Scenario planning to envision potential futures for engineering education

Various technological, economic, and social developments may radically reshape engineering and computer science education in the next 20 to 30 years. Leaders in engineering education, such as IEEE, that play key roles must decide how they will innovate and support initiatives to improve engineering education. The IEEE's Curriculum and Pedagogical Committee (CPC), which is charged with helping IEEE forecast the future of engineering education and make decisions about IEEE's roles in preparing for and crafting that future, engaged in a scenario planning exercise to help understand how various influences and trajectories could influence engineering education. Scenario planning methodology has been used by many organizations making long-term investments. After considering influencers in the engineering education environment; important stakeholders and their roles; goals, constraints, and outcomes for key stakeholders; and potential uncertainties, the CPC identified two critical uncertainties over the next five years: (i) How will engineering programs innovate and adapt? (ii) What will be the values and competencies of engineering faculty? By considering two extremes for each of these uncertainties, the CPC crafted four scenarios, which are described in this paper, to characterize potential future trends and how different scenarios will influence the evolution of engineering education.