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Industry Members' Perceptions about ABET-based Accreditation: An Exploratory Study in a Developing Country

V. Sanchez Padilla, Albert Espinal, Jennifer M. Case, Jose Cordova-Garcia, Homero Murzi

TL;DR

The study investigates how industry members perceive ABET-based accreditation for an undergraduate engineering program in Ecuador, a developing country. It uses a qualitative case-study with semi-structured interviews of five advisory-board members to capture perceptions of competencies and the role of international accreditation. Findings indicate industry prioritizes ABET-aligned competencies such as communication, problem solving, and task planning, and views international alignment as a driver of educational quality and competitiveness, though awareness of accreditation among employers remains limited. The work highlights implications for industry–HEI collaboration and diffusion of accreditation information in developing contexts, offering guidance for other Latin American programs pursuing international accreditation.

Abstract

ABET accreditation is an increasingly prominent system of global accreditation of engineering programs, and the assessment requires programs to demonstrate that they meet the needs of the program's stakeholders, typically industrial potential employers of graduates. To obtain these inputs, programs are required to assemble an advisory committee board. The views of the advisory board on the relevance of the degree outcomes are an essential part of this process. The purpose of this qualitative research study is to explore the viewpoints that industry stakeholders have on this type of process. The context for the study was an Ecuadorian engineering program which had successfully achieved the ABET accreditation. The study drew on interviews undertaken with industry members who were part of the advisory board. This study focuses on how they perceive the process and the accreditation awarded, analyzing their views of its usefulness, especially in relation to the employability of graduates. Based on the findings, we offer critical insights into this accreditation process when it takes place in contexts beyond highly industrialized countries.

Industry Members' Perceptions about ABET-based Accreditation: An Exploratory Study in a Developing Country

TL;DR

The study investigates how industry members perceive ABET-based accreditation for an undergraduate engineering program in Ecuador, a developing country. It uses a qualitative case-study with semi-structured interviews of five advisory-board members to capture perceptions of competencies and the role of international accreditation. Findings indicate industry prioritizes ABET-aligned competencies such as communication, problem solving, and task planning, and views international alignment as a driver of educational quality and competitiveness, though awareness of accreditation among employers remains limited. The work highlights implications for industry–HEI collaboration and diffusion of accreditation information in developing contexts, offering guidance for other Latin American programs pursuing international accreditation.

Abstract

ABET accreditation is an increasingly prominent system of global accreditation of engineering programs, and the assessment requires programs to demonstrate that they meet the needs of the program's stakeholders, typically industrial potential employers of graduates. To obtain these inputs, programs are required to assemble an advisory committee board. The views of the advisory board on the relevance of the degree outcomes are an essential part of this process. The purpose of this qualitative research study is to explore the viewpoints that industry stakeholders have on this type of process. The context for the study was an Ecuadorian engineering program which had successfully achieved the ABET accreditation. The study drew on interviews undertaken with industry members who were part of the advisory board. This study focuses on how they perceive the process and the accreditation awarded, analyzing their views of its usefulness, especially in relation to the employability of graduates. Based on the findings, we offer critical insights into this accreditation process when it takes place in contexts beyond highly industrialized countries.

Paper Structure

This paper contains 19 sections, 1 figure, 2 tables.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. Research relevance and contribution
  3. Literature Review
  4. Salient competencies considered by industry members
  5. Industry members collaboration with HEIs
  6. Conceptual Framework
  7. Methods
  8. Context and participants
  9. Data collection and instrument
  10. Data analysis and trustworthiness
  11. Findings
  12. Competencies that industry require from students and recent graduates
  13. Effective communication in workplaces to perform in teamwork
  14. Learning strategies for problem solving
  15. Task planning
  16. ...and 4 more sections

Figures (1)

  • Figure 1: Conceptual Framework proposed by Volkwein et al.