Cultural Differences in the Professional Competencies and Their Implications for Systems Engineers

Since 2018, the International Council on Systems Engineering has promulgated a set of competencies for systems engineers. It is organized in a framework structure that describes the knowledge, skills, abilities, and behaviors that are important to systems engineering effectiveness. There are five “levels” of competence, that span from awareness to expert. The five categories of competencies are Professional, Core, Technical, SE Management, and Integrating. This paper focuses on culturally-based characteristics of systems engineers relative to the Professional Competencies. It includes a discussion of culturally-based research and conclusions regarding their implications for how to use them in selecting systems engineers, forming and developing systems teams, and making design decisions.