Criteria civil engineers use in deciding whether or not to participate in non-credit continuing engineering education programs

What civil engineers consider important in educational programs is addressed so that planned programs are fiscally viable and engineers are prepared to protect the welfare of society. A qualitative naturalistic inquiry approach was implemented with 39 civil engineers, randomly selected from civil engineering graduates of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign between 1979 and 1985 and working in Illinois within 100 miles of Urbana-Champaign, interviewed and the audiotape data content analyzed. It appears that civil engineers that have experienced trigger events and transitions have a greater chance of participating in educational programs for a duration longer than a week a year. They prefer information be presented to them as applied practical examples with or without theories. They are more likely to attend programs if they prefer lecture format. Their attendance at programs was content-driven and goals from education were important to them. If their companies have a dedicated continuing education budget, they are more likely to participate more than a week a year. From the findings a new model of Participation Criteria, a teeter-totter, was developed. On one side are the facilitating factors of content, trigger events, and requirement of course, and on the other side are the barriers of cost, time constraints, the lack of company support. The combination of these criteria determines whether the engineer participates or not. Recommendations include education providers emphasizing the content of programs and its links to the educational needs caused by trigger events and transitions. Instruction should be presented in applied practical examples. The content should be directed toward their present job and offered by alternatives to lecture when possible. Employers of civil engineers should provide continuing education budgets, salary and promotion incentive goals to encourage professional development. Future research directions include the study of trigger events and transitions of engineers, the engineer's definitions of cost and time barriers, alternative delivery methods, and applications of the model of Participation Criteria.