Formation et Réussite Professionnelle des Ingénieurs et Architectes Diplômés de l'Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

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Abstract
This paper reports some of the key findings of a large-scale study of the professional success of over 800 engineers and architects who graduated from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne between 1946 and 1987. In the first phase of the project, a questionnaire was designed to elicit their responses with respect to the quality of their university training, the reasons they chose engineering as a field of study, their experience and activities at the university, their postgraduate training, their actual professional activities (relative importance and satisfaction), their work experience and conditions, their personal qualities, influence of important life events in their career, their defintion of professional success, as well as important demographic data (including status, income, number of subordinates, type of work, etc.). Data on their academic performance (mean grades in theoretical and practical subjects, overall Grade Point Average, etc.) while at the university were collected from the registrar's files. The results confirmed our hypotheses: grades are unrelated to professional success and internal satisfaction is more important than are external criteria in the definition of professional success. Post-diploma training, life events and especially personal qualities determine the engineers’ professional career. Many interesting findings also emerged with respect to their evaluation of their actual professional activities, their university training, choice of major and of their professional satisfaction.

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