Holistic Success in Higher Education in Engineering and Technology: A Coaching Approach Towards Developing Complete Graduates

Abstract

The current shortage of engineers in Australia has
been attributed to a gap between engineering education and
practice. Despite the demand for engineers, there is a
significant percentage of engineering graduates with
Australian degrees who do not secure employment as
engineers, especially amongst foreign graduates. Given the
importance of Australian engineering education in light of the
increasing intake of international engineering students by
Australian universities especially from Asia, a clear correlation
needs to be made between engineering higher education, future
job performance, job progression and success in a global
context to close this gap. The coaching approach to learning
and teaching has been proven to be an effective way to develop
people in the workplace. A pilot coaching program is offered to
Engineering and Technology students in Queensland
University of Technology to enable holistic growth in order to
better integrate them to the work force and society at large. It
is hoped that the results and findings of this program will shed
new insights into the holistic development of graduates in these
disciplines.