Perceptions of Professional Skills by Graduate Students-A Comparative Study between Engineering, Education and Biology

College graduates are increasingly expected to collaborate across disciplines in the modern workplace. In addition to possessing content knowledge, this requires them to be adept in professional skills, including written and verbal communication skills, team building and leadership, and to have an understanding of relevant global issues. A growing awareness exists among educators for the need to better equip students with professional skills for the changing workplace. Student perceptions related to the importance of these topics, and to their coverage in the formal curriculum have, however, not been examined. A comparative study between graduate students from three disciplines (Engineering, Education and Biology) is reported that quantifies these perceptions. A Likert survey was administered to graduate students in Engineering, Education and Biology, to determine their perceptions of the importance of professional skills to their careers, and whether such skills were addressed in their undergraduate and graduate curricula. Students from all disciplines rated professional skills as very important, and they also emphasized the lack of attention to these topics in their formal curricula. Interestingly, Engineering students rated pedagogy and interpersonal communication skills and proposal writing lower compared with students in Education and Biology. Engineering should investigate how the other disciplines incorporate content related to some of these important professional skills into their curricula. Other implications of the study for engineering students and educators are also discussed.