Longitudinal Study of Australian Engineering Graduates: Perceptions of Working Time

A longitudinal study of a single cohort of university engineering graduates is providing detailed information on the early career of Australian engineering graduates at a time of unprecedented demand for engineers. The graduates respond to web-based surveys every 2 or 3 months and a sub-sample provide more detailed information in telephone or face to face interviews. The participation rate was initially 60% and is still at above 40% after 12 months. The study aims to collect information on the work actually performed by the graduates, their perceptions on the amount of time they spend, how they learn the required skills and knowledge, training and professional development that they receive, and perceived gaps in their knowledge. We also aim to understand more about their career trajectories in the early years. Early surveys reveal the types of work performed by graduates in the first year of their career and some information about their early career learning. The paper provides an analysis of data on graduates’ perceptions of the time they spend on different aspects of their work. This reveals that about 60% is spent on interactions with other people either face to face, on the telephone, or through written documents, showing the dominant role of social interactions in engineering practice.

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