Abstract:

The demand of Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM) graduates on the labour market throughout Europe is still greater than Austrian Higher Education Institutions (HEI) are able to satisfying. This makes IEM study programs very attractive to potential students and for HEIs (Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences). As a consequence, the Austrian IEM degree program landscape is growing rapidly, because Austrian federal law encouraged Universities of Applied sciences to establish a many industry-driven IEM degree programs in the last two decades. This effect has been reinforced by the change in the educational system on the European Union (EU) level. The “Bologna Process”, started in 1990, was aimed at improving both the transparency and the diversification of degree programs, with the goal of supporting the exchange of students within the EU. The problem HEIs currently are facing is that these circumstances lead to a dilution of the high standards of quality previously established by the Austrian, German and Swiss Associations of IEM. Thus, the local Association in Austria representing the interests of both the IEM students and the professional community in Austria, carries out comprehensive research every four years with a focus on the qualification profile of IEMs. This is to re-evaluate and update the educational standards within the existing IEM study programs. Because existing IEM degree program syllabuses are under a constant adaptation process, this paper offers the following key insights from the recent IEM survey in Austria: Firstly, an updated overview of the present IEM degree program landscape on Austrian HEIs, based on primary and a secondary data analysis in addition to a former study conducted in 2014 is presented. Secondly, the competence profile of IEM Professionals is displayed on the basis of two online primary data analyses among IEM Professionals and IEM Students (sample size: 5,805) and among HR managers (sample size: 1,850). In this study, a comparison of the current 46 IEM degree programs offered on Austrian HEIs was carried out. The comparison focused solely on Austria IEM programs that are recognized by the Austrian Alumni Association of IEM. This analysis shows the high importance of the subjects “General Business Economics“, “Project Management“ and “General Management” for IEMs. Furthermore, the analysis makes clear that IEM Professionals, IEM Students and HR Managers estimate the ideal ratio of “Technics” and “Economics“ subjects for an IEM degree program as approx. 60-to-40%. Referring to language competence, the language required most for Austrian IEM Professionals throughout their career is English, followed by French, Spanish and Italian. Additionally, the career path of IEM Professionals from their first to fourth job was analysed. This demonstrates that approx. 80 % of IEM Professionals develop over time, from operational tasks at the first job (e. g. as a Procurement Engineer), to leadership tasks in their following jobs (e. g. in senior management positions).

The results of this study may:
(i), provide HR managers as well as prospective students with the needed transparency throughout IEM study programs in Austria, and
(ii), make an empirically-packed analysis of IEM qualification profiles available that may help HEIs to (re-)design study programs in order to increase the likelihood of life-long employability of IEM professionals that have graduated from these Austrian HEIs.

Keywords:

Industrial Engineering and Management, Study Programs, Competences, Qualification Profile, Employability, Higher Education Institution, Bologna Process.