Improving competences of engineering graduates through student industrial secondments : a study in East Africa
Date
2022-02
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Publisher
Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Research Organization (STIPRO), Tanzania
Abstract
Relative shortage of engineering practitioners in sub-Saharan Africa has been reported as a major concern in many studies on industrial and technological development of the region. However, the region simultaneously records a significant number of existing engineering graduates who find it difficult to find employment in engineering fields. While that situation reflects the inability to absorb human capital in industrial processes, it can also be partly explained by a relative deficit (real or perceived) in the competency of local engineering graduates in the ever-advancing areas of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and/or a scarcity in opportunities to hone and demonstrate competency of local engineering graduates in the labour market. Consequently, local engineering graduates have inadequate hands-on experience needed in industries as well as for establishing start-up engineering firms/businesses. To address this situation, it was postulated that promoting engineering student industrial secondment (SIS) programmes can be a suitable approach to strengthening the linkages between engineering education, practice and employability.
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Keywords
ENGINEERS, SKILL GAP, STEM, SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY ENGINEERING AND MATHEMATICS, LABOUR MARKET, STUDENT INDUSTRIAL SECONDMENT PROGRAMMES, SOUTH OF SAHARA