Fostering 21st Century Skills of the Students of Engineering and Technology

Abstract

Employment opportunities are scramming from the reach of Indian engineering graduates due to their inadequate skills set. This evinces the skills gap prevailing between the workplace preparedness of the students of engineering and the exigencies of global workforce. 21st Century Skills are the competencies required from the students of present era to succeed in their life and career, in the absence of which the students encounter major employment deficit. Although, studies have been conducted on the need for 21st Century skills and on training teachers to instigate students' skills set, the inevitable focus on students' perception towards their need for career prospects has been left unexplored. Hence, the paper prospects the preparedness and potential of the students of engineering with respect to Learning and Innovation Skills and Life and Career Skills of 21st Century Skills. An online survey with self-rating questionnaire has been administered using random sampling technique among 111 final year students of Mookambigai College of Engineering and Dhanalakshmi Srinivasan Engineering College, Tamil Nadu, between December 2018 and January 2019. Descriptive analysis, and parametric tests have been computed to investigate the data using SPSS. The findings have indicated the dearth of students' skills set in employing 21st Century skills set. The results imply the desideratum of enhancing the students' skills set that the study eventually recommends the integration of 21st Century skills set in English classroom of engineering and technology to meet the demands of the workplace.

Addressing soft skill gaps in the digital employment market: the case of Spanish students in a technology-based university

“…Finally, regarding the third specific objective, Table 2 shows the relationships between the soft skills in which students fail the most and the soft skills needed in the transition to the digital employment market. It can be observed that the soft skills with the highest number of negative mentions among students are the same ones that have been identified in the literature as being crucial for success in the digital employment market (Connell et al ., 2014; Mekala et al ., 2020; Qadir et al ., 2020; World Economic Forum, 2020). In other words, the soft skills identified by researchers as the most important for digital employability are the same ones that students identify as skills where they are deficient based on prior failures.…”

“…All these skills enable individuals to think critically, creatively, analyze and evaluate complex systems and processes. These skills are essential for professionals who need to communicate effectively and influence others to achieve their goals (Mekala et al ., 2020).…”

“…According to the study “Fostering 21st Century Skills of the Students of Engineering and Technology” (Mekala et al ., 2020), it was found that the most important soft skills for students are: creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem solving, communication and collaboration, flexibility and adaptability, initiative and self-direction, productivity and responsibility, social and intercultural skills, leadership and responsibility skills. The study concluded that students mainly lack skills such as communication and collaboration.…”

“…While prior studies have emphasized the importance of academic and technical knowledge for digital employability, soft skills are equally essential for students' future success. In this way, soft skills such as communication, empathy, self-efficacy, responsibility and collaboration (Connell et al ., 2014; Mekala et al ., 2020; Qadir et al ., 2020; World Economic Forum, 2020), are critical for integrating into the digital employment market. However, the question of which soft skills are mostly lacking for graduating students has received insufficient attention in the academic literature to date.…”

Soft Skills & Metacognition as Inclusion Amplifiers in the 21st Century

“…Mekala et al [9] examined students' perception of skills required in the 21 st century. An online survey with self-rating questionnaire has been administered among 111 final year college students using random sampling technique.…”