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Inside Higher Education
Overconfident
Students, Dubious Employers
A new study identifies the gaps between graduates' views of their
skills and the views of those who hire them.
By Jeremy Bauer-Wolf
February 23, 2018
College students may believe they’re ready for a job, but employers
think otherwise.
At least, that’s according to data from the National Association of
Colleges and Employers, which surveyed graduating college seniors and
employers and found a significant difference in the groups' perceptions.
The association surveyed 4,213 graduating seniors and 201 employers on
eight “competencies” that it considers necessary to be prepared to
enter the workplace. This information comes from the association’s 2018
Job Outlook Survey.
For the most part, a high percentage of students indicated in almost
every category they thought they were proficient. Employers disagreed.
“This can be problematic because it suggests that employers see skills
gaps in key areas where college students don’t believe gaps exist,” a
statement from the association reads.
Nearly 80 percent of students also believed they were competent in oral
and written communication and critical thinking, while only roughly 42
percent and 56 percent of employers, respectively, indicated that
students were successful in those areas.
Per the survey, only in digital technology skills were employers more
likely to feel that students were prepared versus the seniors
themselves.
Almost 66 percent of employers rated students proficient in technology
compared to 60 percent of the seniors.
But Brandon Busteed, executive director of Gallup's higher education
division, which also conducts research related to graduates and
careers, said these sorts of definitions can vary.
For instance, Gallup has found that generally an employer believes that
"critical thinking" is coming up with new, original thought. But in an
academic sense, it can mean more picking apart ideas in depth, he said.
Written communication can differ, too, he said -- some students might
excel at writing technical reports or papers with lots of citations,
but these are far different than writing for marketing, Busteed said.
"I think in some ways these studies beg for further exploration," he
said.
Busteed also pointed out that the lifestyle for the traditional
undergraduate student likely does not match how they will need to
operate when they enter the work force.
Undergraduates are typically scheduling classes later in the morning
and staying up until the late hours of the night, which does not
prepare them for an eight-hour workday, he said.
The easy solution: set students up in a more professional environment,
Busteed said -- this could be internships or co-op programs. If
students can't go to an actual office, then the environment should be
brought to them so they have a better sense of how a workplace runs.
"It's good news because there's real quick fixes, but it's not a
prevalent as it should be," he said.
The Association of American Colleges and Universities has conducted
similar research. In 2015, it found that students thought they were far
better equipped for jobs than employers did.
The AAC&U looked at some of the same measures as the association.
Specifically around oral communication, students ranked themselves
highly -- about 62 percent of students believed they did well in this
area compared to 28 percent of employers. That and written
communication showed the biggest gaps in the AAC&U report (27
percent of employers versus 65 percent of students).
“When it comes to the types of skills and knowledge that employers feel
are most important to workplace success, large majorities of employers
do NOT feel that recent college graduates are well prepared,” the
AAC&U report states. “This is particularly the case for applying
knowledge and skills in real-world settings, critical thinking skills,
and written and oral communication skills -- areas in which fewer than
three in 10 employers think that recent college graduates are well
prepared.”
See comparison chart at Inside Higher Education
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