Universities and Professional Associations: Partnerships for Civil Engineering Careers

Abstract

As civil engineers take more individual responsibility for their careers in the 21st century global economy, they need assistance from educators, industry, and government, both to help them individually and to strengthen the workforce. As described in the paper, assistance can be provided through partnerships involving universities and engineers, working through local chapters of professional associations. A potential mission statement for the partnerships might be: to work together to attract quality students to civil engineering, support and enhance their education, and provide lifelong career support for the civil engineering workforce. The paper presents an array of career education activities that offers work for universities, grades K–12, and associations. Experiences show that the partnership concept is promising. Benefits would include having better people in the profession, motivating students to relate education to life, even if they do not become civil engineers, and helping engineers all along the career path. The key issue in career development for in-service engineers is lifelong learning. Universities should be key players in K–12 and career education, and they should reexamine their current plans and policies to ascertain whether enough resources are going into these phases of education. Career education requires much effort and commitment. Still, the rewards in career enhancement and workforce improvement are worth the investment.