Academic success and job performance of engineering and scientific personnel

One type of information which is used by the management of engineering research and development (R&D) organizations to make hiring decisions for entry level engineering and scientific personnel is academic achievement or college grade point average (GPA). The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between the GPA and job performance of research engineers and scientists. The results of the study indicated that GPA generally was not related to job performance. However, GPA was found to have a somewhat stronger relationship with performance for employees receiving their degrees from less prestigious university departments than for employees from highly prestigious university departments. Overall, the data suggested that managers of engineering R&D organizations need to consider other information besides GPA in making selection decisions if they hope to improve their work force. Several additional selection techniques are discussed including: work sample problems, situational exercises, situational interviews, and personality type measures.