Abstract:

The teaching of engineering in a knowledge economy has several challenges. One of them is to place the same emphasis on social, political and attitudinal competences as on technological ones, within their curricular models. The Ibero-American Association of Engineering Education Institutions, in 2016, agreed that the priority competencies in the social, political and attitudinal areas should be:
(1) To perform effectively in work teams;
(2) Communicate effectively;
(3) Act with ethics, professional responsibility and social commitment, considering the economic, social and environmental impact of their activity in the local and global context;
(4) Learn continuously and autonomously; and
(5) Act with an entrepreneurial spirit.

In this context, the National Polytechnic School, category A university, located in Ecuador, mainly responsible for the training of engineers, must understand how it is contributing to the formation of these competences.The present investigation studied the own perception of the students of engineering on the development of their social, political and attitudinal competences, and the contribution of the university in the formation of these.

Using a questionnaire based on the social, political and attitudinal competencies defined as necessary for an engineer, the research was conducted on a sample of 100 engineering students.

The result of this quantitative study demonstrated that some changes are needed in the curricular model of the university, if it want that your graduates to be able to function properly in the professional world, because the research found that a group of students possess a very low perception of their own abilities.

Keywords:

Engineering, social competences, knowledge economy, Escuela Politécnica Nacional.