Abstract
CONTEXT
Engineering education is adapting to meet the growing need for graduates who possess not only strong technical skills but also well-developed professional capabilities. While employers consistently expect graduates to have non-technical skills such as teamwork, ethical conduct and communication, they are often underrepresented or unclear in student learning experiences. Students often lack awareness of their relevance or how to develop them effectively. This gap between expected graduate capabilities and students’ and academics’ engagement with professional skills presents an on-going misalignment in engineering education.
PURPOSE
This paper builds on the Competency in Professional and Authentic Skills for Success (COMPASS) framework to present early findings from a study examining engineering students’ and academics’ perceptions of professional skills aiming to improve the alignment between education and workplace expectations. The study addresses two key questions: (1) How do students and academics rank the importance of various professional skills for graduate engineers? and (2) Which professional skills do they each identify as most essential?
METHODS
A total of 692 students and 28 academics from four universities in Australia and New Zealand were surveyed. The questionnaire included open-ended questions, ranking tasks, Likert-scale ratings of COMPASS sub-competencies and demographic information. Final-year students also self-assessed proficiency. Qualitative data were analysed thematically and quantitative data were examined using descriptive and comparative statistics.
ACTUAL OUTCOMES
Both students and academics ranked communication and technical problem-solving as top priorities. However, students placed greater emphasis on teamwork, while academics prioritised ethics and responsible problem-solving. Project management and life-long learning were ranked lowest by both groups. The findings highlight the need for stronger curricular integration of professional skills.
SUMMARY
These preliminary findings align with existing literature and clarify the ongoing misalignment between competency standards and students’ experiences of skill development. Future research will explore differences by demographics, specialisations, institutions, work experiences and academic backgrounds.
Engineering education is adapting to meet the growing need for graduates who possess not only strong technical skills but also well-developed professional capabilities. While employers consistently expect graduates to have non-technical skills such as teamwork, ethical conduct and communication, they are often underrepresented or unclear in student learning experiences. Students often lack awareness of their relevance or how to develop them effectively. This gap between expected graduate capabilities and students’ and academics’ engagement with professional skills presents an on-going misalignment in engineering education.
PURPOSE
This paper builds on the Competency in Professional and Authentic Skills for Success (COMPASS) framework to present early findings from a study examining engineering students’ and academics’ perceptions of professional skills aiming to improve the alignment between education and workplace expectations. The study addresses two key questions: (1) How do students and academics rank the importance of various professional skills for graduate engineers? and (2) Which professional skills do they each identify as most essential?
METHODS
A total of 692 students and 28 academics from four universities in Australia and New Zealand were surveyed. The questionnaire included open-ended questions, ranking tasks, Likert-scale ratings of COMPASS sub-competencies and demographic information. Final-year students also self-assessed proficiency. Qualitative data were analysed thematically and quantitative data were examined using descriptive and comparative statistics.
ACTUAL OUTCOMES
Both students and academics ranked communication and technical problem-solving as top priorities. However, students placed greater emphasis on teamwork, while academics prioritised ethics and responsible problem-solving. Project management and life-long learning were ranked lowest by both groups. The findings highlight the need for stronger curricular integration of professional skills.
SUMMARY
These preliminary findings align with existing literature and clarify the ongoing misalignment between competency standards and students’ experiences of skill development. Future research will explore differences by demographics, specialisations, institutions, work experiences and academic backgrounds.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | 36th Australasian Association for Engineering Education Annual Conference (AAEE2025) |
| Publisher | Australasian Association for Engineering Education (AAEE) |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Publication status | Published - Dec 2025 |
| Event | AAEE - Annual Conference of Australasian Association for Engineering Education 2025 - Brisbane, Australia Duration: 7 Dec 2025 → 10 Dec 2025 Conference number: 36th https://aaee2025.org/ (Website/Proceedings) https://aaee2025.org (Website) |
Conference
| Conference | AAEE - Annual Conference of Australasian Association for Engineering Education 2025 |
|---|---|
| Abbreviated title | AAEE2025 |
| Country/Territory | Australia |
| City | Brisbane |
| Period | 7/12/25 → 10/12/25 |
| Internet address |
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Keywords
- Professional skills
- COMPASS
- student perceptions
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