Engineering graduates' development of competencies - Views from academic stakeholders

This paper investigates importance and development of expertise and personal competencies of newly graduated engineers from the standpoint of academic stakeholders; namely, academic staff members, industrial employers and graduated engineers themselves. The aim was to discover which competencies are the most important ones in working life and in engineering curricula. It was also investigated which competencies have satisfactorily developed and which have not during university studies relative to their current importance. For such purposes, a national-wide graduate survey measuring the importance and development of 26 expertise and personal competencies on the scale 1-7 was used as a basis for research. Then, 69 academic staff members used FINEEC's (The Finnish Education Evaluation Centre) reference programme learning outcomes to evaluate the importance of competencies in their curricula. Finally, 24 industry representatives gave their evaluations on the importance of the 26 competencies of newly graduates. The results from the study indicate that all stakeholders share similar opinions regarding to the importance of several competencies. However, engineering curricula puts more emphasis on theoretical foundation rather than in generic competencies, whereas industrial employers favour attitudinal factors and generic competencies. Furthermore, according to graduates' ratings, several competencies have been developed more than seems to be needed in working life. The same competencies are the most valued in engineering curricula. Similarly, competencies that are least valued in curricula are related to the competencies that are least developed in studies. Interestingly, several competencies that are least developed are also the most important ones for newly graduates.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Practice makes perfect!:developing an internship process in Finnish universities

Abstract An internship can bridge theoretical knowledge with essential working life skills, improve student’s confidence towards his/her own profession and know-how, and advance further studies and networking [1]. According to several studies, e.g. [2]; [3], an internship period or other comparable work placement period during university studies will enhance students’ career development later. Generic working-life skills, for example team working, problem solving and communication skills play an important role in employment after graduation [2]. Substance skills are not adequate if a person cannot adapt them in a working life [4]. Even getting used to regular and target-oriented working will enhance employment in general after graduation [1]. An internship period is often the first familiarization with the own subject field line of work, and students may think that the internship period is the only way of learning working life skills. However, students do not always recognize the generic skills they have gained during their working life period, and do not realize the usefulness of them. Therefore, generic working life skills should be part of the learning outcomes of internships, as well as the whole university degree [2]. Internship practices can be very different between universities, and even inside the same university between degree programs [5]. The situation is alike in Finland [6]. Based on these facts, a national group of education developers wrote an internship guide [12] and recommendations for universities, students and employers. In addition, different ways for improving students’ working life skills were developed and piloted. The actions were implemented in the project ‘Bridging the Gap between University Studies and Working Life’ by European Social Fund. This paper discusses the implementation and results gained through two different pilot cases for promoting and implementing internships

Kehittämishankkeet korkeakoulutuksen työelämärelevanssin edistäjänä

Tiivistelmä Muuttuvan työelämän tarpeet ohjaavat entistä painokkaammin kehittämään yhteistyötä korkeakoulutuksen ja työelämän välillä sekä vahvistamaan jatkuvan oppimisen kulttuuria. Yksilötasolla paremmat yleiset työelämätaidot avaavat uusia työllistymismahdollisuuksia ja tukevat opiskelijaa opitun soveltamisessa. Yhteiskunnan tasolla korkeakoulujen työelämäyhteyksien kehitystyöllä varmistetaan työvoiman saatavuutta ja nopeutetaan työllistymistä. Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan käynnissä olevia ja jo päättyneitä korkeakoulutuksen ja työelämän väliseen yhteistyöhön liittyviä kehittämishankkeita (n=12), niissä tunnistettavia erilaisia työelämäyhteyksien kehittämiseen liittyviä malleja sekä työelämäyhteyksissä tapahtuneita muutoksia 10 viime vuoden aikana. Tutkimusaineisto kerättiin tammi-huhtikuussa 2019 sähköpostikyselyllä sekä puhelin- ja kasvokkaishaastatteluilla. Tutkimusaineistoa täydensivät kehittämishankkeiden hankesuunnitelmat, loppuraportit sekä hankkeiden www-sivut. Aineiston teorialähtöisessä sisällönanalyysissa sovellettiin korkeakoulujen työelämäyhteyksien kehittämismallia (spesialisti-, integratiivinen ja verkostoituneen kulttuurin malli). Työelämäläheisille kehittämishankkeille identifioitavista malleista on löydettävissä eroja alkutilanteessa, mutta yhteinen tavoite on kehittää korkeakoulutusta kohti verkostoituneen kulttuurin mallia sekä yliopistoissa että ammattikorkeakouluissa. Johtopäätöksenä esitämme, että työelämäyhteyksien kehittämismallien avulla voidaan kuvata korkeakoulutuksen työelämärelevanssin kehittymistä tutkittuna ajanjaksona. Systemaattista kehittämistyötä tarvitaan hankkeiden tulosten jalkauttamiseksi ja toimintojen vakiinnuttamiseksi.Abstract Development Projects Promoting the Working-Life Relevance of Higher Education Incremental changes in contemporary society increasingly steer collaboration between higher education and working life, simultaneously fostering a culture of continuous learning. Improved working life skills support students in applying theoretical knowledge in practice and help in opening new avenues for future employment. At the societal level, developing connections between higher education and working life improves the availability of relevant workforce and speeds up students’ path to employment, which means more potential employees. In this study, we examine ongoing and finished development projects in Finland (n=12) related to the development of collaboration between higher education and working life, e.g. identifying models or changes in collaboration over the past 10 years. We gathered data from project participants during January–April 2019 through an email survey and through faceto-face or phone interviews. We supplemented the data with project plans, project-end reports and other information gathered from projects’ internet sites. We applied the development model of higher education and working life (specialist, integrative and networked model) in our theory-based content analysis of the data. We found that the greatest differences appear between the identifiable models at the beginning of the projects; however, a clear common goal was to develop higher education toward a networked culture both in universities and universities of applied sciences. As a result, we suggest that the development model of higher education and working life successfully describes the development of working-life relevance during the time period defined in this study. However, systematic developmental work is still required in order to transfer the project results into practice and make them a part of everyday life in higher education institutions