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One current gap in many engineering programs is a focus on teaching students how to create relationships with professionals from scratch, aka build social capital at the organizations where they might want to work after graduation. The skillset of building professional relationships is considered the most important aspect of career education because it accelerates the career exploration process, leads to internship and job opportunities, and increases student’s self-confidence related to life after college (NACE, 2020). This is particularly relevant as 80% of jobs and internships are not advertised (Designing Your Life, 2018). These internships and jobs are located in what is referred to as the hidden job market. Structured practice in this career skill is key to reducing opportunity gaps particularly for students from historically minoritized backgrounds who are less able to rely on family or friend networks to build these professional relationships.
To fill this current career education gap, we have begun to offer a class dedicated to this professional networking. This 1-unit interdisciplinary course, based on professor Sean O’Keefe’s Career Launch Academy curriculum is designed to teach and guide students to be intentional and proactive to build professional relationships from scratch. Students learn how to access companies and organizations they are interested in. As a result of the course, students increase their self-confidence and professional skills to access the hidden job market.
ASCI 10/ENGR 35
ASCI 10/ENGR 35
We have offered this interdisciplinary 1-unit course twice, during the winter quarter in 2022 and again in winter 2023.
vs ENGR 35
vs ENGR 35
We have offered an engineering-only version of this course specifically for our engineering students, both in fall 2022 and currently in fall 2023. This was offered through our General Engineering department, and the format and content is largely the same, allowing for comparison to our interdisciplinary-listed course.
Content delivery for both courses is largely taught asynchronously in a microlearning format, a learning pedagogy defined as a “brief and targeted learning approach where learners consume instructional content in short chunks or bites”. The content was delivered via text message and email that contains a link to a personalized student portal. These bite-sized pieces are prepared using various media types to make them more interesting, easy-to-consume and assimilate. The course also includes Sean O’Keefe’s interactive workbook, and five weekly group coaching sessions hosted by course instructors; these coaching sessions were done synchronously and in-person as allowed by COVID precautions.
For more information - we have recently published a full paper as part of the Americal Society for Engineering Educators 2024 Annual Conference!
J. Kuczenski, C. Sabatier, “Connecting the Dots: Professional Networking for Engineering Students”, in ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, OR, 2024. Accepted for publication, 2024. Permalink TBD.
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