Analysis of competencies required by agricultural engineering graduates

• Autores: Alberto Tascón Vegas, Ramón Álvarez, Pedro José Aguado Rodríguez
• Localización: The International journal of engineering education, ISSN-e 0949-149X, Vol. 30, no. 4, 2014, págs. 1008-1022
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Society demands the adaptation of engineering degrees to the needs of the labor market. This study was designed to investigate thelevel of expertise in the various competencies acquired by graduates of Agricultural Engineering in the course of their studies andthe level required of them in their jobs. Online questionnaires aimed at graduates and employers were developed to assess bothprofessional and technical competencies, and then piloted on graduates at the University of Leo ́n (Spain). Graduates indicated thatthey perceived a deficit in professional competencies. A significant agreement was observed between perceptions of graduates andemployers about which professional competencies are most important in the labor market. The results indicated a deficit in trainingin some technical competencies and excessive emphasis in others. Most of the core subjects which form the basis of an engineer’seducation, especially Mathematics and Statistics, were rated by graduates as very important for work. The highest training deficitsdetected in this study were related to communication, practical engineering, and engineering business skills. The methodologydescribed in this paper proved useful for obtaining information on the most important competencies for the labor market, deficitsand over-emphasis in training, and those competencies that should be incorporated into the curriculum.