AN ASSESSMENT OF THE EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS NEEDED BY GRADUATES IN THE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE, FOOD AND NATURAL RESOURCES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI

Abstract

The purposes of this descriptive study were to assess graduates’ perception of the importance and competence levels of performing identified transferable skills in the workplace and use the Borich (1980) needs assessment model to identify the skills most in need to enhance the curriculum. The findings revealed that solving problems, working independently, and functioning well in stressful situations were perceived by graduates as being most important to their job, and identifying political implications of the decisions to be made was the least important. In terms of competence, graduates perceived themselves to be most competent at working independently, relating well with supervisors, and working well with fellow employees and least competent at identifying political implications of the decisions to be made. When using the Borich model, solving problems, allocating time efficiently, communicating ideas verbally to groups, and accepting constructive criticism were the skills with the highest mean weighted discrepancy score, indicating a high need for curriculum enhancement.