Home⇛Journal of Interdisciplinary Perspectives⇛vol. 2 no. 10 (2024)

Bridging the Skills Gap: Examining the Electronics Technology Students’ Competence and Industry Demands

Ralph Jerico P. Abides

Discipline: Education

 

Abstract:

Educational institutions often struggle to keep up with the emerging trends in the electronics industry, leading to a gap between what students learn in their programs and what is in demand in the job market. Beyond technical skills, electronics technology students also need to develop soft skills vital for success in any job but can sometimes be overlooked in traditional academic settings. Previous studies reported a skills gap between industry demands and students’ preparedness. Thus, this study determined the skills demanded by the electronics industry in Leyte, emphasizing both technical and soft skills; it also explored the acquired skills of the electronics technology students based on their experiences. This study employed mixed-method research, specifically the convergent parallel design, wherein quantitative and qualitative data were collected simultaneously and analyzed separately. For the quantitative data collection, 21 online job postings were utilized in the web scrapping technique and were limited to Leyte province only. For the qualitative data collection, an interview was conducted with 14 purposively selected 4th-year Electronics Technology students. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize quantitative data, while qualitative data underwent thematic analysis. Results revealed a skills gap among electronics students, influenced by the dearth of electronics-related industries and job openings in the province. Most employers require technical skills in troubleshooting and maintaining electronic systems. Being keen on details, being customer-oriented, and working well as a team are the necessary soft skills. The qualitative findings from the interview complement the quantitative results. The implication is clear for educational institutions that soft skills development should be emphasized in educational programs, preparing students technically and socially for the workplace.



References:

