Holloway, E., & Linvill, J. S. (2023, June), Changing the Conversation Surrounding Students’ Professional Skills: Making the Case for the Importance of Professional Skills, and More Inclusive Language  Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland. 10.18260/1-2--43166

\bibitem{asee_peer_43166}
  Holloway, E., \& Linvill, J. S. (2023, June), \emph{Changing the Conversation Surrounding Students’ Professional Skills: Making the Case for the Importance of Professional Skills, and More Inclusive Language}
  Paper presented at 2023 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland.
  10.18260/1-2--43166

Eric Holloway and Jennifer S. Linvill.  "Changing the Conversation Surrounding Students’ Professional Skills: Making the Case for the Importance of Professional Skills, and More Inclusive Language".  2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland, 2023, June.  ASEE Conferences, 2023.  https://peer.asee.org/43166 Internet.  22 Jan, 2025

\bibitem{asee_peer_43166}
  Eric Holloway and Jennifer S. Linvill.
  "Changing the Conversation Surrounding Students’ Professional Skills: Making the Case for the Importance of Professional Skills, and More Inclusive Language".
  \emph{2023 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition, Baltimore , Maryland, 2023, June}.
  ASEE Conferences, 2023.
  https://peer.asee.org/43166 Internet.  22 Jan, 2025

@INPROCEEDINGS{asee_peer_43166
author = "Eric Holloway and Jennifer S. Linvill"
title = "Changing the Conversation Surrounding Students’ Professional Skills: Making the Case for the Importance of Professional Skills, and More Inclusive Language"
booktitle = "2023 ASEE Annual Conference \& Exposition"
year = "2023"
month = "June"
address = "Baltimore , Maryland"
publisher = "ASEE Conferences"
note = {https://peer.asee.org/43166}
number = {10.18260/1-2--43166}
}

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - The engineering education community has integrated non-technical professional skills (e.g., communication, leadership, lifelong learning, teamwork) into the curriculum through direct curricular activities and, more importantly, through co-curricular and extracurricular activities where students get real experiences practicing and honing their non-technical professional skills. However, according to employers, gaps persist in students’ perceived professional skills. The purpose of this paper is to assist in changing the conversation about students’ professional skills by reviewing the history of how students’ professional skills are developed and making the case for the importance of professional skills. This study utilized bibliometric and content analysis tools to search for and identify articles of interest related to how the language of students’ professional skills has changed over the past 20 years across a wide range of databases and search terms. The bibliometric and content analysis showed that the predominant term for professional skills in the past 20 years has been “soft skills,” which connotes that professional skills are somehow less important than technical skills. The key takeaway from this paper is that the language around students’ professional skills needs to change. Additionally, Engineering educators need to focus on encouraging and providing more opportunities outside of the classroom for students to develop their professional skills in real-world contexts that are more realistic for what students will see in their work life. Industry practitioners can help immensely by adopting more inclusive language toward professional skills and providing internship opportunities to incorporate these skills for students to gain real-world experience.
AU  - Eric Holloway
AU  - Jennifer S. Linvill
CY  - Baltimore , Maryland
DA  - 2023/06/25
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Changing the Conversation Surrounding Students’ Professional Skills: Making the Case for the Importance of Professional Skills, and More Inclusive Language
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/43166
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--43166
ER  -