Soft Skills for Entry-Level Engineers: What Employers Want
Open Access
- 14 October 2021
- journal article
- research article
- Published by MDPI AG in Education Sciences
- Vol. 11 (10), 641
- https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11100641
Abstract
Among the requirements for engineering programs, the Accreditation Board of Engineering and Technology (ABET) criteria for student outcomes require students to have the ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences, recognize ethical and professional responsibilities, function effectively on a team, and apply new knowledge. A review of literature for skills comprised within these ABET criteria determined 26 topics necessary for the entry-level and continued success of engineers. Nearly 500 companies and organizations rated the importance and proficiency of their recent entry-level engineers for these 26 identified soft (professional) skills. The findings suggest that although entry-level engineers have proficiency in all of these ABET required skills, the entry-level engineers were not meeting the level of importance expressed by the organization for 24 of these 26 skills. A specific ABET required skill, the ability to communicate effectively with diverse groups of people, has the greatest difference between the level of proficiency and the level of importance. Analysis of variance was conducted using each of the demographic variables to determine the effect sizes in the ratings of importance, proficiency, and the differences between importance and proficiency. These results were shared with industry members to confirm the relevance of the survey findings during the pandemic. This survey research has implications for any university engineering department where students are seeking entry-level engineering positions after graduation.This publication has 33 references indexed in Scilit:
- Hard evidence on soft skillsLabour Economics, 2012
- The Labor Market Returns to Cognitive and Noncognitive Ability: Evidence from the Swedish EnlistmentAmerican Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2011
- Graduate Employability, ‘Soft Skills’ Versus ‘Hard’ Business Knowledge: A European StudyHigher Education in Europe, 2008
- Cataloger Competencies … What Do Employers Require?Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, 2008
- Developing Construction Professionals of the 21st Century: Renewed Vision for LeadershipJournal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice, 2008
- Development of a Theory-Based Assessment of Team Member EffectivenessEducational and Psychological Measurement, 2007
- Leadership Skills and WagesJournal of Labor Economics, 2005
- The Skill Content of Recent Technological Change: An Empirical ExplorationThe Quarterly Journal of Economics, 2003
- Problem-Solving Team BehaviorsSmall Group Research, 2001
- The Management Excellence Inventory: A Tool for Management DevelopmentPublic Administration Review, 1985