A Learning Framework for Career Transition Towards Software Engineering

This Research-to-Practice paper details the first edition of a one-year graduate course aimed at facilitating professionals' transition to R&D careers. The proposed methodology successfully addressed the typical challenges inherent in such transitions, aggravated by the specificity of the geographic location of the course. This course is the result of an industry-academy partnership, seeking to attract STEM professionals who intend to migrate to the R&D career in the informatics and computer technology sector. The curriculum, based on the Multiple vortices of Know-How (a methodology of interconnected learning activities) has eleven subjects distributed in three sections (leveling, advanced and residency). The first class had twenty-five students with granted scholarships and five volunteers. The paper details the course methodology and its activities, providing a highlight of how to apply the framework, including the research projects and the residency. Moreover, the paper discusses the student performance, and the course evaluation from the students' perspective. Furthermore, the paper discusses the lessons learned and adjustments implemented for the second class, including the cultivation of soft skills and methods for conducting individual evaluations. Finally, the evidence shows that the methodology is reproducible and viable across a diverse range of scenarios.