Improving Industrial Engineering Career Efficacy Through Introductory Course Design

This study seeks to further examine self-efficacy beliefs of engineering students beyond their first-year experience. Specifically, this study focuses on career efficacy, or student perceptions of their ability to succeed in a particular career field. A 41-question survey was distributed to undergraduate Industrial Engineering students in the United States. The survey was divided into four parts: student information, career efficacy, course information, and course evaluations. Recruitment for the survey was sent via email, and 231 students submitted complete and usable responses. Results demonstrated that discipline-specific introductory courses led to significantly higher levels of career efficacy when compared to general introductory courses. Additionally, junior and senior level students reported significantly higher levels of career efficacy than lower level students, as did those who were highly satisfied with their introductory course experience. Implications and guidelines based on these results for the design of introductory courses in Industrial Engineering are discussed.