Industry Members' Perceptions about ABET-based Accreditation: An Exploratory Study in a Developing Country

TL;DR

This study explores industry stakeholders' perceptions of ABET accreditation in a developing country, highlighting its relevance, usefulness, and impact on graduate employability in a qualitative context.

Contribution

It provides novel insights into industry views on ABET accreditation in a developing country, an area with limited prior research.

Findings

Stakeholders see accreditation as valuable for employability.

Perceptions vary based on industrial context.

Accreditation enhances program credibility.

Abstract

ABET accreditation is an increasingly prominent system of global accreditation of engineering programs, and the assessment requires programs to demonstrate that they meet the needs of the program's stakeholders, typically industrial potential employers of graduates. To obtain these inputs, programs are required to assemble an advisory committee board. The views of the advisory board on the relevance of the degree outcomes are an essential part of this process. The purpose of this qualitative research study is to explore the viewpoints that industry stakeholders have on this type of process. The context for the study was an Ecuadorian engineering program which had successfully achieved the ABET accreditation. The study drew on interviews undertaken with industry members who were part of the advisory board. This study focuses on how they perceive the process and the accreditation awarded, analyzing their views of its usefulness, especially in relation to the employability of graduates. Based on the findings, we offer critical insights into this accreditation process when it takes place in contexts beyond highly industrialized countries.