Leadership Development for Engineering Managers

A Comparative Analysis of Defensive Routines and Theories-In-Use of Engineering and Non-Engineering Managers

“…Universities are capable of generating extraordinary technical professionals; however, these engineers are not equipped for real-world engineering (Farr and Brazil, 2009). In order for engineers to be prepared for leadership and management, the training should occur early in their careers, as early as during the undergraduate education (Farr and Walesh, 1997). Some believe that engineers move into management because the technical path is truncated once a certain level is achieved (Roberts and Biddle, 1994).…”

The Ebb and Flow of Engineering Leadership Orientations

“…A growing body of literature on engineering leadership includes: 1) calls for leadership and professional skill development in faculties of engineering [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]; 2) engineering leadership program descriptions written by institutional insiders [16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]; and 3) applications of traditional leadership theory to engineers' work [31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40]. While this literature presents us with important insights about the rationale for including leadership education in engineering programs, descriptions of the content and pedagogy used by instructors and faculty members beginning to implement these programs, and assessments of engineers' work in relation to managerial leadership theories, very few researchers have stepped back to conceptualize engineering leadership from the perspective of professional engineers.…”

Surveying Industry Needs for Leadership in Entry-level Engineering Positions

“…While some studies have been conducted to define what companies are looking for in future hires and/or what academic programs are doing to prepare undergraduates for industry, 7,21,22,34 other work focused solely on leadership competencies and requirements. 3,5,6,9,11,12,26,27 Our qualitative study conducted in summer 2014, found that personnel from engineering companies involved with hiring define leadership by categorizing various knowledge, abilities, and behaviors into five main leadership themes or competencies: initiative/confidence, communication, interpersonal interaction, teamwork, and engagement. It is our goal to understand what leadership means to industry and to develop coursework, instruction, and experiences that will best prepare our undergraduates for opportunities in engineering.…”

“…4 Researchers have reviewed the ABET (a) through (k) student outcomes, showing how leadership knowledge, values, attitudes, skills, and abilities may be embedded into these outcomes without the word leadership appearing in the ABET documents. 6,7,11,21,26,34 Others have focused on identifying leadership competencies. 20,28,29 While there is a clear effort to study and elevate the importance of leadership development, as well as infuse leadership instruction and activities into undergraduate engineering programs, Seemiller and Murray 29 revealed that engineering programs contained the fewest "Student Leadership Competencies" of the 18 categories of academic programs they reviewed.…”

“…18,19 Additionally, researchers have offered leadership skills are requisite for successful and impactful engineering careers. 3,6,8,9,10,11,27 Although the evidence exists for the need of leadership development for engineering undergraduates, only 3 of the 28 engineering programs include the term leadership in their Program Criteria in ABET Criteria for 2014-2015. Those programs are (1) Civil, (2) Construction, and (3) Engineering Management and Similarly Named Engineering Programs.…”