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Does an Engineering Degree Equal an Engineering Job? 
A look at engineering graduates and immigrants


In the previous edition of the Peel Halton Insights Report #48 Engineering Occupations in Peel Halton we profiled Peel and Halton residents who worked as engineers; specific occupations in which they were employed, in which industries, the share of engineers who were female or visible minorities, how many were self-employed, and their average employment income.

This edition of the Peel Halton Insights Report looks at the proportion of engineering degree holders who work as engineers and goes deeper into employer expectations in the hiring process that affects who gets engineering jobs.

Engineering degree holders and working in engineering
Engineering is a regulated profession in Ontario, which means that one requires a license or certificate to work in this occupation. Unlike unregulated occupations, it is not enough to acquire the educational certificate to work in this field. For many regulated professions, immigrants in particular have a harder time getting work in these fields because of the licensing requirements.

Less than half of individuals who have an engineering degree actually work in engineering occupations.

Engineering is unique among the regulated occupations in that less than half of individuals who have an engineering degree actually work in engineering occupations. This applies to both Canadian-born as well as immigrants, although immigrants with an engineering degree are especially less likely to work as engineers. 

Match Rate
Table 1 compares a number of regulated occupations in terms of the percentage of individuals with degrees in that field who work in that occupation. This is called the “match rate.” The table provides the match rate for both Canadian-born and for immigrants. The data is for 2006, which is the most recent data for these occupations that is easily accessible. The last column calculates the immigrant match rate as a percentage of the match rate for Canadian-born degree holders.

Match rates of employed workers working in their corresponding occupation, Canadian-born and immigrants, Canada, 2006

    
So, for all regulated occupations, 62% of Canadian-born degree holders who are employed work in their respective field, whereas only 24% of immigrants who received their degrees outside of Canada work in their field of study. The resulting comparison is that the foreign-educated immigrant match rate is 39% that of Canadian-born.

There are a few occupations where both Canadian-born and foreign-educated immigrants have match rates of over 50%:
  • Medicine
  • Chiropractics
  • Occupational therapy
  • Nursing
Engineering is the only occupation where both Canadian-born and foreign-educated immigrants have match rates of less than 50%. 

In fact, in 2006 only two out of every five (42%) Canadian-born engineering degree holders worked in engineering, and only one of every five (19%) foreign-educated immigrants who had an engineering degree worked in engineering.

These figures have held for 2011 in Ontario: 21% of foreign-educated residents who had an engineering degree were working in engineering, and 38% of residents who held an engineering degree from a Canadian university worked in engineering.[i]
 
The 2011 data also includes other information regarding the Ontario labour market outcomes of engineering degree holders. Of those with engineering degrees earned in Canada, in addition to those who worked in engineering jobs, another 41% worked in jobs that required a university degree. To put it another way, 21% of workers with engineering degrees from a Canadian school were employed in jobs that did not require a university degree.

Among those with engineering degrees earned outside of Canada, the outcomes were even worse. A further 35% held jobs that required a university degree. Therefore, among those with an engineering degree earned outside of Canada, 44% worked in jobs that did not require a university degree.

The numbers involved are considerable: fully half of all employed individuals with an engineering degree in Ontario obtained their degree outside of Canada (112,955 individuals), compared to 112,535 who earned their engineering degree in Canada. Which means that there are around 49,474 individuals with an engineering degree earned outside of Canada who are working in a job that does not require a university degree, compared to a total of 67,045 individuals who are employed as engineers (regardless of where they got their degree). 

The number of foreign-educated engineering degrees holders who are under-employed is equal to three-quarters (73.8%) of all engineering jobs in Ontario.

Women and engineering
As we wrote in the PH Insights Report #48 Engineering Occupations in Peel Halton, it is clear that women hold a considerably smaller share of engineering jobs. Looked at in terms of engineering degree holders, women make up almost 18% of all engineering degree holders in Ontario, yet they account for only 13% of engineering occupations. Of all women with engineering degrees, only 22% are employed in engineering occupations. More women engineering degree holders (39%) than men (31%) worked in jobs that did not require a university degree.

