The Impact of Digitalization on Industrial Engineering Students’ Training from the Perspective of Their Insertion in the Labor Market in a Sustainable Economy: A Students’ Opinions Survey
Abstract
:1. Introduction
- Are industrial engineering students aware of the digital transition challenges, and how affected are they by the ongoing transformation?
- Are they satisfied with the training provided by the university to help them integrate into a sustainable economy?
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. The External Context of UBc in Terms of Digital Transformation and Labor Market
2.2. Purpose of the Study
- Identify the extent to which students are aware of the new technologies that have emerged as a result of the industry’s digital revolution;
- Gather the students’ opinions regarding the implications of industry digitalization;
- Identify the students’ perceptions of the impact of education digitalization from the perspective of training skills for the labor market;
- Identify the students’ perceptions of their own level of digital skills;
- Identify the weaknesses that students consider the university should overcome to prepare a skilled workforce in emerging technologies.
2.3. The Study Sample
2.4. The Design of the Survey
3. Results
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
- Yes, more than 50% of industrial engineering students understand how the digital transformation affects their training as specialists and their access to the job market.
- No, up to 40% of industrial engineering students indicated that the university needs to make additional efforts in the following areas to facilitate their integration into a sustainable economy:
- Supplement the curriculum with specialized courses in emerging technologies;
- Intensify students’ counseling, including on the digital transition, its challenges, and its risks;
- Upgrade the university’s infrastructure with equipment and software in the field of emerging technologies;
- Assist students who lack or have insufficient resources to carry out a qualitative digitalized education process;
- Stimulate women to participate in skilling, upskilling, and reskilling programs in STEM fields.
Limitations and Future Directions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Ref. | Year | Research Topic | Students’ Training Field | Country |
---|---|---|---|---|
[24] | 2015 | Students’ digital skills development and their compliance with mandatory norms and employers needs | Marine engineering | Romania |
[25] | 2018 | Transformation of manufacturing systems toward Industry 4.0 and the required skills | Engineering | Greece |
[26] | 2020 | Data strategic design for the development of curriculum to support sustainable industry | Industrial engineering | Spain |
[27] | 2022 | Engineering students’ traits and competencies linked to entrepreneurship | Engineering | Romania |
[28] | 2022 | Development of “student firm” by using digitalization and e-learning approach | Engineering | Slovakia |
[29,30,31,32] | 2019–2021 | Employability of engineering students | Engineering | India, Indonesia, England, Australia |
[33] | 2022 | Role of digital education in the development of skills and employability of engineering students | Engineering | China |
[34] | 2023 | Analysis of digital competences of students pursuing engineering and related careers | Engineering | Chile |
[35] | 2020 | Review of competencies allowing future professionals to work effectively in Industry 4.0 | Engineering, Business, Design | Mexico and USA |
[36] | 2019 | Investigation of Industry 4.0 skills for engineering profession | Engineering | South Africa |
Students | Bachelor 1st Year | Bachelor 2nd Year | Bachelor 3rd Year | Bachelor 4th Year | Master’s, 1st Year | Master’s, 2nd Year | Doctorate | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Females | 10 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 2 | 43 |
Males | 25 | 23 | 15 | 24 | 18 | 5 | 2 | 112 |
Study Cycle | Bachelor | Master’s | Doctorate | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Age [Years] | ||||
Females | 26.16 | 28.94 | 37 | |
Males | 24.55 | 28.65 | 38.5 |
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Raveica, I.C.; Olaru, I.; Herghelegiu, E.; Tampu, N.C.; Radu, M.-C.; Chirita, B.A.; Schnakovszky, C.; Ciubotariu, V.A. The Impact of Digitalization on Industrial Engineering Students’ Training from the Perspective of Their Insertion in the Labor Market in a Sustainable Economy: A Students’ Opinions Survey. Sustainability 2024, 16, 7499. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177499
Raveica IC, Olaru I, Herghelegiu E, Tampu NC, Radu M-C, Chirita BA, Schnakovszky C, Ciubotariu VA. The Impact of Digitalization on Industrial Engineering Students’ Training from the Perspective of Their Insertion in the Labor Market in a Sustainable Economy: A Students’ Opinions Survey. Sustainability. 2024; 16(17):7499. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177499
Chicago/Turabian StyleRaveica, Ionel Crinel, Ionel Olaru, Eugen Herghelegiu, Nicolae Catalin Tampu, Maria-Crina Radu, Bogdan Alexandru Chirita, Carol Schnakovszky, and Vlad Andrei Ciubotariu. 2024. "The Impact of Digitalization on Industrial Engineering Students’ Training from the Perspective of Their Insertion in the Labor Market in a Sustainable Economy: A Students’ Opinions Survey" Sustainability 16, no. 17: 7499. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177499