Engineering Competences of University Graduates: View of Employers and Young Specialists

Abstract

Young professionals are a product that higher education supplies to the labor market. Employers should provide opportunities for them to apply their professional knowledge in their future work places. Today the labor market in Russia is characterized by spontaneity and lack of balance. There are no scientifically based forecast estimates of staffing needs. For this reason, university graduates cannot always work in their specialty. Some of them find themselves unemployed. Other young professionals go into commerce or the service sector, losing their university qualifications. The novelty of the research lies in the study of engineering competencies on the part of employers and the young specialist of the plant, as well as in highlighting the content of key engineering competence and the conditions for formation. The problem gets worse in a situation of turbulence, when the employer's requests are incomprehensible, the educational institution is inert, and the young people themselves feel like superheroes. The authors used the following methods: questioning the views of respondents from the outside: university students already working at an industrial enterprise; working young professionals; employer representatives; psychological testing of young workers. Young people who have graduated or are continuing their studies claim that their level of education is higher than the work required. The employer, on the other hand, points to a clear excess of theoretical knowledge among young workers and an inadequacy of engineering competencies. Testing of young specialists in engineering specialties showed that it is possible to single out “key systemic competence”, which testifies good potential opportunities among young specialists, which include the ability for self-development and interaction, the ability to independently find information; working capacity; developed thinking; emotional stability; responsibility; leadership. Professional and social competence are linked. This allows young people to successfully adapt in the team and identify themselves with the enterprise. Employers assess such young people as “sufficiently prepared for work”. Based on the results of the study, the authors modeled the training program “School for Young Specialists”, which is being implemented at industrial enterprises of the Sverdlovsk Region in Russia. © 2021 Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies. All rights reserved.