What is engineering education for? Listening to the voices of some Spanish building engineers

Abstract

Aristotle’s concepts of “episteme”, “techne” and “phronesis” are used to understand the relevance of the education that Spanish building engineers receive to their subsequent work as construction site managers. This paper aims to clarify the role of educational factors as they influence any disparities that building engineers who are working as site managers may feel. More specifically, the objectives are to explore the satisfactions and dissatisfactions they experience in doing their job; to describe the ways they find to cope with educational deficiencies; and to gather their suggestions for improving building engineering education. Using an interpretive approach within the qualitative paradigm, this study draws on data obtained from semi-structured interviews with a sample of 34 building engineers working as site managers in Castilla-La Mancha (Spain). According to the site managers themselves, Spanish universities mainly teach Aristotle’s episteme (abstract knowledge and general principles) and some techne (applied, technical knowledge and skills), which fall short of the expectations placed upon them by their employers. Because of the chosen research approach, the sample size is relatively small and results may lack generalisability. The results have practical implication for building engineering curriculum design related to the enhancement of building engineers employability and job satisfaction. The existing literature offers insight into job-educational mismatches of different occupations in different countries, drawing on survey questionnaires. There is, however, a gap in respect of Spain and the job of the construction site manager. This paper goes some way towards filling that gap, reporting on the experiences of some higher education “customers”: Spanish building engineers working as site managers.