Co-orientation©: a collaborative method to guide students' decision-making to a right first job

International audienceCareer preparation courses or support for higher education students have been strengthened, following some recommendations of international quality assurance standards. This paper presents feedback about a method implementation of collaborative learning practices on career guidance at a French graduate engineering school. The co-orientation© method relies upon groups of students applying simple and original pedagogical input, paced over time. The aim is to provide students with a proven method to facilitate decision-making for future professional mobility, throughout careers that will be subject to the vagaries of a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous international markets. The method approaches career preparation through positive psychology that promotes self-fulfilment and self-actualisation. It adapts co-development facilitation techniques to ensure neutrality and empathy, feedback seeking, as well as a peer-learning pedagogy derived from cognitive psychology. The course is structured in six capsule sessions of two hours each and presented in the paper with learning outcomes. The method can thus be quickly integrated as a ready-to-go toolkit in career training courses, to allow any university to implement it more easily and autonomously

Introducing personality tests to clarify engineering student self-perception and demystify recruitment procedures: quantitative and qualitative results

International audienceIt is often said that Generation Y students have little professional ideal, uncertainty and indecision dominating their professional future appraisal. Engineering program designers are now faced with such new student generations. They certainly must trust students to finally find their own way, but they must also give them a sense of responsibility so as to enable them to take care of their career, as soon as possible and at best, in accordance with their genuine wishes. In 2007, Telecom Bretagne (public French higher engineering institution) reformed its mandatory career preparation program and introduced a professional interest inventory test to help its students have a more objective self-perception, challenge stereotypes, question their own character traits and interests, and ultimately shape their future professional identity. After six years, qualitative and quantitative results permit to respond to three research questions: (1) Is there a specific profile for engineering students? (2) Does this profile significantly evolve between the first and the last year of the engineering program? (3) Do test credibility and acceptance depend on the year when they are taken? In light of this analysis and student feedbacks, it is possible to state that, while sometimes initially reluctant to tests due to misconceptions, some students can develop a true interest and expectancy for their personal and professional project thanks to this formative and reflective tool

Engineer professional identity : for an early clarification of student's perceptions

International audienceEngineer diplomas greatly facilitate first job offers. However, uncertainty and indecision often result from freshmen appraisal of the career kaleidoscope. Some students struggle to identify career directions and therefore need some time before feeling committed and being operational within their curriculum. In light of this, it is advisable to disclose to students their career perspectives from the early stages of their curriculum, in order to give some meaning to their studies and learning. It is also essential to provide them with means which will enable them to participate actively in their own learning path, to build their future professional identity, and to plan proactively their future career. In order to initiate student's self-efficacy, our engineering school recently reformed its career preparation program over the tree years of the curriculum. In particular, it now integrates some workshops and active sessions which are listed in this paper and linked with the most recent CDIO syllabus. These new sessions were inspired, among other things, by the analysis of an activity deployed for students several years ago, for purposes of collaboratively surveying career directions. This previous activity is more specifically presented and discussed in this paper. Limits regarding its usability for freshmen are addressed herein. As prestigious as it may be, the engineer diploma is only a complement for practical internships. The professional path of an engineer is often closely related to the early professional experiences of his/her career, but it also depends on his/her education. The traditional French higher education system with its Grande Ecole model provides an interesting study sample with its outstanding freshmen whose career choice is often still undecided

De la relation au temps dans la construction d'un projet professionnel et personnel : retour d'expériences pour une formation alignée avec les besoins des nouvelles générations

National audienceLa préparation à l'emploi devient un élément de différenciation pour les écoles du supérieur. Ce papier analyse plusieurs expérimentations dans le cadre de la maturation du projet professionnel d'étudiants. Il préconise d'aborder de manière agile les problématiques liées aux carrières professionnelles et de mettre à disposition des étudiants une boite à outils durable et "à la carte" selon le niveau de maturité

Identité professionnelle et anticipation des carrières nomades des jeunes ingénieurs : construire et non subir son orientation professionnelle

International audienceLa perspective des carrières nomades amène le futur diplômé à être acteur de son projet professionnel. Acquérir des méthodes, techniques et outils en amont de son insertion pour choisir ses orientations professionnelles devient primordial. Ce papier s'attache à présenter et analyser un module de formation visant de tels objectifs. Il est intégré dans les trois années du curriculum d'une école d'ingénieurs

Think first job! Preferences and expectations of engineering students in a French ‘Grande Ecole'

International audienceA career in engineering may be appealing owing to the prospect of a good salary and a dynamic work environment. There may, however, be challenges for students wishing to enter their first job. In engineering education, career preparation courses may be included so as to prepare students adequately for their first job, future careers, and to reinforce career decision-making skills. This study explored the first-job preferences and expectations of engineering students at a generalist French ‘ Grande Ecole ' before their compulsory internship. The study ultimately provided insight into ways in which future engineers may best be equipped for their first jobs. A qualitative research study was employed, using four focus groups to collect data, which was analysed thematically. Key findings indicate the resolute importance that engineering students place on having a challenging job, teamwork, independence, opportunities for development, and a participative style of being managed. The research findings may be of value in order to renew an engineering curriculum with better alignment between students ' expectations and industry needs

