Employment Skills for 21st Century Workplace: The Gap Between Faculty and Student

Perceptions

Kay A. Hodge, Ph.D.

Janet L. Lear, Ph.D.
University of Nebraska at Kearney

ABSTRACT

This study compared the perceptions of college business faculty and students regarding
the business competencies needed to get a job after graduation. The population for this research
consisted upper-level students (n=254), who were enrolled in business classes at a Midwest
university and faculty members (n=37) teaching in the business area at the same institution. This
research highlighted a gap that may exist regarding skills needed for employment.

Nonparametric analysis showed significant differences existed between U.S. students

(n=214) and international students (n=44) in the areas of leadership, creativity, and the value of
a 2nd language. The analysis also showed significant differences between faculty members and
U.S. students in the areas of management, time management, personal management, critical
thinking, problem solving, writing, speaking, and leadership and between faculty members and
international students in the areas of time management, personal management, critical thinking,
writing, speaking, listening, ethics, and the value of a 2nd language.

Introduction

Today’s workforce is comprised of a diverse group of individuals. White, non-Hispanic

workers are still the largest segment of the labor force (81 percent); however, the Asian and
Hispanic labor forces are growing at a rapid pace (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Winter 2009-10).
The growth rate between 2008 and 2010 was projected to be 30 percent for Asians and 33
percent for Hispanics (Bureau of Labor Statistics, Winter 2009-10). These figures indicate that
the future labor force will become more diverse.

While nothing replaces the value of experience and hands-on training in the job market,
every worker has to start somewhere. According to Crosby and Moncarz (2006), data show that a
post-secondary education makes entering the workforce easier for some jobs; however, a college
degree is the only way to begin many careers. As the job market becomes increasingly
competitive, education is the key to developing the necessary skills to compete for improved
employment opportunities and higher wages. A post-secondary education culminating in a
degree increases the number of job options and the amount of earnings available to those
entering the job market. Liming and Wolf (2008) reported job earnings for a number of
educational levels as follows: High school graduates - $595 per week, Associate’s degree
average - $721 per week, and Bachelor’s degree - $962 per week. In 2009, not only were
earnings higher with more education, unemployment rates were lower: Bachelor’s degree—5.2
percent unemployed, master’s degree—3.9 percent unemployed, or first professional degree—
2.3 percent unemployed (Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2010).

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 The projected growth rate for occupations requiring a college degree is 19 percent,
compared to a 13 percent growth for all occupations (Crosby & Moncarz, 2006). With the
increased number of job openings available to individuals with post-secondary education, high
school graduates will have to make a decision to pursue more education, enter the full-time
workforce, or work while pursuing a post-secondary education. High school graduates, who
decide to pursue a post-secondary education, whether full-time or part-time, will have to make
choices about the career options they will pursue and the skills they will need to obtain. These
career decisions will influence what courses, beyond the required college classes, they choose to
concentrate on in order to enhance employment opportunities.

Often, students do not realize the importance of possessing transferable skills, and they
assume that mastery of skills within their discipline is enough to get that all-important, post-
graduation position (Robinson & Garton, 2007). Still, according to many, people graduating
from colleges and universities often lack the skills needed in the world of work. This lack of
preparation may be the result of three factors including not listening to professors and advisors,
lack of participation in class exercises, and an inability to transfer meaning from their
experiences into choices that will impact their future.

On the other hand, do professors know the skills needed for today’s workplace? Are
professors emphasizing the necessary skills in their classes? According to the Partnership for 21st
Century Skills (2006) and American Management Association’s (AMA) 2010 survey, many
employers believe that higher education is failing in its role to adequately develop needed skills
in students. In higher education, professors can influence students by promoting the skills
businesses are seeking in future employees and helping students achieve these skills through
course activities. Professors can also influence the choices students make through advising
relationships.

