Capstone Projects as Preparation for Engineering Practice: A Graduate-Based Evaluation of Supervision and Industry Readiness

Capstone projects in undergraduate engineering education are widely regarded as a central bridge between academic learning and professional practice, enabling students to integrate disciplinary knowledge, design processes, teamwork, and problem-solving skills in a project-based learning experience. This study examines how 131 engineering graduates and practicing engineers retrospectively evaluate capstone supervision and its contribution to industry readiness. Correlation analysis and multiple regression were used to examine relationships between the supervisor’s approach, perceived industry preparation, supervision satisfaction, and capstone project quality. Regression models including supervisor’s approach and perceived industry preparation explained substantial variance in both supervision satisfaction (R² = 0.75) and project quality (R² = 0.78). Follow-up analyses identified connection to engineering work as the strongest retained predictor of supervision satisfaction (β = 0.34), and cognitive factors as the strongest retained dimension associated with project quality (β = 0.52). However, 60.3% of graduates perceived the capstone project as making little or no contribution to finding engineering employment, suggesting a gap between this intended bridging role and its perceived value after graduation. These findings highlight the need to strengthen the connection between supervision practices and professional engineering work and contribute a graduate-based perspective to capstone project evaluation in engineering education.