Developing Leadership Competencies for STEM Fields: The Case of Purdue Polytechnic Leadership Academy

Abstract

The Problem. Employers view today's science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) program graduates as deficient in interpersonal skills that are essential for team and organizational performance. However, STEM programs continue to effectively engage in interpersonal skills development in college level, instead placing the responsibility of such development on employers. The Solution. A competency modeling framework should inform the design of such education programs, and this article describes such a framework and an educational program that used the framework to identify needed interpersonal skills and successfully develop them in STEM students. The framework will help HRD (human resource development) professionals take an active role in identifying the competencies needed for STEM program graduate success. The Stakeholders. The article provides HRD academics with a framework to identify competencies needed for workplace success in a given academic field. As education programs such as described here are developed, STEM organizations may receive workers who are more productive and less in need of leadership development expenditure.

Employability skills for 21st-century STEM students: the employers' perspective

“…These graduates need to apply life skills and life experiences beyond their academic knowledge to the workplace setting. According to a study by Akdere et al (2019), while 95% of US employers believe young graduates should be able to solve problems with others who hold different viewpoints, only 15% of these graduates are prepared to face workplace diversity and 18% to work with people from different backgrounds. Nonetheless, one solution could derive from internship or apprentice opportunities, which provide students with real-life experiential learning in the workplace (Bunshaft et al, 2015;Jackson et al, 2016) to better prepare them for the workplace they will enter upon graduation.…”

“…practical skills) and interpersonal skills (Jackson et al, 2016). According to Akdere et al (2019), no new hire has failed because of a lack of technical skills; instead, it is the lack of workplace skills that is problematic. The traditional curriculum seems to reflect what teachers regard as relevant rather than the skills employers require (Jang, 2015).…”

“…Educational institutions and employers must align to reflect current and future priorities of the workplace to enhance graduates' work readiness (Rayner and Papakonstantinou, 2015). Young graduates need to be prepared to hold multiple roles in the workforce or complete numerous jobs at the same time (Mark et al, 2018) across a wide variety of situations as companies continuously expand into new business segments (Akdere et al, 2019).…”

Values-Based Orientations as a Formation Factor of the Social Responsibility of the Professional Community

“…Corporate social responsibility is a concept according to which organizations take into account the interests of society, imposing responsibility for the impact of their activities on firms and other interested parties in the public sphere. Corporate social responsibility is considered as an indicator of the overall image of the organization, an integral part of the corporate culture, which cannot be fully realized in practice, if not shared by members of workers, production teams, formal and, as a rule, informal leaders of which are specialists with higher education [1,2,3,4,6].…”

Towards an Employability Model for STEM Majors: Engagement-based, Service-producing, and Experience-driven

“…Additionally, if employers are to pay higher rates for these skilled technicians, they will continue to seek employees with knowledge that extends beyond the theoretical concepts learned in the classroom, graduates who can apply concepts, teach them to others, and who possess the qualities and work-ethic of leaders [4]. As a result, students who are able to demonstrate that they have acquired the skills and qualities of leaders are at an advantage over those who have just learned basic skills [5].…”