Key personality traits of engineers for innovation and technology development

Focusing on new roles of engineers for technological innovation and internal entrepreneurship, we examined the personality traits of 4876 engineers versus 75,892 non-engineers. Engineers scored higher on Tough-Mindedness and Intrinsic Motivation; but lower on Assertiveness, Conscientiousness, Customer Service Orientation, Emotional Stability, Extraversion, Image Management, Optimism, Visionary Style, and Work Drive. All but four of these traits were positively related to engineers’ career satisfaction. Overall, the results are not encouraging for the new roles of engineers such as intrapreneurship. Findings were discussed in terms of occupational profiling of engineers as well as career planning, selection, training, and professional development of engineers. 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 865 974 9164; fax: +1 865 974 9242. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (J.M. Williamson), [email protected] (J.W. Lounsbury), [email protected] (L.D. Han). 1 Ecareerfit.com. 2 Tel.: +1 865 974 7707.