Track: Engineering Management

Abstract

Background: Engineering Management (EM) has a long history in Australia as far back as 1968. However, a review of scholarly papers has revealed a lack of attention from researchers for this discipline in the past 10 years, especially topics about industrial demand and competency.

Purpose: This paper is to provide a review of current EM practices in Australia, classified into Occupation and Market demand, Professional Society, and Required Qualifications and Competency.

Methodology: A review of EM practices in Australia has been conducted through 24 scholarly papers from 1991 to 2022 along with a statistical analysis of data from government and professional society.

Findings: The review has revealed the increasing market demand for engineering managers (EMers). Temporary and permanent visa has been offered since 2005 and 2012 respectively to fill the gap in the domestic market. The EM career path with required years of experience and the trend of qualifications are also synthesized from different research and data. Different from the US, Australia is lacking a professional society that is dedicated to the management and promotion of this discipline in the country. EM competency is currently defined by Engineers Australia (EA) only for migration purposes.

Implications: The paper raises the awareness of management skills for all engineers on their engineering career path. This paper also provides implications for strategic plans, particularly for educational institutions in developing engineering management programs. Further, recommendations for future research directions are outlined.

Originality: This is the first literature review paper on EM practices in Australia.