  1. Abdullah, A. G. K. B. (2013). Bridging the gap between industry and higher education demands on electronic graduates’ competencies. IOSR Journal of Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IOSR-JEEE), 8(1), 10-9790. https://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jeee/Papers/Vol8-issue1/J0816368.pdf?id=7592
  2. Adrian, C. (2017). Determining the Skills Gap for New Hires in Management: Student Perceptions vs Employer Expectations. International journal for innovation education and research, 5, 139-147. https://doi.org/10.31686/IJIER.VOL5.ISS6.732
  3. Almi, N., Rahman, N., Purusothaman, D., & Sulaiman, S. (2011). Software engineering education: The gap between industry's requirements and graduates' readiness. 2011 IEEE Symposium on Computers & Informatics, 0(0), 542-547. https://doi.org/10.1109/ISCI.2011.5958974
  4. Angafor, G. N., Yevseyeva, I., & He, Y. (2020, October). Bridging the cyber security skills gap: Using tabletop exercises to solve the CSSG crisis. In Joint International Conference on Serious Games (pp. 117-131). Cham: Springer International Publishing
  5. Antonopoulou, H., Halkiopoulos, C., Barlou, O., & Beligiannis, G. N. (2021). Transformational leadership and digital skills in higher education institutes: during the COVID-19 pandemic. Emerging science journal, 5(1), 1-15. https://ijournalse.org/index.php/ESJ/article/view/438
  6. Ayeng, R. (2023, November 8,). Grad’s skills not enough for electronics jobs. Daily Tribune. Retrieved from https://tribune.net.ph/2023/11/08/grads-skills-not-enough-for-electronics-jobs
  7. Baird, A. M., & Parayitam, S. (2019). Employers’ ratings of importance of skills and competencies college graduates need to get hired: Evidence from the New England region of USA. Education+ Training, 61(5), 622-634. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-12-2018-0250
  8. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
  9. Caligagan, Angelica Anne M, Ching, R. R., & Suin, Kristine April. (2022). An Analysis on the Economic Factors Affecting the Unemployment Rate in the Philippines from 1993-2018. Journal of Economics, Finance and Accounting Studies, 4(2), 01–17. https://doi.org/10.32996/jefas.2022.4.2.1
  10. Carminati, M., & Scandurra, G. (2021). Impact and trends in embedding field programmable gate arrays and microcontrollers in scientific instrumentation. The Review of scientific instruments, 92(9), 091501. https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0050999
  11. Clarke, V. & Braun, V. (2013) Teaching thematic analysis: Overcoming challenges and developing strategies for effective learning. The Psychologist, 26(2), 120-123. https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/937596
  12. Cornillez Jr., E.E.C., Treceñe, J.K.D., de los Santos, J.R.N. (2020) Mining educational data in predicting the influence of Mathematics on the programming performance of University students. Indian Journal of Science and Technology. 13(26), 2668-2677. https://doi.org/10.17485/IJST/v13i26.719
  13. Demir, S. B., & Pismek, N. (2018). A Convergent Parallel Mixed-Methods Study of Controversial Issues in Social Studies Classes: A Clash of Ideologies. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice, 18(1), 119-149. https://doi.org/10.12738/estp.2018.1.0298
  14. Jackson, D., & Bridgstock, R. (2021). What actually works to enhance graduate employability? The relative value of curricular, co-curricular, and extra-curricular learning and paid work. Higher Education, 81(4), 723-739. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-020-00570-x
  15. Lee, C. M. J., Che-Ha, N., & Alwi, S. F. S. (2021). Service customer orientation and social sustainability: The case of small medium enterprises. Journal of Business Research, 122, 751-760. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.12.048
  16. Loquias, R. T. (2015). Employability of the Bachelor of Science in electronics engineering graduates of Camarines Sur Polytechnic colleges. Asia Pacific Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 3(4), 33-40. https://www.apjmr.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/APJMR-2015-3.4.2.05.pdf
  17. Manzoor, U., Rizwan, A., Demirbaş, A., & Hafiz, N. (2018). Analysis of perception gap between employers and fresh engineering graduates about employability skills: a case study of Pakistan. International Journal of Engineering Education, 34, 248-255. https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=6868033
  18. Mosadeghrad, A. M., Ferlie, E., & Rosenberg, D. (2011). A study of relationship between job stress, quality of working life and turnover intention among hospital employees. Health services management research, 24(4), 170-181. https://doi.org/10.1258/hsmr.2011.011009
  19. Okolie, U. C., Igwe, P. A., Nwosu, H. E., Eneje, B. C., & Mlanga, S. (2020). Enhancing graduate employability: Why do higher education institutions have problems with teaching generic skills? Policy Futures in Education, 18(2), 294-313. https://doi.org/10.1177/1478210319864824
  20. Pham, R., Kiesling, S., Singer, L., & Schneider, K. (2017). Onboarding inexperienced developers: struggles and perceptions regarding automated testing. Software Quality Journal, 25, 1239-1268. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11219-016-9333-7
  21. Sarin, C. (2019). Analyzing skill gap between higher education and employability. Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 10(3), 941-948. https://doi.org/10.5958/2321-5828.2019.00154.2
  22. Suroysuroy, H. J. (2023 January). Filipinos remain wary of wage, skills gaps this year. Outsource Accelerator. Retrieved from https://news.outsourceaccelerator.com/filipinos-remain-wary-of-wage-skills-gaps-this-year/
  23. Surya, B., Menne, F., Sabhan, H., Suriani, S., Abubakar, H., & Idris, M. (2021). Economic growth, increasing productivity of SMEs, and open innovation. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market, and Complexity, 7(1), 20. https://doi.org/10.3390/joitmc7010020
  24. Talgar, C. P., & Goodey, N. M. (2015). Views from academia and industry on skills needed for the modern research environment. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 43(5), 324–332. https://doi.org/10.1002/bmb.20883
  25. Treceñe, J. K. D. (2022). COVID-19 and Remote Learning in the Philippine Basic Education System: Experiences of Teachers, Parents, and Students. In Socioeconomic Inclusion During an Era of Online Education (pp. 92-110). IGI Global.
  26. Treceñe, J. K. D., Batan, M. B., & Abines, A. L. Development Of A Digital Snake And Ladder Game As A Strategic Intervention Material For Basic Education. Journal of Engineering Science and Technology Special Issue on ICITE20222, 0(0), 48 – 58. https://jestec.taylors.edu.my/Special%20Issue%20ICITE2022/ICITE_2022_04.pdf
  27. Wang, B., Liu, Y., & Parker, S. K. (2020). How does the use of information communication technology affect individuals? A work design perspective. Academy of Management Annals, 14(2), 695-725. https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2018.0127

Tools


Copyright © 2024  KITE Digital Educational Solutions |  Exclusively distributed by CE-Logic