Using Career Orientations to Map Professional Formation in Engineering Technology

This NSF funded research study is developing a greater theoretical understanding of the professional identity, institutional culture, and formation of engineer technicians and technologists who are prepared at two-year colleges. The study is identifying dimensions of career anchors orientations at various stages of professional preparation and map to engineering technology (ET) career pathways by surveying ET students, transfer students, and early career ET professionals. The complexity of integration of the multiple stages of professional preparation, within diverse environments, has led the researchers to integrate three interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks to examine fundamental questions of professional formation: (1) social cognitive career theory to situate individual attitudes, interests, and experiences within a larger career context; (2) Schein's Career Anchors Theory focused on individual career orientations; and (3) the Hughes Value Creation Model for Organizational Competitive Advantage focused on cultural and organizational contexts. Initial results from the Schein's Career Anchor survey for the two-year college ET students are presented. Findings from this and future work will transform the ET workforce through catalyzing interaction of researchers and practitioners with public support to bolster ET's strategic position in the workforce development infrastructure.