Creating shared value: An industry project framework

Context: Engineers have a responsibility to serve the communities in which they work and create solutions to the challenges that society faces in the 21st century, while maintaining the economic viability of the organisations to which they belong. Current engineering education approaches often fall short of equipping graduates with the required skills to navigate the tensions between social and ecological sustainability and creating financial value. An emerging concept in business literature, creating shared value, offers a framework to create value for society while simultaneously creating financial value for companies. Purpose: This paper explores how the concept of creating shared value may be transferred from business literature to the engineering education context, as a way to equip graduates with the skills suited to the unknowns of future engineering practise. Approach: This paper reflects on what shared value means to students, universities, industry and communities in the context of integrating industry and service learning projects as a mode of course delivery. Results: The creation of the new Bachelor of Engineering Practice at Swinburne University of Technology and the resulting industry project framework are used as an example to explore how the concept of creating shared value may be implemented. Conclusions: The concept of creating shared value is a mechanism that can be used within engineering education to equip graduates with skills required for the unknowns of the future while simultaneously providing opportunities for universities as institutions to positive social impact for the communities in which they are located.