Getting the hang of it: Engineering education from an end-user perspective

Abstract

Engineering education must not only be scientifically based, but also relevant to the future job market. Education incorporating elements of work-integrated learning (WIL) aims to achieve this by combining academic learning with practical work experience. This literature review examines WIL's impact on engineering education. Through a snowballing process, 29 empirical studies published between 2000 and 2023 were identified and analyzed. Key findings reveal that WIL enhances employability, fosters critical thinking, and improves problem-solving skills by connecting classroom concepts with real-world applications. Successful WIL programs depend on strong collaborations between educational institutions and industry stakeholders, structured support systems, and reflective learning practices. The review underscores the need for carefully designed WIL programs that integrate contextual understanding. Based on these findings, a new model for WIL in engineering education is proposed, in which elements of contextual understanding from an end-user perspective are accentuated. © 2025 International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning. All rights reserved.

Keywords

Author Keywords

Engineering education Literature review contextual understanding end-user

Index Keywords

Author Affiliations

Mälardalen University, Vasteras, Västmanland, Sweden

Funding & Acknowledgements

Volvo

Funding text 1: This work was funded in part by a strategic grant from Volvo Construction Equipment.; Funding text 2: The Journal is financially supported by the Work-Integrated Learning New Zealand (WILNZ; www.wilnz.nz), and

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Getting the hang of it: Engineering education from an end-user perspective

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