Project-based study program graduates’ perceptions of acquired competences

Objectives. During their studies, software engineering students develop various skills that are crucial for their professional careers. Surprisingly, there is limited research on how these graduates perceive these skills in the workplace. This paper details a study that specifically examines the experiences of graduates from Software Engineering and Mobile Solutions programs that were implemented as project-based curricula. The study sheds light on how they have utilized their skills and identified any gaps in their capabilities. Participants. Project-based curriculum graduates (N = 10) who had a few years of work experience after their graduation. Complementary data was collected from three participants who graduated earlier from the traditional curriculum. Study Method. This is a qualitative interview study on graduates’ perceptions of the working life competences they gained during their studies. Data includes graduate interviews that were recorded and transcribed verbatim, complemented by field notes. Transcriptions were analyzed using content analysis with both descriptive a priori codes and data-driven coding. Findings. Graduates of the project-based curriculum felt that the skills they acquired during their studies were adequate for their professional work. However, they often noted that communication presented some challenges. They specifically mentioned gaps in communication skills with different audiences, such as customers. Other gaps mentioned included written communication, code maintenance, and test automation. Several interviewees expressed a view that their reluctance to ask questions had hindered their integration into the work community. Conclusions. Project-based education facilitates competence acquisition during studies: Graduates have reported acquiring vital professional non-technical competences such as teamwork, communication, and project management. Moreover, they indicated that they had gained proficient technical skills throughout their academic pursuits. The results of this study could be used to develop curricula and design a survey to collect current perceptions, identify gaps, and generate improvement ideas from a larger number of graduates.