Developing Global Competence In Engineers: What Does It Mean? What Is Most Important?

A number of recent reports on the future of engineering education recommend that engineers develop “global competence.” Although this term is becoming more widely used, it isn’t always clear what it means. In this paper, we propose and define 13 dimensions or attributes of global competence. We report on the results of a survey of engineering educators and industry representatives on the importance of these attributes. This survey was initially conducted as part of a National Science Foundation sponsored summit on global engineering education. Introduction: Why Global Competence? In this paper we discuss what it means for engineers to develop global competence and why such competence is important. The globalization of engineering has been the result of a confluence of forces and changes taking place over the past two decades. 1 Perhaps ironically, technology developed by engineers has been a main driving force acting to change engineering practice. For example, advances in telecommunications now make possible inexpensive, real-time communication virtually anywhere in the world. Although now considered commonplace, this is a monumental achievement in the history of humankind. Worldwide communications have been accompanied by the development of low cost computing and the rise of the Internet as a means for organizing and sharing data. Along with technology, major geopolitical and economic changes have also facilitated the globalization of engineering. The past 20 years have seen the dissolution of the Soviet Union, whereby the 15 member states declared their independence and moved toward open societies and market economies. The European Union was formed and has become one of the largest single markets in the world, with a combined $17 trillion economy. China and India, representing more than one third of the world’s population, have become important players in global markets and technology development. Across the world, free trade barriers have dropped, and the influence of multi-national corporations has increased. As a result of these changes, product design and manufacture often cut across national boundaries. It is not uncommon for companies to develop products with teams that include members located throughout the world. These teams may reflect high cultural and national diversity. The products they design will often be for sale in numerous countries and therefore must address customer needs in those countries. Products may be manufactured abroad, with raw materials or sub-assemblies coming from various parts of the world. These changes require that engineers be able to work in a diverse, multi-national and multi-cultural environment. Besides these influences, however, perhaps the most compelling reason for global competence relates to the nature and scope of the problems faced by humankind. Recently, for example, the National Academy of Engineering issued a list of grand challenges for engineering. 4 Many of these are global in scope and relate to sustaining life on the planet, such as making solar energy economical, providing energy from fusion, developing carbon P ge 14455.2 sequestration methods, managing the nitrogen cycle, providing access to clean water, restoring and improving urban infrastructure, and preventing nuclear terror. These are critical problems which cut across ethnic, cultural and national boundaries, and they will require cooperation among nations and peoples if they are to be solved. Global Competence: What Does It Mean? In light of these developments, numerous reports and studies indicate that engineers need to be able to work in a global context. This ability is referred to by a number of terms, such as global citizenship, global perspective, cross-cultural or intercultural competence, global awareness, or, more frequently, global competence. Although the terminology seems to be converging, it is not clear that the definition of these terms has followed suit. For example, Grudzinski et al. note that “global citizenship” is a term used with increasing frequency to denote “a wide range of educational and philosophical aims.” Grandin and Hedderich discuss various definitions for global competence and comment on the “elusive” nature of this term. 6 If this ability is to be taught, developed and assessed, it must first be clearly defined. In this section we will review some of the definitions given in the literature. We start with some general definitions that apply across many disciplines. We then become more specific and look at definitions more focused on engineering. These definitions are presented in part to show the broad scope of knowledge and abilities encompassed by these terms. Deardorff interviewed 23 scholars in the field of intercultural education to obtain both a definition and a better understanding of the specific skills involved in “intercultural competence.” Among several definitions given, one of the most highly rated was, Five components: World knowledge, foreign language proficiency, cultural empathy, approval of foreign people and cultures, and ability to practice one’s profession in an international setting. We note that the last component, “the ability to practice one’s profession...” could clearly involve a number of more specific attributes. Hunter gives a definition developed by community college officials for a “globally competent learner,” a globally competent learner is one who is able to understand the interconnectedness of peoples and systems, to have a general knowledge of history and world events, to accept and cope with the existence of different cultural values and attitudes and, indeed, to celebrate the richness and benefits of this diversity. In terms of global competence for engineers, the definitions tend to be somewhat more specific. Some authors indirectly define this term by listing the attributes they believe students should develop. For example, James Duderstadt, former president and dean of engineering at the University of Michigan, described a competency that he called “global perspective:” 9 P ge 14455.3 ...it is important to stress the importance of a global perspective for engineering practice. Key is not only a deep understanding of global markets and organizations, but the capacity to work in multidisciplinary teams characterized by high cultural diversity, while exhibiting the nimbleness and mobility to address rapidly changing global challenges and opportunities. Patricia Galloway, former president of the American Society of Civil Engineers, also lists some of the attributes required of engineers in her book, The 21 Century Engineer, A Proposal for Engineering Reform. 10 She writes, A solid understanding of globalization is key to an engineer’s success in today’s global society. Globalization involves the ability to understand that the world economy has become tightly linked with much of the change triggered by technology; to understand other cultures, especially the societal elements of these cultures; to work effectively in multinational teams; to communicate effectively—both orally and in writing—in the international business language of English; to recognize and understand issues of sustainability; to understand the importance of transparency while working with local populations; and to understand public policy issues around the world and in the country in which one is working. It will be these fundamental capacities that will enable 21-century engineers to develop into professionals capable of working successfully both domestically and globally, highly respected by the general public and regarded...the world over as professionals of the highest order. Lohmann et al. discuss the wide scope of attributes which can be implied by the term “global competence.” They attempt to boil these down to three main areas, While these trends suggest a rather daunting educational challenge to prepare engineers for such a multifaceted engineering environment, three new skills and abilities required of future engineers seem to emerge from much of the conversation. First engineers need a broader multidisciplinary base of knowledge, especially in fields that were traditionally viewed as tangential to engineering education, such as global socio-economic and political systems, international commerce and world markets, environmental systems and research and technological innovation....Second, engineers need more refined and diverse interpersonal skills, particularly in global collaborations....Finally, engineers need the ability to live and work comfortably in a transnational engineering environment. As definitions of global competence are made more specific and are focused on engineers in particular, some of the characteristics of engineering profession come into play. For example, engineers are often considered to be problem solvers. Thus, Downey et al. discuss global competence for engineers primarily in terms of being able to work effectively with someone who defines problems differently: P ge 14455.4 ...the key achievement in the often-stated goal of working effectively with different cultures is learning to work effectively with people who define problems differently than oneself. ...the proposed learning criterion for the global competency of engineering students is as follows: Through course instruction and interactions, students will acquire the knowledge, ability, and predisposition to work effectively with people who define problems differently than they do. Many engineers work in some facet of product design or manufacturing. Product development often involves collaboration with geographically diverse teams and may involve remote manufacturing. Sanders and Patro provide a list of attributes that seem to refer to this part of engineering, “The future successful engineer will be one who: ≠ Will have a thorough knowledge and experience in working with complex supply chain networks. ≠ Can effectively function in a multi-cultural environment or