Stringer, Kerpelman, & Skorikov (2011) reported that according to Erik Erikson, an early
psychosocial theorist, the primary developmental task of adolescence into early adulthood is to
form an identity in different domains including career and relationships. Stringer and colleagues
(2011) defined career identity as “the sense of self derived from one’s development of an
occupational career and is an important component of one’s overall identity” (p. 158). To
ultimately reach career identity, individuals’ experiences during early adulthood may impact
their career formation. According to Savickas (2005), individuals’ experiences do matter. His
theory of career construction through experiences involves individuals imposing meaning on past
and present experiences and future goals that influence their work lives. Savickas’ theory served
as a basis for this study as the researchers explored whether or not the perceptions of the students
and the faculty members, probably formed from their experiences, mirrored the skills businesses
were reporting as necessary for the workplace in the new century.

Literature Review

According to its Web site (http://www.p21.org), the Partnership for 21st Century Skills is
a national organization founded in 2002 with help from several businesses and the U.S.
Department of Education. It is devoted to promoting student workplace readiness, and its
Strategic Council includes a variety of members: American Association of School Librarians,

©2011 - Journal of Career and Technical Education, Vol. 26, No. 2, Winter, 2011 – Page 29
Knowledge Works Foundation, Adobe, Pearson, Apple, Dell, ETS, Hewlett Packard, LEGO
Group, Microsoft, and Verizon among others. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills works to
encourage institutions to incorporate 21st century skills in educational curricula. It stated:

In an economy driven by innovation and knowledge . . . in marketplaces engaged

in intense competition and constant renewal . . . in a world of tremendous
opportunities and risks . . . in a society facing complex business, political,
scientific, technological, health and environmental challenges . . and in diverse
workplaces and communities that hinge on challenges . . . and in diverse
workplaces and communities that hinge on collaborative relationships and social
networking . . . the ingenuity, agility and skills of the United States people are
crucial to U.S. competitiveness. (Partnership, 2008, p. 1)

Research by both Black and Lynch and Zoghi, Mohr, and Meyer (as cited by Partnership
st
for 21 Century Skills, 2008) detailed how companies have changed the way they do business
and how workers have more responsibility and contribute more to businesses in order to meet the
demands of today’s competitive economy. In 1967, about 54 percent of the United States’
economy was based on production of material goods and services. By 1997, 63 percent of the
United States’ economy had moved to an information product and service economy (Partnership
for 21st Century Skills, 2008). From 1995 to 2005, 17 million service-sector jobs were created,
and over 3 million manufacturing jobs were lost (Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2008).

Currently, businesses spend billions of dollars every year to hire and train employees.
Businesses want workers who can help increase profitability by reducing costs associated with
training, turnover, and production errors (Ferguson, 2007). In fact, recent economic challenges
have forced organizations to go forward with their strategies using fewer resources—especially
people. Businesses do not do less; the people they hire do more to accomplish the companies’
goals and objectives.

Since employees must do more to help the company be successful, students seeking jobs
need skills that emphasize innovation and cultural competency, as well as critical thinking,
problem solving, communication, teamwork, ethical and social responsibility, and foundational
skills like reading and basic math (Schuele and Madison, 2010). Schuele and Madison (2010)
found that, to be successful in finding a job, applicants must be able to convince prospective
employers that, as employees, they will bring value to an organization. In addition, prospective
employees must show evidence of current knowledge in the field. Thus, the important goal for
post-graduates seeking employment is to understand what businesses value.

Three major business surveys were identified in the literature that itemized the work
skills important for employment in the 21st century. A survey of employers by the Partnership for
21st Century Skills (2008), found the top five skills employers sought were professionalism,
teamwork, oral communication, ethics and social responsibility, and reading comprehension. Its
report concluded that business and community leaders, policy makers, and educators need to
work together so that future workers will have the workplace skills necessary to succeed.

