Newly graduate engineers’ development of expertise and personal competencies

Abstract

This paper investigates importance and development of expertise and personal competencies of newly graduated engineers according to academic staff members, industrial employers and the graduated engineers themselves. The aim was to discover how graduated engineers perceive the importance of competencies at the time of graduation, and how various competencies have developed during their studies. For such purposes, a national-wide graduate survey was adopted as a basis for research. The results show that engineering degree programmes highlight theoretical foundation rather than generic competencies, whereas industrial employers favor personal competencies and attitudinal factors. Furthermore, according to graduates’ ratings, some competencies have developed more than appears to be necessary at the beginning of their career. These competencies were the most valued in degree programmes. Similarly, some competencies that were least valued in degree programmes were part of the least developed competencies in studies, but also part of the most important competencies for graduates.