The Global Career Impact Study (GCIS) team is excited to share highlights from their recent presentation at the 2024 Annual Colloquium on International Engineering Education (ACIEE). The presentation, titled "Developing a Survey to Study the Impact of Global Undergraduate Experiences on Engineers’ Career Pathways", showcased the project’s methodology, early insights, and future directions.

Led by Dr. Kirsten Davis, with Lexy Arinze and Joe Tort, the GCIS project explores how global learning experiences during and after college influence engineers' career development, particularly in relation to global job tasks and intercultural competence. The research is grounded in Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) and is supported by the National Science Foundation (EEC-2308607).

The presentation outlined findings from a pilot survey and ongoing large-scale deployment targeting alumni from three long-running global engineering programs. Attendees learned how the team designed and refined the survey to assess global career outcomes, and how they are using both quantitative and qualitative data to examine themes such as global career interests, job task confidence, and the influence of study abroad experiences.

Key features of the study include:

• A rigorous multi-phase survey design

• Participation from alumni across three U.S. research institutions

• Guidance from an Industrial and Research Advisory Board

• Insights from pilot survey metrics (e.g., time-to-complete feedback and variable significance testing)

The GCIS team continues to collect and analyze data, with plans to publish findings and provide practical recommendations for global engineering programs. The study is housed within the GLIDE Research Lab at Purdue and aims to shape how institutions understand and support global career readiness.