles as well as provide insights for engineering educators to support civil engineering students more comprehensively in their search for full-time employment after graduation. Future work will combine the themes developed in this study with data from interviews with civil engineers working in both the private and public sector for a more comprehensive understanding of factors that attract or detract engineers from public sector transportation roles.