Given the increasing research that shows BME students are considering career options outside of engineering industry positions, it is important to also understand how those students navigate a BME undergraduate degree.Ī greater understanding of why students pursue BME in relation to their career goals can inform how BME programs advertise to attract students, how programs support students in career exploration, and how programs develop strategic partnerships with BME graduate employers. programs, etc.), 11, 29 leaving other post-graduate career options such as consulting or clinical BME work underexplored. Currently, career placement discussions in the BME education literature have focused on careers in industry or placement in graduate-level programs (e.g., medical school, Ph.D. 31 Recent research indicates that BME students are less likely than their peers in other engineering disciplines to pursue engineering industry careers, 7, 29 which has implications for how universities support student career exploration and placement in BME. While industry-focused studies have indicated that research should explore how BME educators can support students pursing industry positions upon graduation, they often do not consider the many other career interests and pathways of BME graduates. 2, 3, 12 Further, measures related to industry competitiveness, such as co-op or internship opportunities, BME graduate to BME industry job availability ratios, and average BME graduate salaries, show a disadvantage to BME students, and thus, support these critiques. 1, 19, 31 However, the diversity and breadth of topic areas covered in curricula from program to program has been criticized in relation to preparing students for BME-related careers, particularly for those in industry. BME undergraduate programs across the United States have created curricula that are intentionally broad and diverse, which has allowed students to pursue a wide variety of careers upon graduation. 21 This interest in solving interdisciplinary problems links strongly to BME program curricula, particularly at the undergraduate level. The first biomedical engineering (BME) programs began with engineers who were interested in solving interdisciplinary problems at the interface of engineering, biology, and medicine. Additionally, we suggest strategies for BME departments to consider for supporting students through the degree into a career. Based on these results, we propose research that explores how students move through a BME degree into a career and how career-relevant competencies are communicated in job searches. Participants also discussed the unique career-relevant skills they developed as a BME student, and the career-placement tradeoffs they associated with getting a BME undergraduate degree. Findings indicated that students pursued a BME degree for reasons beyond BME career aspirations, most interestingly as a means to complete an engineering degree that they felt would have interesting enough content to keep them engaged. An open coding data analysis approach explored careerperceptions of students nearing completion of a BME undergraduate degree. This study adds to that conversation by asking: How do BME students describe their career interests and perceived job prospects in relation to why they pursue a BME degree? A qualitative study of BME students was performed at a public, R1 institution using semi-structured interviews at three timepoints across an academic year. Scholars are also pushing for research that examines engineering careers in a broader context, beyond traditional industry positions. This persistence may relate to graduates’ other career interests, though limited research examines where BME students go and why. While some statistics support this concern, students continue to pursue and persist through BME degrees. A common perception of biomedical engineering (BME) undergraduates is that they struggle to find industry jobs upon graduation.
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