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Title:

Assessing New-Hire Expectations of Transportation Engineering Employers

Accession Number:

01045562

Record Type:

Component

Availability:

Transportation Research Board Business Office

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 United States

Abstract:

The issue has been around for many years. Employers are concerned that students are not being taught enough of the basics in transportation engineering. Institutions of higher learning struggle with the competing demands of providing a solid engineering foundation, requiring courses that meet the diversity goals of the university, and increasing the amount of required non-engineering courses. All while reducing the total number of credits required to obtain a bachelor’s degree in order to graduate students in four years. One consequence of these competing demands has been to eliminate basic transportation engineering courses. Many universities no longer require undergraduate students to take any courses in transportation engineering other than geometric design. And oftentimes, there is no requirement to take the course early in their studies. To assess the knowledge expectations of transportation engineering employers, a survey was designed and administered with the support of the Institute of Transportation Engineers. The survey investigates the expectations for typical civil engineering baccalaureates and master’s degree students specializing in transportation. The results are examined from both a public and private sector perspective. Overall, most employers do not think it necessary for graduates to attain a high level of knowledge across many topics. Most feel that having a thorough understanding of a few topics is more critical to their hiring needs. Highway capacity and geometric design were cited as the most important topics for undergraduates to understand. Highway capacity and the use of transportation-related publications were identified as the most important topics for graduate students.

Monograph Accession #:

01042056

Report/Paper Numbers:

07-1623

Language:

English

Corporate Authors:

Transportation Research Board

500 Fifth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001 United States

Authors:

Thomas, Gary B

Pagination:

9p

Publication Date:

2007

Conference:

Transportation Research Board 86th Annual Meeting

Location: Washington DC, United States
Date: 2007-1-21 to 2007-1-25
Sponsors: Transportation Research Board

Media Type:

CD-ROM

Features:

Tables (9)

Subject Areas:

Administration and Management; Education and Training; Research; Transportation (General); I10: Economics and Administration

Source Data:

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2007 Paper #07-1623

Files:

TRIS, TRB

Created Date:

Feb 8 2007 6:17PM