OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 17

COVEr

university of western Ontario
and the university of Toronto
partner with OsPe to conduct
Changing Workplaces survey
of engineers in Ontario
This article was prepared by Tracey L. Adams, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of
the Department of Sociology at the University of Western Ontario

B

etween October 2016 and February
2017, researchers at University of
Western Ontario and the University
of Toronto partnered with OSPE to
conduct a survey of Ontario engineers.
OSPE members and other engineers were
invited to complete the online survey,
and more than 600 did so. Analysis of
the survey data has just begun.
This article provides a few preliminary
highlights, with a focus on Ontario
engineers' experiences of working,
recent workplace change, and attitudes
about their education. This article
provides only an overview - more detail
on differences in experiences by gender,
specialization, and other factors will be
provided in future articles.
wOrkInG COndITIOns
We asked engineers how satisfied they
were with their work, and 71% indicated
they were either very satisfied (31%)
or somewhat satisfied (40%). This
is below the national average for job
satisfaction which is 82%, according to a
parallel national survey of all workers in
Canada. Some of the following findings
may shed light on why engineers may be
less satisfied than some other groups of
workers.
Previous research has suggested
that Ontario engineers are finding it
more difficult to secure employment as
practising engineers. Our survey finds
that only 42.5% of respondents are in jobs
that are "closely related" to their formal

education, but most of the rest (49%) are in jobs that are somewhat related. Only 7%
of employed engineers are in positions that are not at all related (Table 1). Still, there
are signs that engineers may not have opportunities to apply their skills at work. Only
23% of engineers say they can "fully" exercise their professional knowledge and skills
in their current job. Table 2 indicates that an additional 35.6% say they exercise their
skills 'quite a lot'. Table 3 shows that 30.1% of engineer respondents said they were
over-qualified for their jobs. The good news is that most engineer respondents (61%)
report they are 'adequately' qualified for their jobs.
Table 1. how closely is your job related to your formal education?
Frequency

%

Closely related

246

42.5

Somewhat related

283

48.9

Not at all related

42

7.3

Don't know/Prefer not to answer

8

1.4

579

100.0

total

Table 2. To what extent can you use your professional knowledge & skills in your job?
Frequency

%

Not at all

31

4.5

Very little

56

8.1

A moderate amount

198

28.6

Quite a lot

247

35.6

Fully

161

23.2

total

693

100.0

42.5%

of respondents are in jobs that are "closely
related" to their formal education

49%

are in jobs that are
somewhat related

June 2017

The VOICe

17



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of OSPE - The Voice - June 2017

OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - Cover1
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - Cover2
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 3
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 4
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 5
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 6
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 7
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 8
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 9
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 10
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 11
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 12
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 13
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 14
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 15
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 16
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 17
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 18
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 19
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 20
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 21
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 22
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 23
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 24
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 25
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 26
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 27
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 28
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OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 31
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OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 33
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 34
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 35
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OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 37
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - 38
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - Cover3
OSPE - The Voice - June 2017 - Cover4
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