The Nature of Academic Work in Engineering*

The paper examines the nature of academic work in engineering in the context of the many stakeholders to whom universities are accountable and the multiple foci on which university staff concentrate their activities. The distinctive characteristics of academic work are identified, and analogies drawn between the processes of innovative thinking in universities and research and development in engineering industry. Methods are proposed for the objective tracking of academic careers. The paper provides a conceptual framework for the description and analysis of academic work to ensure that both engineering academics and university leaders have a deep understanding of the special nature of their responsibilities. Such an understanding is a necessary pre-requisite for intelligent leadership in engineering education.