Project management in engineering education: Providing Generation Z with transferable skills
-
José Magano [3] ; Cláudia Sousa Silva [1] ; Cláudia Figueiredo [1] ; Andreia Vitória [1] ; Teresa Nogueira [2]
-
[1] Universidade de Aveiro
Universidade de Aveiro
Vera Cruz, Portugal
-
[2] Instituto Politécnico do Porto
Instituto Politécnico do Porto
Santo Ildefonso, Portugal
-
[3] Higher Institute of Business Sciences and Tourism (ISCET), Porto, Portugal
-
- Localización: Revista Iberoamericana de Tecnologías del Aprendizaje: IEEE-RITA, ISSN 1932-8540, Vol. 16, Nº. 1, 2021, págs. 45-57
- Idioma: inglés
- Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
-
Resumen
Expository approaches in project management education do not seem to be engaging engineering students. Although the students acquire remarkable theoretical knowledge throughout their coursework, they lack transferable competences, such as soft skills, which are scarcely attended in the teaching of project management. Generation Z’s characteristics differ from previous generations and should be considered in new project management education approaches and methods. This article reviews the project management competencies, Generation Z profile, and teaching methods trends reported in the literature. It presents a study involving 147 engineering students, through a self-report questionnaire, to explore their profile’s self-awareness and compare it with the literature. A correlational study links the Generation Z’s personality traits with project management soft skills. Findings reveal interesting personality characteristics of Generation Z engineering students for the project management field. However, this sample showed low recognition of their individualism, less personal relationships, and did not value their creative potential. There were also differences in Electronic, Electrical, and Computer Science engineering students, namely, lower emotional intelligence. Some highlighted traits have a significant effect on critical project management soft skills. Other soft skills were not supported in personality traits. This work suggests implications for re-think educational approaches to Generation Z engineering students.
