For many reasons, stakeholders from academia and industry are urging universities to produce globally competent engineers. For example, the ABET EC 2000 outcomes require that engineering graduates "understand the impact of engineering solutions in a global, economic, environmental, and societal context" (p. 3). The view that engineers must be prepared to competently navigate a variety of cultural contexts is further expressed in the National Academy of Engineering's well-known The Engineer of 2020 and Educating the Engineer of 2020. Both reports argue that, among many other characteristics, engineers need to develop an awareness of sociocultural issues that have been and will continue impacting engineering practice. As put by Katehi, "U.S. engineers must become global engineers. They will have to know how to replenish their knowledge by self-motivated, self-initiated learning. They will have to be aware of socioeconomic changes and appreciate the impact of these changes on the social and economic landscape in the United States and elsewhere. The engineer of 2020 and beyond will need skills to be globally competitive over the length of her or his career" (pp. 152-153). But while this need may be well-recognized, the motivations for producing globally competent engineers vary across a number of stakeholders. For example, the Newport Declaration includes a very diverse set of rationales for global engineering education. The declaration characterizes how globalization dynamics and discourses affect traditional views of engineering, with regard to how it is taught and practiced. While recognizing the need to prepare engineers to support national economic prowess in a competitive world characterized by rapid social and technical changes, it also stresses the somewhat contrasting ideas of promoting global outreach, community, and collaboration. In the midst of seemingly paradoxical rationales, ranging from concerns of competition from industry to those voicing concerns of sustainable community development and global citizenship, multiple stakeholders find consensus on this sentiment - the time for globally competent engineers is nigh.
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