Of all women with engineering degrees, only 22% are employed in engineering occupations.
Of all immigrant women with engineering degrees, only 14% are employed in engineering occupations.


This circumstance is particularly affected by the outcomes for immigrant women. Of those women who received their engineering degree outside of Canada, only one in seven (14%) worked in engineering occupations. In fact, 49% (almost half) of women who earned their engineering degrees outside of Canada worked in jobs that did not require a university degree.

Hiring practices and labour market outcomes for immigrant engineers
These findings, particularly the much poorer labour market outcomes for those holding engineering degrees from outside Canada, raised considerable alarm for the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers, who commissioned the original data analysis but also followed it up with a qualitative exploration of the issue, relying on surveys and interviews of engineering employers and employees.[ii] The result of their analysis was the following conclusion: what Canadian engineering employers look for in a job candidate is not how foreign-educated engineers present themselves. In part, this has to do with the difference in how engineering work is conducted inside Canada versus how it is conducted in those countries from where many immigrants come.

Essentially, engineering work in Canada is typically carried out in a team fashion while outside of North America, functional hierarchies are perceived to be more common. As a result, teamwork and communication skills are considered to be more important in the Canadian context while functional hierarchies will tend to place more exclusive emphasis on technical skills.

When it comes to recruitment, Canadian firms will seek evidence of teamwork and communication skills which includes experience that demonstrates these capabilities in practice. Individuals coming from a experiences which rely on a functional hierarchy will be more likely to play up their technical abilities and educational credentials, and when referring to experience, are more likely to highlight technical abilities rather than give appropriate attention to softer skills.

Experience becomes an important indicator. The report summary expresses it in the following way:
  • The objective of the recruitment process is to identify persons who have the most relevant industry experience, fit into workplace culture and the expected role for engineers, and have industry-specific technical knowledge. For most employers, relevant industry experience is a “hurdle requirement.” Roughly 80 per cent of job applications are filtered out because the résumés and cover letters do not demonstrate experience that is relevant to the job posting.
Other issues also contribute to the challenges faced by internationally-educated engineers:
  • Language: Almost two-thirds of the employers surveyed felt that foreign-educated engineers should include in their application an independent assessment of their English language proficiency.
  • Sub-industry match: The survey of internationally-trained engineers suggested a possible mismatch between engineering backgrounds, as many newcomers had experience in the construction as well as oil and gas sectors, while a larger proportion of engineers in Ontario worked in manufacturing, consulting and IT.
  • Non-Canadian experience: More than two-thirds of employers had difficulty evaluating non-Canadian work experience.
  • Canadian work experience: 90% of employers felt Canadian work experience was important or very important, both to demonstrate technical knowledge (Canadian codes and standards, and industry-specific technologies) as well as soft skills (demonstrated understanding and experience of working within a team-based environment).

[i] Ontario Society of Professional Engineers, Crisis in Ontario’s Engineering Labour Market: Underemployment Among Ontario’s Engineering-Degree Holders, 2015.
[ii] Ontario Society of Professional Engineers, From the World to the Workforce: Hiring and Recruitment Perceptions of Engineering Employers and Internationally Trained Engineers in Ontario, 2014.
WHY IT MATTERS
What this information means for job seekers and career choices
  • It is important to understand the employer perspective when they interview and how they decide to hire. For newcomers, it’s important to understand it could be very different from his/her country.
  • Employers want you to demonstrate how you specifically fit all of the requirements listed on a job posting (with examples), as opposed to highlighting overall qualities and education.
  • Networking is an important way to learn about how engineering is practiced in Ontario, and bridging programs are especially useful in helping newcomers gain relevant experience, learn about Canadian business practices and culture, and make important personal connections. See resources below.
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