Management Education in Australian Engineering Undergraduate Courses

Abstract In response to a perceived need for management studies in engineering undergraduate courses, the Institution of Engineers, Australia (IEAust) mandated a requirement that 10% of course content be management studies in Australia in 1991. Although support for the 10% rule was not universal, a 1994 national report on engineering education found “strong endorsement” for the policy. In 1996 a major review of engineering education in Australia recommended that IEAust move from a course accreditation regime based on prescribed inputs to one based on demonstrated graduate attributes. In the move to the new accreditation system, the policy on management studies in engineering undergraduate courses has become less definitive and more open to interpretation by individual educational institutions. Recent research on Australian academics involved in management studies in engineering undergraduate programs has revealed that while more than 95% hold technical qualifications, more than 60% hold no management qualification at all. These results and others presented here provide insight into the backgrounds, beliefs, qualifications, and experience of the academic staff involved in management education in engineering undergraduate courses in Australia.