Closing the gap between software engineering education and industrial needs

According to different reports, many recent software engineering graduates often face difficulties when beginning their professional careers, due to misalignment of the skills learnt in their university education with what is needed in industry. To address that need, many studies have been conducted to align software engineering education with industry needs. To synthesize that body of knowledge, we present in this paper a systematic literature review (SLR) which summarizes the findings of 33 studies in this area. By doing a meta-analysis of all those studies and using data from 12 countries and over 4,000 data points, this study will enable educators and hiring managers to adapt their education / hiring efforts to best prepare the software engineering workforce

Matching The Competencies Of Hospitality Graduates With The Expectations From The Hospitality Industry In Ghana: A Case Study

ThesisEmployers in the hospitality industry worldwide are expecting graduates to be work-ready, possessing competencies that will assist them to achieve their ultimate goal of profit maximization. Universities therefore must assess the competency needs of specialized areas within the industry and incorporate them into their curriculum. The purpose of this study was to match the competencies of hospitality graduates with the expectations from industry in the Ghanaian context. The main aim of the study was to contribute both theoretically and empirically by addressing the challenges of training and developing suitably qualified hospitality graduates. The data for this study were collected in two phases, incorporating both quantitative and qualitative methods. In the quantitative phase, a structured questionnaire was administered to collect data from both university graduates and hospitality employers. In the qualitative phase, focus group interviews were conducted to collect data from stakeholders, including heads of hospitality departments and hospitality management lecturers of five selected technical universities in Ghana. In the quantitative phase, data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with the help of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (IBM SPSS) version 23. In the qualitative phase, thematic content analysis was used to analyze the data. The empirical results revealed that the key competencies expected of hospitality graduates were leadership skills, teamwork, communication skills, human relations/ interpersonal skills, operational skills, problem-solving skills, innovative abilities, right attitude towards work, and the ability to adapt to challenging circumstances. However, with regard to the extent to which hospitality graduates exhibit the required competencies, a Mann-Whitney U test indicated that, according to hospitality employers, none of the required competencies were exhibited by hospitality graduates. The findings thus revealed gaps between the competencies expected by the industry and the perceived competencies of hospitality graduate. These gaps can, in part, be attributed to current hospitality curricula being offered by Ghanaian universities. Based on these gaps, the study proposed a framework for hospitality management programmes to address the shortcomings. The study further emphasized the need for universities that offer hospitality management programmes to assess the competencies desired by the tourism and hospitality industry to produce graduates who are able to meet the needs of the job market

Real estate graduates’ employability skills : the perspective of human resource managers of surveying firms

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to report further on research funded by the Centre for Education in the Built Environment (CEBE) into real estate programmes of study in UK universities (Poon and Hoxley). The aim of this paper is to identify human resource managers’ view on the employability skills of real estate graduates. It also compares the views on the employability skills of real estate graduates between human resource managers, a large sample of real estate employers and real estate course directors.Design/methodology/approach – This paper presents the research findings of eight interviews with human resource managers who work in different types of surveying firms. The approach for collecting their view of the employability skills required by real estate graduates was through gathering their opinions on three charts. These charts compare what employers feel graduates require and what they feel graduates demonstrate in 31 knowledge areas, 20 skills and 21 attributes, alongside a list of additional competencies made by graduates and employers which was developed as part of an earlier study.Findings – The human resource managers identified the key employability skills for real estate graduates as soft skills, in particular report writing skills, communication skills, presentation skills, client care and professional standards. The human resource managers of real estate consultancy firms also voiced their concern regarding graduates’ lack of commercial awareness, which echoed the same view from real estate employers and real estate course directors mentioned in the previous research (Poon, Hoxley and Fuchs). Therefore, it is necessary for universities to embed these soft skills, such as commercial awareness in the curriculum in order to enhance the employability of graduates.Originality/value – This paper makes an original contribution to existing literature on the identification and discussion of employability skills for real estate graduates. It describes pioneering research focusing on the human resource managers’ perspective of the real estate graduate employability skills

Changing skills required by the industries: perceptions of what makes business graduates employable

This study relates to the employers assessment of graduates skills as deem required by the industries. The business need for accelerated performance levels induces a responding desire for rapid changes in the skills required by universities graduates. A changing environment with resultant organizational restructuring means graduates now find jobs are more demanding as the needs of business to be more competitive. Whereas in the past, managerial competence went hand in hand with the possession of specific skills and abilities, it now seems to involve more. Empirical evidence from the research suggests that respondents share a basic commitment to the development of common skills within the context of a business and management studies programme. Clearly the employers participating in this study placed greater emphasis on major subjects of management and business (53.5%) and less on elective subjects (18.4%). Interestingly, the Quality Assurance Unit in Ministry of Higher Education in Malaysia also made a guideline of 50-60% of major subjects in Management and Business programme for undergraduate programme. On the other hand, this study confirmed that the industry also have the same views on programme composition in Management and Business programme in Malaysia.In-term of key skills in management and business programme, verbal and written communication skill were ranked higher and less on innumeracy skill. This finding also supported findings in the programme structure, where is the communication subject must play an important role in designing management and business syllabus. In academic and intellectual skills, be independence and ability to solve business problem placed most important skills by the employers. In line with that result, the employers also expected that the graduates will be able to carry out responsibilities assigned and always on time or can keep appointments. From this finding, it is imperative that higher learning institutions gave greater emphasis in developing soft skills of the students as well as preparing them with good attitude for employment

Proceedings of the Third Computing Women Congress (CWC 2008): Student papers

The Third Computing Women Congress was held at the University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand from February 11th to 13th, 2008. The Computing Women Congress (CWC) is a Summer University for women in Computer Science. It is a meeting-place for female students, academics and professionals who study or work in Information Technology. CWC provides a forum to learn about and share the latest ideas of computing related topics in a supportive environment. CWC provides an open, explorative learning and teaching environment. Experimentation with new styles of learning is encouraged, with an emphasis on hands-on experience and engaging participatory techniques

A Critical Review of Contemporary Practice in Internationalisation in the Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism (HLST) Subject Communities

This report identifies and critically reviews contemporary practice in the field of internationalisation within the HLST subject communities in order to inform curriculum development and pedagogy geared towards the development of international perspectives and global awareness. Drawing on current pedagogical literatures as well as staff and student consultations, it identifies a number of key points which reflect good practice in UK HLST curricula in the UK. Due to the broad disciplinary scope of the subject area in focus and the diversity of curricular activities across the UK, this critical review is selective rather than exhaustive and seeks to stimulate further discussion and research into this area