©2011 - Journal of Career and Technical Education, Vol. 26, No. 2, Winter, 2011 – Page 30
 The second survey, which was performed by the National Association of Colleges and
Employers (NACE), complements the previous study in its 2009 NACE Research Report: Job
Outlook 2010. Because businesses are hiring fewer people and expecting them to do more,
employers have increased their expectations for potential employees. The employers do,
however, continue to seek employees with certain skills. The NACE Research Report noted that
the top five skills sought by employers are communications skills, analytical skills, teamwork
skills, technical skills and a strong work ethic.

On its Web site, The Partnership for the 21st Century highlights the newest survey by the
American Management Association (AMA). The AMA survey (2010) said more on the subject
of skills necessary for entry-level jobs. In a survey of 2,115 managers and other executives,
respondents indicated that not only do future workers need to be able to read, write, and perform
arithmetic; but also they need the following skills: critical thinking (problem solving),
communication, collaboration, and creativity (innovation), which will become even more
important to organizations. These skills are referred to as the “4 C’s” (AMA, 2010). When
compared, these studies appear to build upon and reinforce one another in addressing the entry-
level skills desired by employers.

Table 1
Comparison of the Three Surveys Top Rated Skills

21st Century Survey (2008) NACE (2009) AMA (2010)

Oral Communications Communications Communications

Teamwork Teamwork Collaboration/Teamwork
Ethics/Social Responsibility Analytical Critical Thinking/Problem Solving
Professionalism Technical Creativity/Innovation
Reading Comprehension Strong Work Ethic

These days, routine, easily-replicated jobs are being automated or outsourced as U.S.
businesses have entered the knowledge age (AMA, 2010). The knowledge age raises real
questions about what is going to happen to people who have only a high school education.
Further, is the United States workforce ready for the jobs of the future? People at every level in
an organization are going to have to be able to solve problems, think critically, be innovative,
collaborate with others, and communicate effectively. Executives surveyed by the AMA noted
that there is much room for improvement in today’s workforce in these areas (AMA, 2010).

Purpose of the Study

This research study investigated the following questions:

1. What skills do faculty members perceive as important for initial post-graduate

employment of students?
2. What skills do U.S. students and international students perceive as important for their
initial post-graduate employment?

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 3. Do perceptual differences of the skills needed for initial post-graduate employment exist
between faculty members and U.S. students?
4. Do perceptual differences of the skills needed for initial post-graduate employment exists
between faculty members and international students?
5. Do perceptual differences of the skills needed for initial post-graduate employment exist
between United States students and international students?

Method

A quantitative survey was conducted at a Midwest university to determine what

businesses skills faculty members and students perceived to be the most important, from the list
identified in the literature.

Participants

The faculty members from the College of Business and Technology represented in the
survey were from the areas of accounting, finance, economics, management, marketing,
management information systems, and industrial technology and taught classes during the year
2010 at the institution. A total of 55 faculty members were contacted and 37 responded to the
survey for a return rate of 67.5 percent.

The student participants in the study were enrolled in 300-level and 400-level
(junior/senior level) business classes during the 2010 spring and summer sessions. The
instructors of these courses agreed to allow the students in their classes to be surveyed. Students
involved were in accounting, finance, strategy, business law, management, and marketing
classes. A total of 624 surveys were e-mailed to students from the lists provided by faculty. A
total of 265 surveys were returned and of those, 258 were usable for a return rate of 41.3 percent.
A total of 26 of the 44 international students were from China (17) and Japan (9). The remaining
students represented Nepal, Puerto Rico, India, France, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Bahamas,
Turkey, Australia, Trinidad, Uzbekistan, and Mexico.

Procedure

After reviewing published articles and searching the Internet, the researchers identified a
list of 17 business skills that were considered important. These skills were compiled into a
master list and condensed to include the following: management skills, interpersonal skills,
teamwork skills, time management skills, personal management skills, problem solving skills
critical thinking skills, technology skills, written communication skills, oral communication
skills, listening skills, leadership skills, creativity skills, ethics skills, language skills (second
language), and computational skills (Business School Edge, 2010; Gudim, 2010; Fisher,
Lobaugh, & Parente, 2006).

