A recent survey supports what the UNC-system Board of Governors has been trying to accomplish through the system’s strategic plan — that technical education with a liberal arts background optimizes college graduates’ career readiness.
The survey, released earlier this month by Northeastern University, highlights that employers value good communication skills alongside technical ones.
Among the 1,000 randomly selected adults and 263 employers surveyed, 56 percent of the adults and 60 percent of business leaders thought that having a broad, well-rounded education is more important for college graduates than solely specific technical skills.
Raiford Trask, a Board of Governors member, said he strongly agrees with the survey’s findings and thinks liberal arts skills and science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) skills are complementary — rather than mutually exclusive — in the job market.
“The ability to think creatively and critically, as well as communicate orally and in writing, are second only to honesty and work ethic when evaluating a potential employee,” Trask said.
The board approved a five-year strategic plan to set the course of the UNC system in February. One of the goals was to ensure college students are marketable for employers after graduation.
Champ Mitchell, another member of the board, said in an email that what employers look for has changed throughout the past few years.
“Forty years ago, when I graduated with a B.A. in English, employers were looking for someone with a baccalaureate degree who was apparently intelligent, well-spoken and interviewed well,” Mitchell said. “Today, an employer, at a minimum, wants job-related skills plus critical thinking and communication abilities.”
But Mitchell said the survey implies that business leaders prefer potential employees have bachelor’s degrees instead of associate’s degrees — not that communication skills are more important than technical skills.
