Using communities of practice to investigate work-integrated learning in engineering education: a grounded theory approach

Industry worldwide calls for highly qualified STEM graduates that are ready to work. Work-integrated learning (WIL) has been implemented to address this need. WIL is a strategy to bridge the gap between theory and practice, and emphasize “employability.” However, students often perceive a confusing disconnect between their training and their workplace experience. This paper reports on a study of a graduate engineering course that uses a Communities of Practice (CoP) lens and a grounded theory approach to reconceptualize WIL. Data sources from 2017 to 2022 include 27 students’ responses from an open-ended survey and fourteen interviews with students, alumni, and employees from different construction sites that hosted students. Findings show that the articulations of the universities and companies should be centered on creating critical boundary objects and developing skills to allow students to become effective brokers. Furthermore, our analysis revealed that WIL is a bidirectional bridge where students can transfer their expertise through boundary objects from the company to the class and vice versa, becoming brokers who can participate in and mediate across the two communities. Companies should provide opportunities for Legitimate Peripheral Participation (LPP), where students can negotiate their increasing participation from peripheral to full members. The roles of universities, industries, students, and instructors in connecting the university and the workplace are described.