The Master of Science in Energy Systems Engineering program at Uppsala University started in 2000 and 221 students has graduated since. This master thesis aims to answer what competencies alumni considers most important for successful professional practice. It also seeks to find out how these competencies are reflected in the program to identify potential gaps between importance and how the competencies are being prepared. With inspiration from similar research a method has been developed consisting of two steps: (1) A survey and (2) interviews with alumni. The alumni survey rates the professional importance of 13 competencies and how well the corresponding competency is prepared in the program. The survey serves as an analytical lens to find focus areas for the interviews, where the research seeks deeper understanding about why the competencies are important and how they are reflected in the program. The survey also produced solid statistical data to back up the main findings. The study identified that competencies that go beyond the traditional technical foundation in engineering was deemed most important: Communication, life-long learning, teamwork, interpersonal skills, complex problem solving and system thinking. Distinct gaps in preparation were identified in several of the areas that are considered important: Communication, teamwork and leadership. Ethics was also found as being distinct under-prepared. More areas that needed clarification were identified, which the interviews provided. The findings about what engineering alumni considers most important in professional practice are consistent with many other similar studies, which provides a stronger element of acknowledgement in the thesis.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:uu-208894 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Thebo, Nils |
| Publisher | Uppsala universitet, Fysikundervisningens didaktik |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
| Relation | UPTEC ES, 1650-8300 ; 13042 |
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