Literature Review of Engineering Student Perceptions of Professional Skills

The development of professional skills is critical in engineering education because these skills are integral to graduates' transition into and success in the workforce. Despite educational efforts through classroom interventions and extracurricular activities, there is still a discrepancy between educational outcomes and industry needs. This scoping literature review examines the current literature of engineering student perceptions of professional skills in order to understand which students' voices are reflected in literature and how their perceptions have been collected and analyzed. The review highlights that most studies focused on undergraduate engineering students' perceptions by predominately using quantitative methods, such as close-ended survey questions, to assess their beliefs. The research is also dominated by undergraduate engineering students in Asia, Europe, and North America with insufficient inclusion of diverse demographics, which may lead to bias and lack of generalizability. This review emphasizes the importance of exploring diverse student experiences in order to assist students' development of professional skills that align with industry expectations.