A quantitative survey was designed by the researchers. The participants were asked for
demographic information that included country of origin, major, and class standing. Participants
were then asked to rank-order a list of 17 business skills in order of importance with “one” being
the skill they perceived to be the most important.

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 The survey was entered into Qualtrics, survey software program, and sent to three faculty
members for testing. The researchers then contacted all the instructors teaching upper-level
classes in the College of Business & Technology and asked for permission to survey the students
registered for their classes. The study was limited to faculty members teaching business classes
and the students in those classes because the results were to be compared with business
employee surveys to determine if a gap existed between the skills businesses perceive are
important and the skills instructors and students perceive are important.

Student rosters were received from those instructors who agreed to have their classes
participate, and the survey was sent through e-mail to the students who could then take the
survey in the privacy of their own residence. The survey was also distributed to all faculty
members teaching business classes at the same Midwest institution.

A Spearman coefficient correlation for nonparametric tests was available in the Statistical
Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), version 19, and was used to analyze the data. Mean
scores and coefficient scores were generated for the respondents for the variables of interest and
tested for statistically significant differences.

Results

The results were analyzed for students and faculty members. The faculty members’
surveys were analyzed for the business skills they perceived were important compared to the
literature review and to what students perceived as important. The student responses were in two
groups, international students and American students. The two sets of student perceptions were
compared to the literature and to faculty member perceptions.

Faculty

Faculty members’ rank ordered all 17 skills listed on the survey. Interpersonal skills,
critical thinking, problem solving, and teamwork emerged as the four most important skills
faculty believed students needed to obtain a job after graduation. As can be seen in Table 2,
interpersonal skills had an average ranking of 4.41 out of 17 for the faculty members and was the
top-ranked skill needed by students according to the faculty surveyed.

Table 2
Faculty Top Four Responses

Skill Mean
Interpersonal 4.41
Critical Thinking 4.82
Problem Solving 5.32
Teamwork 5.59

Faculty members’ responses were analyzed and compared to U.S. students’ responses
and then to international students’ responses. Significant differences between faculty members
and U.S. students were found in 8 of the 17 areas: management, time management, personal

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management, critical thinking, problem solving, writing, speaking, and leadership. (See Table 3
for the comparison of U.S. students and faculty for 16 skills; other was omitted.)

Table 3
Mean Scores, Rank-Order, and t-Scores for Faculty and U.S. Student Responses

USA Students Faculty Faculty/USA

Students
Skills Mean Rank Mean Rank Spearman
Correlation
Management 4.30 1 6.71 6 -.220**
Interpersonal 5.11 2 4.41 1 -.066**
Teamwork 5.16 3 5.59 4 -.098**
Time Mgmt 5.26 4 7.65 9 -.201**
Personal Mgmt 6.41 5 9.09 10 -.223**
Critical Thinking 6.66 6 4.82 2 .253**
Problem Solving 7.37 7 5.32 3 .179**
Technology 7.39 8 9.44 11 -.087**
Writing 7.68 9 6.82 7 .250**
Speaking 8.65 10 5.82 5 .151**
Listening 9.12 11 7.56 8 .086**
Leadership 9.68 12 11.21 13 -.200**
Creativity 11.64 13 12.24 14 .070**
Ethics 12.65 14 10.18 12 .079**
2nd Language 14.15 15 15.26 16 -.062**
Computation 14.90 16 13.94 15 .043**
*p< .05 ** p< .01

Significant differences between faculty members and international students were found in
6 of the 16 major areas: time management, personal management, critical thinking, writing,
speaking, listening, creativity, and 2nd language. (See Table 4 for the comparison of international
students and faculty for 16 skills.)

