Improving Engineering students' awareness of employabilty skills: A case study at Ulster University

Margaret Morgan; Pearse O'Gorman

Improving Engineering students' awareness of employabilty skills: A case study at Ulster University

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Abstract

Despite the high tuition cost of a university education in the UK it is a disappointing phenomenon that many students fail to capitalise on opportunities at university to develop the ‘softer’ professional skills that they will need to be successful in the fast-paced, evolving, and often uncertain work environment of the future. This study describes first and final year engineering students’ attitudes towards how their employability skills were developed as a result of their experiences at Ulster University and analyses their perceptions about what curriculum developers could do to further improve their employability prospects on graduation.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Unknown Host Publication
Publisher	Higher Education Academy
Number of pages	1
Publication status	Accepted/In press - 16 Dec 2016
Event	HEA Annual Conference 2017 Generation TEF: Teaching in the spotlight - Manchester Duration: 16 Dec 2016 → …

Conference

Conference	HEA Annual Conference 2017 Generation TEF: Teaching in the spotlight
Period	16/12/16 → …

Keywords

Graduate employability
student perceptions
active engagement
professional skills

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title = "Improving Engineering students' awareness of employabilty skills: A case study at Ulster University",

abstract = "Despite the high tuition cost of a university education in the UK it is a disappointing phenomenon that many students fail to capitalise on opportunities at university to develop the {\textquoteleft}softer{\textquoteright} professional skills that they will need to be successful in the fast-paced, evolving, and often uncertain work environment of the future. This study describes first and final year engineering students{\textquoteright} attitudes towards how their employability skills were developed as a result of their experiences at Ulster University and analyses their perceptions about what curriculum developers could do to further improve their employability prospects on graduation.",

keywords = "Graduate employability, student perceptions, active engagement, professional skills",

author = "Margaret Morgan and Pearse O'Gorman",

note = "Reference text: Archer, W and Davison, J., 2008. Graduate Employability: What do employers think and want? London CIHE Florman,S., 2007. Non-technical studies for engineers: the challenge of relevance. European Journal of Engineering Education, 22 (3), 249-258 Jones, V., 2015. Preparing our Students for Employability: Responsibilities and Strategies, In: Employability in Action: Opportunities for Developing the Student Experience Conference. Belfast, 2015. University of Ulster. Royal Academy of Engineering, 2007. Educating Engineers for the 21st century. London. RAE. Available at: <http://www.raeng.org.uk/publications/reports/educating-engineers-21st-century> [Accessed 19 December 2016]; HEA Annual Conference 2017 Generation TEF: Teaching in the spotlight ; Conference date: 16-12-2016",

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language = "English",

booktitle = "Unknown Host Publication",

publisher = "Higher Education Academy",

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AU - O'Gorman, Pearse

N1 - Reference text: Archer, W and Davison, J., 2008. Graduate Employability: What do employers think and want? London CIHE Florman,S., 2007. Non-technical studies for engineers: the challenge of relevance. European Journal of Engineering Education, 22 (3), 249-258 Jones, V., 2015. Preparing our Students for Employability: Responsibilities and Strategies, In: Employability in Action: Opportunities for Developing the Student Experience Conference. Belfast, 2015. University of Ulster. Royal Academy of Engineering, 2007. Educating Engineers for the 21st century. London. RAE. Available at: <http://www.raeng.org.uk/publications/reports/educating-engineers-21st-century> [Accessed 19 December 2016]

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N2 - Despite the high tuition cost of a university education in the UK it is a disappointing phenomenon that many students fail to capitalise on opportunities at university to develop the ‘softer’ professional skills that they will need to be successful in the fast-paced, evolving, and often uncertain work environment of the future. This study describes first and final year engineering students’ attitudes towards how their employability skills were developed as a result of their experiences at Ulster University and analyses their perceptions about what curriculum developers could do to further improve their employability prospects on graduation.

AB - Despite the high tuition cost of a university education in the UK it is a disappointing phenomenon that many students fail to capitalise on opportunities at university to develop the ‘softer’ professional skills that they will need to be successful in the fast-paced, evolving, and often uncertain work environment of the future. This study describes first and final year engineering students’ attitudes towards how their employability skills were developed as a result of their experiences at Ulster University and analyses their perceptions about what curriculum developers could do to further improve their employability prospects on graduation.

KW - Graduate employability

KW - student perceptions

KW - active engagement

KW - professional skills

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