Abstract
CONTEXT Technology assimilation (TA) is both a technical matter and a social process. The importance of TA emanates from the fact that it is a necessary condition to the industrialization, economic development, and social upliftment of nations or communities. People, either in their roles and activities as engineers, technicians, innovators, marketers, or as other participants, are intimately involved with and in the process of TA. The study investigates people attributes that reflect, or are associated with, TA proficiency. Furthermore, the study seeks to understand the core aspects within which such attributes manifest in mining engineering practice and higher education in South Africa. PURPOSE The study focuses on understanding how TA is understood in engineering practice and higher education in the South Africa. It also seeks to identify TA proficiency-reflecting graduate attributes that are required and valued, and the contexts within which these manifest, in mining engineering practice and higher education in South Africa. APPROACH The current study is the first stage of an envisaged two-stage investigation. All data and evidence in the current paper was sourced from reviewed literature. Due to the limited, if any, published materials on the topic, specifically as it pertains to South African contexts, a thematic approach was used rather than a systematic literature review. The SA mining sector employs large numbers of graduates from the mining, electrical, mechanical, and mechatronic engineering disciplines. Attempts were therefore made to understand the documented TA-related contexts, roles, experiences, and activities of these four disciplines in the mining industry and higher education in South Africa. Furthermore, attempts were made to identify TA proficiency-reflecting attributes required and valued in such contexts. TA is generally misunderstood in both engineering practice and higher education. An overall understanding of TA was established through critical analyses of the multiple perspectives on TA, and then synthesizing the reviewed literature into major themes. ACTUAL OUTCOMES A taxonomy of the factors that influence TA was developed. The taxonomy comprises two categories of 'Technology content-specific factors' and 'TA process-related factors. Furthermore, a preliminary list of TA proficiency-reflecting attributes was also compiled.