“Meet Them Where They’re At”: Gathering Institutional Perspectives on Engineering Technology to Engineering Transfer in Canada

Abstract

This paper presents an investigation to determine the state of Canadian engineering transfer pathways and programs, how they were developed, and how to develop future large-scale transfer pathways. Technology to engineering pathways disproportionately improve access to engineering degrees for visible minorities, with some students relying on transfer as a pathway to a baccalaureate degree. However, there is no province-wide pathway in Ontario’s higher education system, so efficient transfer to engineering happens in a very a limited number of programs. To understand the system, a qualitative research study was developed that used semi-structured interviews with 15 institutions or groups with existing or attempted engineering transfer pathways. Results indicate that there are four factors differentiating existing pathways: timeline, structure, development, and scale. New partnerships should consider communication, collaboration, consideration of students and other institutions, and accreditation concerns as paramount in the success of proposed pathways, while lack of sustained institutional commitment, maintenance of programs, knowledge dissemination, and capacity may present challenges.

Investigating Student Experiences of Engineering Technology to Engineering Transfer in Ontario

“…Extant transfer pathways have been investigated through previous research, gathering development techniques and institutional challenges from programs nation-wide [4]. In developing such a program, it is also important to consider the lived experiences of students who have completed such a transition.…”