A qualitative multi-disciplinary analysis of employers’ technology competency perceptions for graduates readiness to the workforce

To fully prepare college graduates to function competently and productively in their career, it is important to examine employers’ views of technology competency and graduates’ readiness. Using a qualitative approach by interviewing employers in South-eastern United States across a range of fields, the authors describe the major functions and dimensions of technology competency, compare similarities and differences across the disciplines, and integrate the results to inform theory and pedagogy. The main purpose of this research is to investigate how well new graduates from selected disciplines can transfer technological skills, how they learned and/or used these skills during their program of study. Investigators also introduced how a multi-disciplinary approach, which involved faculty from different backgrounds (Civil Engineering and Construction, Education and International Studies/Trade) through the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL)—Faculty Learning Communities (FLCs), was used to explore perceptions of technology competency. Results showed that all participants were dependent on the use of technology, but the degree of sophistication varied widely. Study is providing valuable information to the investigators for use in improving or revising educational curricula and pedagogical strategies to advance outcomes involving technology skills of the respective fields.