Synopsis
The competencies engineering students require are changing at a rapid pace due to evolving industry, societal, and technological demands. This has resulted in educators seeking guidance from, and often being overwhelmed by, the fragmented world of competency frameworks, which differ widely in scope, level of detail, and intended purpose. To address this challenge, we begin by contextualising this chapter by asking who would benefit most from reading it, before clarifying the distinction between taxonomies and competency frameworks. We then present three questions that will be used to guide discussion of several contemporary frameworks: what the framework's primary goal is, the areas for which it provides guidance, and how actionable it is. We apply these questions to the diverse frameworks of EntreComp, DigComp, GreenComp, EUR-ACE, CDIO, and UK-SPEC. We believe that our selection of frameworks and subsequent discussions serve as a strong starting point for engineering educators seeking to navigate this landscape with greater confidence.
Author Biographies
Grant Penny, Education and Student Affairs, University Coorporate Office, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
Penny, Grant (0009-0005-1957-3030) is a PhD candidate and Project-Lead at Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands. His research focuses on transdisciplinary education and change management in the context of European higher education. He leads the ENHANCE Alliance’s work package on Future Skills for Engineers and Scientists.
Ann-Kristin Winkens, Research Group Gender and Diversity in Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering, RWTH Aachen University, Germany
Winkens, Ann-Kristin (0000-0003-4637-3905) is a Postdoctoral Researcher at RWTH Aachen University, Germany. Her research focuses on resilient systems in engineering education, competency development for addressing complex challenges, and institutional change processes in higher education within European University Alliances.
Neil Cooke, Department of Electronic, Electrical and Systems Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
Cooke, Neil (0000-0003-2247-0663) is a Professor of Engineering Education at the University of Birmingham, UK. He served as SEFI Board member from 2017-2022 and chairs its Special Interest Group on Engineering Skills. Since 2022, he co-hosts the SEFI podcast European Engineering Educators, presenting case studies through expert interviews with researchers and practitioners on the current state of engineering education.
Esther Perea Borobio, Business Department, School of Business, Management and Commerce, Ravensbourne University, United Kingdom
Borobio, Esther Perea (0000-0002-2107-5867) is a Senior Lecturer in Engineering Management at Ravensbourne University London, with 10 years’ industrial experience and over 20 years’ experience teaching professional competencies, engineering design and project management. Her research focuses on curriculum and module design to embed professional competencies in engineering courses using active learning pedagogies.
Published
August 26, 2026
Copyright (c) 2026 Gillian Saunders-Smits, Lynn Van den Broeck, Thies Johannsen
How to Cite
Penny, G., Winkens, A.-K., Cooke, N., & Borobio, E. P. (2026). Competency Frameworks of Use to Engineering Educators. In
SEFI Handbook on Teaching Transferable Competencies and Skills in Engineering (pp. 35-54). TU Delft OPEN Books.
https://doi.org/10.59490/mt.266.53
