2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Global educational programs in engineering provide students with valuable opportunities to develop intercultural competence, expand professional networks, and gain international experience through study abroad, research abroad, and internships. Despite these benefits, little is known about how such experiences influence engineers’ long-term career trajectories, professional competencies, and approaches to engineering practice. Understanding these outcomes is critical to advancing global engineering education and preparing graduates to address complex challenges in an interconnected world.

To fill this gap, we developed and deployed the Global Career Impact Survey to engineering alumni from three universities. The survey examines how undergraduate experiences impact engineers’ career pathways, professional growth, and approaches to engineering work in a global context, guided by Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT). We received over 1200 responses on the survey, split between alumni who had participated in global programs and a control group who had not. While quantitative analyses of the data are reported elsewhere [MASKED], this paper focuses on one open-ended survey question that asked participants to describe how their global educational experiences have influenced their career paths. This question was presented only to alumni who indicated prior participation in a global program, yielding approximately 400 written responses. We analyzed these responses to address two research questions grounded in SCCT: (1) How does participation in a global experience influence engineers’ choice action, choice goals, interests, and attainments? and (2) What types of performance domains do engineers highlight as outcomes of their global experiences?

To address Research Question 1, we used the SCCT dimensions as an analytical framework to code responses deductively. To address Research Question 2, we performed a thematic analysis of responses coded in the first round as relating to the performance domain dimension of SCCT. This second analysis allowed us to determine which specific performance domains engineers most frequently referenced. Through these analyses, we will characterize the diverse ways engineers perceive their global experiences as shaping their professional trajectories. Our findings provide conceptual insights into how global educational experiences foster global career outcomes and offer guidance for educators, program designers, and employers seeking to design inclusive, high-impact global learning experiences.