Engineering graduates for industry - Royal Academy of Engineering

One size doesn’t fit all
Learning takes place in different places and in different ways
●
●
●
Figure 1: Research findings
Each university and each engineering department seeks to produce graduates with a particular mix of skills,
knowledge and experience to suit specific areas of the graduate jobs market.
Students themselves are attracted towards engineering degrees for different reasons and at different points in
their lives.
As a consequence, each university must be able to take its own approach to developing and embedding
experience-led components.
Experience counts
Students need direct experience of industry integrated within their degree course
●
●
●
●
Students with industrial experience are more likely to seek and find
employment in engineering and technology related jobs on graduation;
are more motivated for the remainder of their course and possibly achieve
a higher degree classification; are clearer about their future career options;
and have improved management, teamworking and communication skills.
Opportunities
Some universities are experiencing a decline in the number of industrial placements available to students. Industry
must provide more high quality placements and other work opportunities for students to gain direct experience of
industry.
Not all students take up the work placement opportunities available. Their reasons include a lack of awareness of the
opportunities and benefits, and concerns about leaving their peer group or ‘disrupting’ their study.
Employers report that graduates with worthwhile work experience achieve a higher level of employability.
●
●
●
●
Placements in industry
Other work experience
Relevant employment for parttime
students
Relevant student-led activity
2 The Royal Academy of Engineering