Table 4
Mean Scores, Rank-Order, and t-Scores for Faculty and International Students’ Responses

International Faculty Faculty/ Int’l

Students Students
n=81
Skills Mean Rank Mean Rank Spearman
Correlation
Management 5.91 4 6.71 6 -.194**
Interpersonal 5.27 2 4.41 1 .006**
Teamwork 4.48 1 5.59 4 -.134**
Time Management 5.34 3 7.65 9 -.222**
Personal Mgmt 6.34 5 9.09 10 -.311**
Critical Thinking 7.23 8 4.82 2 .233**

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 Problem Solving 6.66 6 5.32 3 .158**
Technology 7.20 7 9.44 11 -.053**
Writing 8.80 10 6.82 7 .400**
Speaking 8.00 9 5.82 5 .268**
Listening 8.89 11 7.56 8 .232**
Leadership 10.05 12 11.21 13 -.064**
Creativity 11.39 13 12.24 14 -.153**
Ethics 11.77 15 10.18 12 .224**
nd
2 Language 13.55 14 15.26 16 -.354**
Computation 15.18 16 13.94 15 .146**
*p< .05 ** p< .01

Student Responses

United States students rank-ordered management, interpersonal skills, teamwork, and

time management (see Table 5) as the four most important skills they believed were needed to
obtain a job after graduation. (See Table 7 for a complete rank-order listing of all 17 skills by all
students.)

Table 5
United States Students’ Top Four Responses

Skill Mean
Management 4.30
Interpersonal 5.11
Teamwork 5.16
Time Mgmt. 5.26

Teamwork, interpersonal skills, time management, and management (See Table 6) were
the four most important skills international students believed they needed to obtain a job after
graduation. (See Table 7 for a complete rank-order listing.)

Table 6
International Students Top Four Responses

Skill Mean
Teamwork 4.48
Interpersonal 5.27
Time Management 5.34
Management 5.91

Significant differences between the two groups of students were found in only three
areas: leadership, creativity, and 2nd language. See Table 7 for complete results.

Table 7
Mean Scores, Rank-Order, and t-Scores for Student Responses

©2011 - Journal of Career and Technical Education, Vol. 26, No. 2, Winter, 2011 – Page 35
 International USA Students U.S./Int’l
Students Students
Skills Mean Rank Mean Rank Spearman
Correlation
Management 5.91 4 4.30 1 .108**
Interpersonal 5.27 2 5.11 2 .093**
Teamwork 4.48 1 5.16 3 .007**
Time Mgmt 5.34 3 5.26 4 .013**
Personal Mgmt 6.34 5 6.41 5 -.003**
Critical Thinking 7.23 8 6.66 6 -.062**
Problem Solving 6.66 6 7.37 7 -.081**
Technology 7.20 7 7.39 8 .061**
Writing 8.80 10 7.68 9 .072**
Speaking 8.00 9 8.65 10 .028**
Listening 8.89 11 9.12 11 .092**
Leadership 10.05 12 9.68 12 .162**
Creativity 11.39 13 11.64 13 -.180**
Ethics 11.77 15 12.65 14 .112**
2nd Language 13.55 14 14.15 15 -.214**
Computation 15.18 16 14.90 16 .073**
*p< .05 ** p< .01

Discussion

RQ1: What skills do faculty members perceive as important for initial post-graduate
employment of students?

The survey by the AMA (2010) indicated that communication, critical thinking/problem
solving, creativity, and collaboration/teamwork were the most necessary skills for post-graduate,
entry-level employment. Faculty members ranked interpersonal skills, critical thinking, problem
solving and teamwork as the four most necessary skills. Comparing the faculty ratings with the
AMA study seems to show that faculty members’ perceptions were similar to those of business
people surveyed by AMA, since faculty members ranked critical thinking, problem solving and
teamwork as essential skills for initial post-graduate employment. However, faculty members did
not rank communication skills or creativity as high in importance as the business executives did.

