Student Perceptions of “soft” skills in Mechanical Engineering ICEE 2007 Conference

Abstract

It is critical that engineering students develop and enhance basic communication skills i.e. reading, writing, speaking and being professional in the workplace. These skills build a necessary foundation that influences and shapes the types of engineers that institutions of higher learning produce. The importance of these communication skills, often referred to as “soft skills”, are downplayed in engineering programmes in favour of an overemphasis on the technical “hard skills”. This attitude and practice engenders beliefs and attitudes that the “soft skills” are secondary, even unimportant. As a result, engineering students are often equipped with technical knowledge, but a lack of the “soft skills ”, leaves them under-prepared for the real world of work. This paper explores the notion of “soft skills” in a Mechanical Engineering education environment, with particular focus on student views on the role and value of these skills in educating “new millennium” engineers.