AUDIT OF ENGINEERING QUALIFICATIONS AS REGIONAL EDUCATIONAL POLICY DIRECTION L. Bannikova, I. Sholina, N. Reprintseva Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education “Ural Federal University” (RUSSIAN FEDERATION) Abstract Definition of long-term needs of the industrial region for engineers, a shortage problem solution of engineering qualifications may be considered as a form and result of long-term interaction between employers and educational organizations in producing of required competencies. The article summarizes the experience of usе of sociological approaches to the needs forecasting s for engineering cadres. The advantage of sociological forecasting involves the ability to use a combination of quantitative / formalized and qualitative / unformalized methods for collecting and analyzing information in work, both with large and small data sets in a situation of objective studies, taking into account the specifics of the investigated enterprises. Method of sociological analysis of qualifications provided surveys of stakeholders (engineers, managers of engineering projects). The stakeholder evaluation model of learning outcomes was aimed to clarify the disparity of assessments in importance and the presence level of competence development of future engineers. Evaluation of prognostic background, necessity of analysis of conditions and factors that have affected, affect or can affect to development of needs of the region in engineering qualifications led to our turning to the research of innovative behavior of large industrial enterprises of the region. Keywords: Engineer, engineering qualifications, stakeholder model, learning outcomes. 1 INTRODUCTION Growing awareness of the importance of technological innovation for the competitiveness of economy and national security requires new priorities for engineering. Engineers play an increasingly important role in the modern society. The importance of quality engineering training for the development of modernization processes is obvious. The study of the problems of discrepancy between the pattern of demand and supply on the Russian labor market, and lack of engineers remain the topics that are actively discussed by economists, politicians and sociologists. The standard formulation of this discrepancy looks like a statement about the shortage of engineers and oversupply of economists and lawyers on the Russian labor market. The administrative methods such as changing the training structure, increasing the number of students admitted to the natural-science and engineering areas of training, did not smooth out the severity of the problem of deficit in engineering qualifications. Currently, the target figures of admission to the areas and specialties of engineering training have stabilized at the level of 45-46% from the total number of allocated state-financed openings. At the same time, employers still have a shortage in engineering staff. The evaluation on employment of university engineering graduates in comparison with graduates from other professions and training programs, analysis of the factors determining such employment, allowed researchers to conclude that a diploma on engineering education does not provide significant advantages in graduate-employability. The employment rates among young engineers are not higher than those among other graduates, and the reasons for the declared shortage of engineers don’t lie in the number of graduates. [1, 2] The existing argument on increasing the number of students in engineering departments does not seem convincing enough, because training of employees of this profile, without providing significant advantages on the labor market, costs 17-95% more expensive for the state. [1] The article establishes the point that the reasons for the lack of engineering qualifications do not lie in the number of graduates in technical training areas, but in the lack of competencies among young professionals, the discrepancy between the requirements of stakeholders for young engineers and real learning outcomes. The forecast for the need in personnel should be based on data from regional employers about the current and prospective needs in personnel. [3] The Sverdlovsk region was Proceedings of EDULEARN17 Conference 3rd-5th July 2017, Barcelona, Spain ISBN: 978-84-697-3777-4 4532