RQ2: What skills do U.S. students and international students perceive as important for
their initial post-graduate employment?

The most recent literature by the AMA (2010) indicated that communication, critical
thinking/problem solving, creativity, and collaboration/teamwork were the most necessary skills
for post-graduate, entry-level employment. Comparing the U.S students’ ratings with the
literature disclosed that students’ perceptions were different than employers’ since only
collaboration/teamwork emerged as one of the top four skills in the students’ responses.
Additionally, U.S. students rated communication skills, critical thinking/problem solving, and
creativity lower than business executives did.

©2011 - Journal of Career and Technical Education, Vol. 26, No. 2, Winter, 2011 – Page 36
 Comparing the international students’ ratings with the literature illustrated that their
perceptions differ from the literature because only collaboration/teamwork emerged as one of the
top four skills for this group of respondents. Like the U.S. students, the international students
rated communication skills, critical thinking/problem solving, and creativity lower than business
executives did.

RQ3: Do perceptual differences of the skills needed for initial post-graduate

employment exist between faculty members and U.S. students?

Statistically significant differences between faculty members’ responses and U.S.

students’ responses were evident in the areas of management, time management, personal
management, critical thinking, problem solving, writing, speaking, and leadership. While faculty
members’ responses differed somewhat from the AMA survey, the faculty members were more
closely aligned with the AMA results than were the U.S. students.

Faculty members appeared to agree with business executives more than the U.S. students
did. Faculty ranked management, time management, personal management, and leadership lower
than the U.S. students ranked these skills. Faculty members rated critical thinking, problem
solving, writing, and speaking as more important for initial post-graduate employment than the
U.S. students ranked the skills.

RQ4: Do perceptual differences of the skills needed for initial post-graduate employment
exist between faculty members and international students?

Statistically significant differences between faculty members’ responses and international

students’ responses were evident in the areas of personal management, time management, critical
thinking, writing, speaking, listening, creativity, and the value of a 2nd language. Faculty
members did align more closely with international students regarding the importance of problem
solving than they did with U.S. students. Faculty members rated critical thinking, writing,
speaking, and listening as more important than the international students did. Additionally,
faculty members rated creativity and a 2nd language less important than the international students
rated these skills.

RQ5: Do perceptual differences of the skills needed for initial post-graduate employment
exist between United States students and international students?

When comparing the responses of U.S. students and international students, no statistically
significant differences appeared in the listing of the top four skills. While not statistically
significant, international students did rate teamwork as the number one skill needed, while U.S.
students rated it third.

Further analysis revealed a statistically significant difference in the means for leadership,
creativity, and 2nd language skills. International students studying in the United States indicated
that they valued a 2nd language more than U.S. students indicated they did. Most likely, the

©2011 - Journal of Career and Technical Education, Vol. 26, No. 2, Winter, 2011 – Page 37
international students already had the ability to communicate in at least two languages and
valued that ability more than U.S. students.

Creativity and leadership also were not ranked high by either international or U.S.
students. For both student groups, creativity ranked 13th out of 17 in importance, and leadership
rated 12th out of 17 items. The difference in the means, however, was statistically significant for
both. The international students had a low mean for creativity and the U.S. students had a low
mean for leadership. So, while the ranking was the same for both groups, a higher percentage of
U.S. students rated leadership as more important and a higher percentage of international
students ranked creativity higher. Overall, the students did not vary as much as anticipated,
which could indicate that students are pretty much the same the world over.

