Professional socialization of electrical engineers in university education

Abstract

University educators constantly seek ways in which courses and curricula would promote students’ professional development in line with the needs of industries. The purpose of this study was to develop a framework for analysing professional socialization particularly in the context of electrical engineering education and explore factors associated with professional socialization. We analysed professional socialization as the degree to which graduates perceive they have adopted domain-specific capabilities and ways of thinking. We carried out an Internet questionnaire among electrical engineering graduates (n=99) at Helsinki University of Technology, completed statistical analyses, and as a result identified technology adoption, professional benefit, and scientific thinking as dimensions of professional socialization. The findings contribute by demonstrating a domain-specific analysis approach for estimating professional socialization in electrical engineering and by suggesting further tests for the framework in both in electrical engineering and other professional domains.

Keywords:

• engineering education
• professional socialization
• professional competence
• electrical engineering