Work in progress — Creating industry ready Ph.D. graduates

The broad objective of this research is to investigate how engineering doctoral programs can better prepare graduates for careers in industry. Currently, less than 20% of engineering Ph.D. graduates work in academia. Preliminary results indicate that industry values research and leadership skills in their Ph.D. employees. Research skills can be categorized as experimental, computational or general research skills. In order to conduct research groups, Ph.D.s need interpersonal, visionary and lifelong learning leadership skills. With lifelong learning leadership skills, Ph.D.s can learn the business skills and discipline specific technical knowledge that is also valued by industry. Future work will indicate how doctoral programs are developing the knowledge, attributes and skills valued by industry and the attitudes and perceptions of potential Ph.D. candidates towards industry valued knowledge, attributes and skills.