An International Examination of Non-Technical Skills and Professional Dispositions in Computing -- Identifying the Present Day Academia-Industry Gap
Computing graduates are frequently reported by members of industry to lack in professional dispositions and/or non-technical skills (often referred to as "soft skills"). In this work, we conduct a gap analysis of the alignment between academic preparation and industry expectations through a three-pronged study. First, a literature review explored the academic perspective of how fostering professional dispositions and non-technical skills occurs in tertiary computing education. Second, a literature review identifying industry's expectations of those dispositions and skills for entry-level computing professionals. Finally, a mixed-methods approach, combining a survey and structured interviews of computing industry professionals to identify their opinions on the relative importance of those skills and dispositions. In each of these prongs, we additionally consider whether and how Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) may have been approached and/or incorporated.
Authors
- Raymond Pettit (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9675-025X)
- Rita Garcia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4615-4921)
- Brian Harrington (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0734-9630)
- Sandra Schulz (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2254-6579)
- Κωνσταντίνος Λιάσκος (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7994-4383)
- Janice L. Pearce (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7566-9217)
- Olga Glebova (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7566-0471)
- Craig Stewart (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7548-1660)
- Bonnie MacKellar (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2269-5029)
- Stephanie Lunn (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3840-1822)
- Angela Zavaleta Bernuy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1228-5774)
- Andrew Csizmadia (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8546-1225)
- Bedour Alshaigy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8854-1420)
- Usman Nasir (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0005-4340-8641)
Institutions
- Uppsala University (SE)
- University of Connecticut (US)
- St. John's University (US)
- Universität Hamburg (DE)
- University of Strathclyde (GB)
- University of Toronto (CA)
- Durham University (GB)
- Florida International University (US)
- Newman University (GB)
- Scarborough Health Network (CA)
- Victoria University of Wellington (NZ)
- University of Virginia (US)
- Blekinge Institute of Technology (SE)
- Berea College (US)
Publication Details
- Published
- 2025-01-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1145/3689187.3709610
- Citations
- 4
- Primary Topic
- Information Systems Education and Curriculum Development
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 12.98