Engineering educators

Engineering educators work incredibly hard to prepare students for a career in engineering. As an educator, you are often the first connection aspiring engineers will have with the profession. The information you provide and the way you speak about the profession of engineering sets a tone that lasts with students for many years.

Across hundreds of disciplines and specialties, engineers play a critical role in our society, from designing groundbreaking innovations to driving the solutions to the biggest challenges our society faces.

Like many integral professions that are dedicated to serving the public, engineering is a licensed profession. The education provided to an engineering graduate is a foundational stepping stone from which they can move forward and become a fully licensed engineer.

You can help set students on a path where their engineering education makes a real difference in the lives of Canadians and others across the world. This includes helping students to understand more about licensure, its value as a professional, and when it’s required. Just as you would encourage students to fully understand and engage with their coursework, you can inspire your students to really explore what the profession has to offer for graduates who pursue licensure after school.

There are many valuable reasons to promote licensure:

Go all the way: After investing countless hours and hard work into a degree, encourage your students to take the next step to achieve a P. Eng. Getting a degree is only the first step on the pathway to becoming a professional engineer.
Career advantages. Set your students on the path to a rewarding career in engineering by understanding the value of a P.Eng. as a credential sought out by top employers that will provide access to the best jobs and opportunities for their future. Encourage them to take co-op opportunities where they can work directly with licensed engineers and see for themselves the possibilities available to them as a licensed professional.
Legal requirement. Help your students understand that obtaining a license is not just a recommendation, it’s the law and a crucial step in their journey to becoming a professional engineer in Canada.
Invest in the next generation. Invest in the next generation by mentoring them to help them achieve their professional designation and preparing them for what it takes to achieve a professional designation (P.Eng.).
Ethics, professionalism, and respect. Instill in your students the commitment to uphold the highest standards of safety, ethics and professionalism, and inspire your students to achieve the highest level of achievement by becoming a licensed engineer.
Making a difference every day. From designing groundbreaking innovations to driving the solutions to the biggest challenges our society faces, licensed engineers are making a difference in the world every day. Licensed engineers are trusted to take the lead in solving the complex problems of society.

Furthermore, for students who are keen and ambitious, you can guide them towards undergraduate programs that are offered by regulators. They will be able to find everything from mentors, to scholarships and grants, to lecture and talks given by licensed engineers. See the Programs for undergraduates table to see what is offered in your province or territory and set you students up for success.

Diversifying the profession

Increasingly, as a profession, engineers strive to ensure that solutions and new technologies are built around the concept of equity, that they include a diverse group of people in their construction and implementation, that they promote connection, and that they are created with careful consideration of the massive impact our work can have on everyday lives.

Increasing equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging in engineering has well-known economic benefits – diverse teams of engineers produce greater innovation and greater economic success, and professions with greater EDI attract and retain the best and brightest minds to their profession.

But the economic benefits are not the only reason, nor even the main reason, engineering should focus on achieving more equity. More importantly, keeping equity front of mind should become the new baseline for good engineering design and a proven factor in the profession’s ability to ensure that that they are serving the diverse needs of society. When people are ignored or excluded from engineering, it creates flawed products and causes new problems and barriers in society.

Education of new engineering graduates is one key part of the engineering pathway where the needs of minority and historically excluded groups must be kept in mind and supported as they enter engineering and take their place in a profession that is in need of their unique skills and perspectives.

Supporting your students

There are organizations and communities that exist with the purpose of creating brave and safe spaces for folks of various social identities and positionalities in engineering. This is a partial list of resources to recommend to your students to support them throughout their engineering journey:

Additionally, some regulators provide specific supporting programs for marginalized groups; for example, Manitoba’s regulator has a Women's Mentorship Program separate from its general Mentorship Program for students, as well as an Indigenous Members Chapter and New Brunswick’s regulator offers a program called Connections that can connect equity-deserving groups with professionals who can assist in their journey to licensure. Encourage your students to see what programs and services they may be eligible for on Pathway’s Students page.