Eastern Cape employers' views on the strengths and weaknesses of civil engineering diplomates entering the workplace

Abstract

Employer perceptions in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa have been reviewed to determine whether universities within the province produce civil engineering diplomates who meet industry's expectations. A questionnaire, which contained 30 questions (closed and open-ended), was designed to allow employers to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the students' academic training. These were distributed to a purposive sample of 546 employers using a web-based survey approach. Sixty-five percent of the targeted population who opened the invitations populated the questionnaire. The survey yielded an overall response rate of 28% (based on invitations sent). The data gathered was statistically analysed. The results indicate that employers deem the competencies of diplomates to be "neither high nor low", when employers are considered as a single, comprehensive cohort. Within employer representative subgroups statistically significant differences were, however, observed. Of the competencies assessed, "individual and teamwork ability" received the highest and "engineering design ability" the lowest rating. Overall, the results indicate that employers within the Eastern Cape Province are reasonably satisfied with the competencies of newly qualified diplomates, but point to the need for the strengthening of "engineering design ability", "professional and technical communication ability" and "problem-solving ability" competencies within the diploma programme curriculum.