Data Dives

We have wrapped up the first part of our project, which involved asking more than 1,100 engineers to complete the Global Career Impact Study (GCIS) survey. About half of them (595 people) had taken part in an international or cross-cultural program during college, while the other half (543 people) had not.

What we found so far:

Demographics

• Engineers in both groups had similar demographics, though the target group included more women, more Asian respondents, and more graduates from mechanical, biomedical, chemical, and environmental engineering majors.
• See more here: /GCIS/research/Data Dive - Demographics.pdf

Global Experiences Summary

• Most students in the target group completed one global educational program with experiences typically lasting 4–10 months, and including some form of language training.
• See details here: /GCIS/research/Data Dive - Global Educational Program Data.pdf

Professional and Leadership Experiences

• Students with global program experience reported slightly more professional and leadership activities and consistently more non-travel intercultural experiences than those without such experience.
• See more here: /GCIS/research/Data Dive - Professional and Leadership Experiences.pdf

Salary Across the Career

• The target group tended to start with higher  salaries than the comparison group.
• See details here: /GCIS/research/Data Dive - Salaries.pdf

Global Experience & Training During Career

• Engineers with global program experience were more likely to have global experiences earlier their career compared to the comparison group.

• See data on travel and employer training here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Jk0PZMpJPv69YV9xlfgCouocYbXv4Lx4/view?usp=sharing

Reasons for not going Abroad

• Among those who didn’t study abroad, the biggest barriers were fitting a program into their degree plan, financial constraints, and lack of information. Yet nearly two-thirds said they wish they had participated.
• See details here: /GCIS/research/Data Dive - Reasons for not going Abroad.pdf

Global Experience Impact on Career

• Most engineers who participated in a global program felt it had at least “some impact,” and often a “strong impact,” on their careers, especially in becoming better teammates and pursuing global opportunities during their career.

• See data on the impact of global educational experiences on career pathways here: /GCIS/project-overview/Data Dive 2 - Global Experience Impact on Career.pdf