Conclusions

Faculty members surveyed were the instructors for business content classes. These
individuals all have terminal degrees and were academically or professionally qualified (under
AACSB guidelines) to teach in their content areas. Their perceptions were assumed by the
researchers to be different from the students’ perceptions because of their knowledge and
experience. What was also expected was that faculty perceptions would be in agreement with the
results of the three business surveys discussed in the literature. The results of the research
indicated that faculty members and employers did not necessarily agree that the same skills were
important. Only teamwork and problem solving/critical thinking were listed in the top six skills
by both groups. The differences between instructors’ perceptions and the results of the
employers’ surveys highlight a skills gap that may exist in the types of skills that are emphasized
by professors but needed and sought by employers. Relating back to Savickas’ (2005) research,
this gap between what employers perceive as important and what is deemed important by faculty
could indicate that students may not be engaged in a sufficient number of experiences that stress
the skills employers indicate are important.

Out of the six skills that employers regarded most important (as reported in the
literature), only teamwork was listed by the students as one of the top-ranked skills that they
believed they would need to obtain an entry-level job after graduation. In addition to a possible
lack of emphasis by professors in the classroom, two other reasons for this gap may include
cultural differences and apathy.

Student perceptions could be different due to culture. Trompenaars (cited in Whetten &
Cameron, 2002) identified seven cultural values dimensions. Five of these dimensions address
how an individual relates to other people—universalism vs. particularism, individualism vs.
collectivism, affective vs. neutral, specific vs. diffuse, and achievement vs. ascription. Two of
these dimensions relate to business, universalism (societal rules and norms valued) vs.
particularism (individual relationships valued) and individualism (individual contributions
valued) vs. collectivism (group contributions valued). These value dimensions are evident in
cultures throughout the world and may influence individual choices for employment skills such
as teamwork. For example, a student from a culture that values individualism might choose
teamwork as less important than a student from a culture that values collectivism. Another
example is leadership. The statistical mean for U.S. students indicated that leadership was more

©2011 - Journal of Career and Technical Education, Vol. 26, No. 2, Winter, 2011 – Page 38
important to them than it was to the international students. This also could be a cultural
difference since the United States appears to value individual contribution and leadership to a
high degree, which might impact the meaning that is attached to a student’s experiences.

Another reason for the differences could be that students might not be aware of or even
care about what skills are important during their post-secondary educational experience. Faculty
members need to be aware of the skills that employers value and emphasize those skills with
students. Faculty members are in charge of curriculum and the content of their classes, and they
may be able to guide students through assignments or experiential learning exercises to value the
skills employers value.

Recognizing that students do not necessarily understand the importance of skills that are
important to 21st century employers is also a key indicator for faculty members. Through
classroom instruction and academic advising, faculty members have the opportunity to assist
students in a positive way and reinforce what business executives are saying are important skills
for students going out into the workforce.

Limitations

While the institution where this survey was conducted has a student body that represents
47 states and 49 foreign countries, the international student population makes up a smaller
percent of the student body than it might on other campuses in the United States. However, while
the number of international student responses was low, the number represents a higher percent of
the total number of responses than the percent of international students in the student body. This
study should be replicated at other post-secondary institutions that possess varying degrees of
diversity.

Another limitation might be the order of the skill list that participants were asked to rank
order. The listing should have been alphabetized, and it was not. The researchers did provide a
statement that all of the skills were considered important; and, the participants were asked to give
a rank order with 1 being the most important.

Future Research

More work needs to be completed in this area to reach sound conclusions regarding the
differences between United States and international students’ perceptions and faculty members’
perceptions and what businesses say they are seeking in future employees. Additionally, the
researchers question if the criteria that the AMA survey mentions as required are true nation-
wide skills or if the skills businesses are seeking differ by region. The researchers plan to survey
regional businesses using the instrument and compare those results with the nationwide surveys,
with students’ responses, and with faculty members’ responses to determine any differences.

The participant group should also be expanded to include students outside the business
major. Students from other majors will be seeking employment even if their area of study was
not business. This group of students should be surveyed to determine if their perceptions of the
skills needed for employment are consistent with those skills employers perceive to be important.

©2011 - Journal of Career and Technical Education, Vol. 26, No. 2, Winter, 2011 – Page 39
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