Are they ready yet: Architecture Graduates Employability Skills from Employers' Perspective

Abstract

This paper reports on a study exploring the perspective of employers on architecture graduates’ employability skills during their employment. The study employed a survey research methodological approach. A total of 85 employers completed the survey. The findings of the study revealed that among the four employability skills dimensions measured, the communication skills dimension was scored highest, (M = 3.69, SD = 0.78), this was followed by career-related and teamwork skills (CTW) (M=3.64, SD=0.732), technical skills dimension (TECH) (M=3.52, SD=0.79) and the lowest total mean (M=3.41, SD=0.84) was reported for critical thinking skills (CT). The study elucidates that employer value graduates’ communication skills; however, they expected the graduates to demonstrate a range of other essential skills that include critical thinking, problem-solving, leadership and profession-related skills such as construction and structure that is essential to develop and build their design. Consequently, the study suggests for the HEI to unlock the existing curriculum, adopt the work-based learning (WBL) approach which allows greater partnership with employers and exposure to the real-life project, to develop the essential employability skills that employers value.

Preparing Architecture Students for the Workforce: A Review of Essential Skills

“…With the changes in the industry needs, in 2012-2014, the scholars noted that the number of various skills increased from three to sixteen namely skills with personal attributes as a new skill [45][46][47][48]. In the year 2014 onwards till 2022 with the introduction of Information Technology tools the skills variety increased further to 45 skill constructs [49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66][67]. These construct skill sets besides others have been high-order thinking skills, people/social skills, selfperceived skills, affective skills, transferable skills, subject knowledge, digital generic skills, personal attributes, modern employability skills, career-related and teamwork skills, critical thinking skills, and communication skills.…”

“…Critical /Analytical thinking [51][52][53][54][55], [59][60][61][62], [64][65], [67] [69-70], [72], [73], [75] 17…”