Abstract
Despite the need to prepare engineers for leadership in the workforce, the civil engineering curriculum lacks formal leadership education. The limited focus on leadership in the curriculum raises questions of how and where students are developing leadership competencies. Social capital, the resources embedded in an individual’s social network, may play a significant role in the development of students’ leadership competencies. Yet little is known about how civil engineering students access and activate their social networks and what leadership-related benefits social capital provides. Using an asset-based approach and applying social capital theory, the present research investigated the role of social capital in leadership development of civil engineering undergraduates. In 14 semistructured interviews with students across the US, students identified several sources of social capital in their social networks. Students activated this social capital through observation and conversation with industry mentors, peers, family, and faculty; participation in out-of-class activities; and identification of leadership roles they could take on. Recommendations based on this work include facilitating safe and welcoming spaces where students can approach civil engineering faculty members and industry professionals with questions about their careers and futures.
Practical Applications
This study explored how civil engineering students develop leadership competencies to prepare for a career in civil engineering. Civil engineers require leadership development as they must make ethical, safe, and sustainable decisions to address future infrastructure challenges and design and construct large-scale projects. By interviewing 14 civil engineering students, we found further evidence that undergraduate civil engineering students are developing leadership competencies beyond the classroom. They are using various forms of social capital, in the form of interactions with industry mentors, peers, family, and faculty, that they tap into via their social networks and out-of-class activities. Findings from this work highlight the importance of educating civil engineering students on social capital and how to best access and activate it. Applications of this work include a call for civil engineering educators, mentors, and internship supervisors to shift conversations with students away from only the technical specifics of class or internship assignments and toward the importance of social networks and out-of-class activities. To have a better prepared future generation of civil engineers, civil engineering academics and industry leaders must seek to include students in conversations and decision making about professional preparation and leadership development.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, including student transcripts, codebooks, and tables can be made available by request from the corresponding author. Data will remain unidentified and no identifying data (i.e., participant names, schools, locations, or emails) will be disclosed.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the participants for taking the time to participate in interviews as well as the funding received from the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 1931371.
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Published In
Journal of Civil Engineering Education
Volume 149 • Issue 3 • July 2023
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 3, 2022
Accepted: Feb 16, 2023
Published online: Apr 22, 2023
Published in print: Jul 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Sep 22, 2023
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