Chapter XX A Bourdieuan Perspective on the Graduation Transition to Work in Engineering Education TIMOTHY L.J. FERRIS University of South Australia,Defence and Systems Institute, Mawson Lakes, 5095, Australia. E-mail: timothy.ferris@unisa.edu.au The transition from school to first year of engineering study has attracted considerable attention. The transition from study to work has been addressed less in the literature. This chapter explores issues in the transition from engineering study to work using the theoretical framework of Pierre Bourdieu, relying particularly on his concept of field. The theoretical framework is used to develop a philosophy for the emphasis in engineering education. INTRODUCTION This chapter uses Bourdieu’s concept of fields to investigate the transition from study to work confronted by graduate engineers, and uses this to discuss some issues associated with engineering education curriculum. The discussion is derived from the pragmatic worldview of engineers and the values of engineering practice. The key elements of this worldview are that the product is the main objective; process is the means to deliver output, and that achieving the most appropriate product output demands critical appraisal of work in a team environment. The consequence is that qualities of technical and interactive competence, willingness to take responsibility for action and outputs, and robustness with respect to criticism of work are essential. Engineering education must develop people with the range of capabilities required to enter into practice as smoothly as possible, providing employers with suitable people and the graduates themselves with the necessary attributes to minimize the difficulty of the transition. FIELDS Bourdieu developed the spatial metaphor, ‘field’, to describe parts of life that people experience. Fields comprise a framework, a body of knowledge, skills and competencies to perform activities distinctively associated with it. As such fields are multidimensional