Why industry says that engineering graduates have poor communication skills: What the literature says
Why industry says that engineering graduates have poor communication skills: What the literature says
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为什么业界认为工程毕业生的沟通能力较差：文献是怎么说的
DOI：
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发表时间：
2011
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
A. Kedrowicz
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
J. Donnell;B. Aller;M. Alley;A. Kedrowicz
尽管工程系一直在努力提高学生的沟通技巧，但很大一部分行业经理认为工程系毕业生的沟通技巧很弱。为什么工业界认为这些技能是薄弱的？此外，行业认为工程专业毕业生的书面和口头陈述技能的哪些方面比较薄弱？本文通过对多项评估近期工程专业毕业生沟通技能的研究的回顾，解决了这两个问题。我们的审查发现，部分差异的出现，因为通信作业，工程专业的学生在大学里执行显着不同的写作情况（观众，目的和场合），工程专业毕业生在行业中遇到的。新的工程专业毕业生通常不具备专业知识，以实现从课堂作业适用，或不适用，在不同的专业情况下，通信原则。然而，第三个问题是，在专业工程环境中，什么构成了强大的沟通技能，可能与课堂环境中教授或期望的内容有很大不同。尽管文献提供了对这种差异的深入了解，但对于入门级工程师沟通技能的具体缺陷仍有很多需要了解。工程系可以采取的一个步骤是进行纵向研究，了解他们在写作和口头交流方面的教学如何为学生以后的课程、实习和合作以及就业做好准备。不同院校的部门应考虑采用一套共同的调查问题，以便比较调查结果。另一个建议是，在将写作纳入课程时，工程部门应该考虑以下两个问题：1。我们希望学生掌握什么样的沟通技巧？2.如何设计技术作业来帮助学生获得所需的沟通技巧？要回答第一个问题，工程系最好找出雇主认为毕业生的沟通特质。为了回答第二个问题，工程部门应该咨询通信专家，最好是那些熟悉工程师所进行的通信类型的专家。
Although engineering departments have worked hard at improving the communication skills of their students, a large percentage of industry managers consider the communication skills of engineering graduates to be weak. Why does industry consider these skills to be weak? Also, what particular aspects of written and oral presentation skills does industry consider to be weak in engineering graduates? This paper addresses these two questions through a review of multiple studies that have assessed the communication skills of recent engineering graduates. Our review has found that part of the disparity arises because the communication assignments that engineering students perform in college significantly differ from the writing situations (audiences, purposes, and occasions) that engineering graduates encounter in industry. New engineering graduates do not typically possess the expertise to realize what communication principles from classroom assignments apply, or do not apply, in different professional situations. Yet a third problem is that what constitutes strong communication skills in professional engineering settings may differ considerably from what is taught or expected in classroom settings. Although the literature provides these insights into the disparity, much still needs to be learned about the specific deficiencies in communication skills of entry-level engineers. One step that could be taken is for engineering departments to conduct longitudinal studies about how well their instruction on writing and oral communication prepares students for later classes, for internships and co-ops, and for employment. Departments at different institutions should consider adopting a core of common survey questions so that survey results can be compared. Another recommendation is that when incorporating writing into a course, engineering departments should consider the following two questions: 1. What communication skills do we want students to acquire? 2. How can technical assignments be designed to help students achieve those desired communication skills? To answer the first of these questions, engineering departments would do well to identify the specific communication traits that the employers of their graduates see as important. To answer the second question, engineering departments should consult with communication specialists, and preferably those familiar with the kinds of communication that engineers do.