Career decision-making learning activities in stem: an integrated capsule model earmarked for higher and VET educations

International audienceEmployability after graduation depends on many factors. This paper presents an innovative approach integrating 'professional learning capsules' in curricula. It shows how students should approach career decision-making in complex professional situations, and how higher education institutions and VET schools can contribute to strengthening their learner soft skills of decision-making and judgement. A comparison between the professional programme is presented with recommendations. The development of a course on the reflection of the professional project, composed of capsules all along the curriculum, allows students to think upstream about their choice of first job and medium career perspective. This course, in the form of a continuum for three years with marketing approach, brings student maturity, greater decision-making ability in volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous context and reinforce soft skills. This conceptual proposal may assist academic leaders and flexible curriculum designers by identifying learning areas and capsule-like learning activities, as a transferable result in their context. As new prescriptive standards and requirements of career guidance training and decision-making appear for higher education, the approach could contribute to better train students, as future STEM leaders, with rational but also emotional intelligence

To Embrace Career Decision Making in STEM Education

International audienceChoosing a career is often a challenge, especially in new professional contexts, as seen today with the fourth industrial revolution for students in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths). Students require not only technical and academic skills but also skills in making decisions in complex situations and environments. Higher and Vocational Education students in STEM must embrace the reality of career decision making from the beginning of their curriculum. They must be self-aware of their weaknesses, their personal qualities to improve and the strengths that will allow them to face with greater success a world / professional environment that are increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA). Institutions of higher education and vocational education (VET) can assist students to make appropriate decisions in their professional career in VUCA situations. They must not only train students to learn technical and academic skills but also enable these young people to be well prepared in the face of an unpredictable professional world. This paper presents some results of the DAhoy European project. It recalls the landmarks that are keys for leading one's decisions and actions making of the students and the different models for career management and counselling that address career decision-making in the domain. It overviews how STEM students should approach career decision making, and how higher and VET institutions can contribute to strengthening their decision-making skills and their judgment thanks to active teaching and learning activities. Some collaborative card games operated in four different European institutions show how to confront learners to different career situations and help them to improve their knowledge and decision skills

Preparing 5.0 engineering students for an unpredictable post-COVID world

International audienceIn 2020, Higher Education and industry across the globe were immersed in extreme, unpredictable environments. Given the devastating impacts and disruptions observed since the appearance of COVID-19, the question to ask Higher Education is how it can better prepare students who are capable of being agile and proactive, and who demonstrate effective decision-making capabilities in complex situations. This paper therefore seeks to explore how educational engineering programs can better prepare 5.0 engineering students for their future workplace. It draws on the authors’ involvement in two European Union projects, to provide insights and recommendations, which suggest that the focus be on: revisiting the curriculum; developing transversal skills and V-shape Engineer workspaces; work-based learning; graduate employability; and strengthening ties between academia and industry. We are also increasingly moving towards a 5.0 era where the emphasis is on developing human-centred IT soft-skills. This paper presents educational engineering-program leaders and managers, with suggestions for how to be responsible and proactive in ensuring that 5.0 engineering students have not only a qualification, but the requisite skills to make a more meaningful impact in their future workplace

Peut-on aborder les enjeux controversés sans sombrer dans la polémique ?: Guide du GT « Controverses » de l’Institut Mines-Télécom

Au terme de deux années de travail, le GT « Controverses » a souhaité souligner premièrement la responsabilité de l’Institut Mines-Télécom dans la formation de futurs ingénieurs et managers qui seront confrontés dans le cadre de leurs activités professionnelles à l’expression d’arguments (pas seulement les leurs) et à la prise de décision dans des situations qui pourront être plus ou moins controversées. Deuxièmement, dans un contexte ou la décision évolue vers des situations de plus en plus controversées. La guerre en Ukraine et ses conséquences en sont un exemple, tout autant que la transition écologique, sociale et sociétale. Les choix managériaux et technologiques sont pris dans des enjeux plus larges, « controversés ». Il est donc primordial de travailler sur le développement de compétences spécifiques dans le curricula des étudiants afin de sortir de situations scolaires souvent trop bornées et dans lesquelles les controverses sont réputées ne pas exister d’une part et d’autre part il est nécessaire de comprendre les situations controversées afin de mettre en place des dispositifs permettant d’y faire face.Ce guide qui se veut avant tout opérationnelle et pratique, identifie les enjeux principaux d’une pédagogie par et pour les controverses, afin d’offrir à l’enseignant·e- chercheur·e intéressé·e un ensemble de repères solides pour se lancer, répondre aux attentes des apprenant·e·s ou améliorer son cours ; bref, mettre le pied à l’étrier.Ainsi cette publication précise ce qu’est une situation controversée, les compétences requises ou travaillées dans ce genre de situation ou encore en quoi cela pose des défis spécifiques à l’enseignant·e, en termes de posture