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The supply of civil engineering graduates has yet to meet the demand of civil engineering industries within the United States [1]. The Bureau of Labor Statistics predicted a 7 percent growth within the 2021-2031 decade with about 24,200 job openings available each year [2], but only an estimated 21,561 civil engineering degrees were awarded in the U.S. in 2020 [3]. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in employees quitting their jobs at higher rates than ever historically recorded [4]; this has been further observed in the civil engineering industry [5]. A research survey conducted by the Future World Vision showed that employees with less work experience (5 years or less) were most likely to resign from their positions and the civil engineering profession entirely [6]. Previous studies have examined engineering graduates’ retention in their professions as subsets of individual values and circumstance. However, there is limited research analyzing the overarching organizational culture of engineering colleges that may influence the expectations and outcomes of engineering graduates in industry. Organizational culture describes the customs and values unique to an organization [7, pp. 565]. These aspects of organizations can encourage or inhibit organizational success. Schönborn found that “there [were] specific sets of attitudes, values, and artifacts that differentiate[d] successful from unsuccessful companies” [8]. This work-in-progress expands on Schönborn’s findings in hypothesizing that there are specific cultural norms and values adopted by students in engineering colleges that differ from those of engineering industries, and those differences may affect if and how early career engineers successfully transition to engineering careers. 

Early-career engineers leave the profession at high rates, and much remains unknown about why that is so. Consequently, there have been calls for more research to better understand newcomer engineers’ experiences and attrition. The purpose of this article is therefore to examine the experiences of newcomer engineers from different universities and engineering firms around the US. The research questions addressed are as follows: (1) How do newcomer engineers characterize engineering work? and (2) What insights can their characterizations provide about newcomer attrition from engineering careers? A longitudinal study was conducted with recent civil engineering graduates in the US. Three sets of semistructured interviews were conducted in 2019 and 2020. Open coding methods were used to answer the first research question. Based on those emergent findings, the data was then analyzed through the lens of expectancy-value theory to answer the second research question. Misalignments between subjective task values created and/or reinforced in school were a prevalent source of dissatisfaction. There was a need for participants to engage in occupational identity work to reconcile the meanings of engineering and align their identities as engineers with workplace realities. Implications for future research and the engineering education system are discussed. 

There is a growing interest in engineering education research on school-to-work transitions and early career engineers. Much of this work documents misalignments and gaps between engineering education and engineering practice. Contributing to that growing body of research, this paper presents findings on the advice that early career engineers would give to engineering instructors. The research question addressed in this paper is: What is the most important advice that recent graduates have for civil engineering instructors? Data came from interviews with civil engineers in the United States. Sixteen early career civil engineers were asked what advice they would give instructors in civil engineering programs. Open coding methods were used to identify and categorize themes in the responses. In contrast to the other interview questions, for which participants’ answers differed to a large degree, the uniformity with which participants answered the “advice” question was striking. Nearly all participants said that instructors should have a better understanding of real-world engineering work practices and/or experience working in industry. Their reasoning and explanations are elaborated upon in this analysis. Programs and suggestions on how this could be accomplished are discussed. 

While the importance of school-to-work transitions is increasingly recognised, little research has examined the roles that gender plays in those transitions. This is a problem because of the higher rates of attrition of newcomer women engineers than newcomer men engineers. To address that gap in research, this article addresses the questions: What gendered experiences and observations do practicing civil engineers have within their first three years in the workplace? And How can those experiences be accounted for in a model of organisational socialisation? Three sets of interviews were conducted with men and women early career civil engineers in the United States. A model was then created to account for the findings. Men and women had different experiences that point to ways in which gender structures organisational socialisation, and those must be accounted for in studies of organisational socialisation. 

Across various contexts, socialization processes and practices have been shown to play key roles in education and career outcomes, satisfaction, and trajectories. Numerous ways in which gender intersects with and structures socialization processes, practices, and experiences have also been identified. Graduate and post-graduate education in particular likely have their own socialization patterns which influence graduate student experience and outcomes. We are interested in the intersection of gender and socialization in graduate education. In this paper, we examine the research landscape of gendered socialization in a graduate engineering education context and identify potential areas for research growth. We also review the different ways in which socialization is theorized and approached in this field. This paper is organized in three parts. The first part broadly maps the landscape of gendered socialization in engineering education. In the second part of the paper, we systematically review the subset of articles on graduate and post-doctoral engineering education, focusing on their findings and approaches. Lastly, we offer recommendations to advance this field. 

