Shaping Engineering Doctoral Education for the 21st-Century Knowledge Production

The purpose of doctoral education has shifted its focus to incorporate economic and societal demands. European transnational policies and funding initiatives have stressed the need to prepare doctoral candidates for diverse career paths, including those beyond academia. This is a relevant issue in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) doctoral education, as STEM doctoral graduates tend to pursue careers outside academia. Their preparation fuels industrial innovation while contributing to Europe's competitiveness. Consequently, higher education institutions are under pressure to develop doctoral education strategies addressing the alleged skills-mismatch or culture shock experienced by STEM doctoral graduates transitioning into non-academic sectors. The research strategy is based on an exploratory case-study, convening a mix-method research, to investigate a public Portuguese STEM higher education institution with 18 doctoral programs. This paper aims, firstly, to identify the extent to which there is an institutional doctoral education strategy to address skills-mismatches by developing transversal competencies at the doctoral level. Secondly, the paper aims to identify which of these competencies are prioritized by the institutional doctoral education. By examining institutional approaches and decision-making processes, this study contributes to the ongoing debate on how to prepare graduates for contemporary doctoral careers (within and beyond academia), while continuing to promote academic integrity and autonomy for curriculum development.