An assessment of the awareness of non-technical skills of future engineers

The importance and nature of non-technical skills for future engineers are described in this paper. The discourses of educational, industrial and governmental organizations concerning these skills are summarized. Related issues such as nature of the knowledge-based economy, the nature and need for innovation, entrepreneurship, working in teams and the need for life-long learning in relation to non-technical skills are also discussed. The rubric that was used to assess the awareness of engineering students of these skills is presented, along with the results of the assessment. In general, the results show that the vast majority of students showed a great deal of awareness and importance of these skills for their futures as engineers. The assessment for establishing the existing knowledge level of students is critical for guiding future curricular materials geared toward enhancing some of the non-technical skills of future engineers. Particularly, the results suggest any new curricular materials must enhanc...