That the school-to-work transition can be challenging for many recent engineering graduates is well known [1]–[7]. However, current students and faculty rarely get an opportunity to learn directly from the mistakes, regrets, and hindsight of recent graduates during their first few years in the workplace. In order to help make students’ transition to engineering practice easier, and, relatedly, to help faculty prepare them in salient ways, this paper addresses the following research questions: 1) What do newcomer civil engineers believe are the biggest mistakes they made in their first few years on the job? and 2) If they could go back to when they began their jobs, what would they have done differently? As part of a mixed-methods, longitudinal study that aims to explore organizational socialization in engineering practice, sixteen early career civil engineers who worked in different firms around the country were asked about their work experiences, including their biggest mistakes and what they would have done differently at work knowing what they know now. Participants said their biggest mistakes related to not asking enough questions, undervaluing/not advocating for oneself, and staying in a position they dislike. Less mentioned issues included specific personal habits, attitudes, and unrealistic expectations from university education. When asked what they would have done differently from the first day at work until now, most responses related to having more confidence, networking and socializing more, and other specific personal behaviors, such as better organization. Less mentioned themes included requesting a higher salary, asking more questions, learning more material, and advocating for their own interests. The results have important implications for successfully preparing civil engineering students to begin their careers. By identifying these gaps in preparation, the paper points to recommendations for the civil engineering community. 

Prior research has demonstrated that early career socialization experiences play an important role in career outcomes, including learning, performance, satisfaction, and retention. What is not yet well understood, however, is how the organizational socialization experiences of different groups of early career engineers vary and how such variation leads to different career outcomes. By examining the experiences of first year engineers, this article contributes new insights into factors affecting socialization experiences and draws attention to privilege as an important factor shaping engineering socialization experiences. The stories of negative interpersonal interactions experienced by first year women civil engineers are presented and used to glean forms of privilege that affect newcomer socialization. The primary forms of intersectional privilege identified stem from gender and race, with religion and nationality also shaping newcomer experiences. The stories are used to inform proposed additions to a model of engineering socialization. 

Prior research has demonstrated that early career socialization experiences play an important role in career outcomes, including learning, performance, satisfaction, and retention. What is not yet well under- stood, however, is how the organizational socialization experiences of different groups of early career engineers vary and how such variation leads to different career outcomes. By examining the experiences of first year engineers, this article contributes new insights into factors affecting socialization experiences and draws attention to privilege as an important factor shaping engineering socialization experiences. The stories of negative interpersonal interactions experienced by first year women civil engineers are presented and used to glean forms of privilege that affect newcomer socialization. The primary forms of intersectional privilege identified stem from gender and race, with religion and nationality also shaping newcomer experiences. The stories are used to inform proposed additions to a model of engineering socialization. 

CONTEXT The need to better prepare students for the engineering workplace is a long-standing and on-going concern among engineering educators. With the aim of addressing gaps in preparation, the number of new work- and practice-based programs is growing. Identifying the first and most significant challenges recent graduates face in the workplace can contribute new insights into how students could be better prepared for the school-to-work transition. PURPOSE In order to better understand the transition from school to work, this paper presents findings from the first year of a five-year longitudinal study exploring the experiences and career trajectories of early career engineers. The specific question addressed in this paper is: What was the biggest challenge civil engineers experienced during their first year in the workplace? METHODS Eighteen early career civil engineers participated in semi-structured interviews in May of 2019. Participants were recruited from national and local listservs in the United States. None worked in the same office, although two worked for the same company in different offices. They were asked a range of questions related to their experiences transitioning into their careers. For this paper, responses pertaining to the biggest challenge question were analysed through open coding to determine if any themes could be identified in participants’ responses. OUTCOMES Participants were asked about the biggest challenge they had encountered since starting their job. Their responses covered a very wide range of issues. There were three themes of note that appeared in at least four different participants’ responses. They were: 1) interdependence, 2) new practices and material, and 3) negative interactions. 1 and 2 were cited by both men and women; 3 was only cited by women. CONCLUSIONS In addition to providing insights into job readiness that engineering educators can address, the findings speak to several aspects of organizational socialization. Most participants’ biggest challenges (in the form of interdependence and new practices and materials) were related to “learning & adaptation.” Challenges related to “relationship building” and “work group socialization tactics” (in the form of negative interactions) were only the biggest challenges for women, not men. However, negative interactions also extended beyond factors accounted for in current models of organizational socialization, and should be accounted for in revised models. KEYWORDS Early career, job readiness, organizational socialization