Saturday, February 24, 2018
Poll shows recent college grads think they're competent workers while employers say otherwise
Inside Higher Ed is reporting on a new poll of 4,231 college graduates undertaken by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) that shows a substantial disconnect between students' perception of their workplace competencies and what their employers actually think. Here's an excerpt:
Overconfident Students, Dubious Employers
A new study identifies the gaps between graduates' views of their skills and the views of those who hire them.
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.
The biggest divide was around students’ professionalism and work ethic. Almost 90 percent of seniors thought they were competent in that area, but only about 43 percent of the employers agreed.
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.
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(jbl).
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/legal_skills/2018/02/poll-shows-recent-college-grads-think-theyre-competent-workers-while-employers-say-otherwise.html