One of the key goals of any academic program is to ensure that skills taught in the classroom apply to post-graduate employment. Failure to do so can impact an academic department's recruitment and retention efforts, strain relations with alumni and damage the institution's reputation. Using interviews conducted during a faculty externship at a…

Responding employers from two business samples (286 of 2,700 and 67 of 400) perceived a lack of desired competencies in entry workers. High school graduates rated no higher than 3.07 and college graduates 3.89 on a 7-point scale. Social competencies (sociability, responsibility, self-management, integrity, self-esteem) were thought in need of most…