Bunmi Babajide

Dissertation Defense: October 3, 2019
Committee: Dr. Michael Loui, Bill Oakes (co-chair), Mary Pilotte, Brent Jesiek, and Ed Berger

Onboarding Early-Career Engineers: Knowledge and Skill Acquisition in Rotational Programs

Each year, employers invest substantial time, money, and resources in onboarding programs for new employees. In particular, engineering and manufacturing firms provide extensive training programs for new engineers. In one kind of training program, the rotational onboarding program (ROP), new engineers rotate through assignments in multiple departments to gain experience in different parts of the employer’s organization. This dissertation study investigated the knowledge and skills that early-career engineers developed through ROPs by comparing the experiences of engineers who had participated in an ROP and direct-hire engineers who had not. This study also identified the factors that contributed to the engineers’ perceptions of improvements in their knowledge and skills. 

The dissertation study took an explanatory mixed-methods approach, with a quantitative phase followed by a qualitative phase. In the quantitative phase, a diverse sample of early-career engineers responded to a survey that captured their perceptions of the gains between their undergraduate and current levels of knowledge and skills in 11 learning outcome categories. The sample comprised 67 engineers who had participated in an ROP and 50 direct-hire engineers. The survey results indicate that the ROP engineers perceived significantly higher gains than the direct-hire engineers in five learning outcomes. In the qualitative phase, 24 of the engineers who had taken the survey were interviewed. 14 engineers who had participated in an ROP and 10 direct-hire engineers. The interview data suggest that the ROP engineers developed professional networks within their ROP cohort and across the departments in which they had worked.

This dissertation study offers insights for both universities and employers. For universities, this study shows how the undergraduate experiences of early-career engineers contribute to their knowledge and skills in engineering practice. For employers, the study’s findings show which aspects of ROPs most benefit early-career engineers.

Memories with Bunmi

October 2015: Bunmi presenting at the 2015 FIE Annual Conference in El Paso, Texas

November 2015: Bunmi visiting with fellow PhD students Nathan and Richard after the 2015 Interdisciplinary Engineering Colloquium in the Kurz Atrium of the Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering.