Professional skill development: New students require
new approaches, or don’t they?
Werner Soontiens
Lecturer, School of Management
Curtin University of Technology, Perth, Australia
GPO Box U1987
Perth WA 6845
soontiew@cbs.curtin.edu.au
Abstract: Internationalisation of education, and more specific tertiary education, all
over the world has contributed to a significant overhaul in student composition. Parallel
to this runs the need for graduates to leave university with a good understanding of both
disciplinary content as well as a range of highly developed professional skills as supported
by students themselves, academics, employers and professional bodies. In response to this,
universities actively encourage the development of such skills in their programs of study.
In the case of the Curtin Business School this translated in establishing the Professional
Skills Project that aims to integrate the teaching and assessing of professional skills into
the units of the Bachelor of Commerce degree program.
As part of this initiative, the author successfully won a grant to implement a project that
focussed on supporting students’ development of their presentation and written
communication skills in his third year management unit. The lecturer’s previous
experiences of teaching the unit showed that while students in CBS are given opportunities
to develop their professional skills throughout the course, there seemed to be a significant
variation in students’ skill levels both at the beginning and the end of the semester. The
variation in skill development was particularly apparent amongst students from Australian
and non-Australian backgrounds. Thus, opportunities for students to develop these skills
were integrated into the unit and data on students’ perceptions of their skill development
were obtained by using a questionnaire at the beginning and end of the unit.
This paper outlines how the skills were taught and assessed and presents data on the
changes in students’ perceptions of their skill levels. The interpretation of the data is
further differentiated on the base of gender, language and country of origin.
Keywords: Professional skill development, multiculturalism
1. Background
The past decade has translated into an increased process of internationalisation for
Australian universities. The internationalisation does not only reflect in tertiary
institutions entering offshore markets but also originates from students enrolling outside
their country of residence. On campus, multiculturalism has moved from an emerging
trend to a concrete reality as students come from all over the world to study in
Australian universities. This overhaul of student composition introduces a new set of
dynamics relevant to universities. Although the majority of international students are,
and will continue to be, from the Southeast Asian region, there are a fair number of
exchange students from all over the world (Chalmers and Volet, 1997). Within the
group from the Southeast Asian region there is a considerable amount of real differences
in native languages and cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
There are however a number of similarities between non-Australian students which
justify a comparative study between Australian and non-Australian students. All
students share the common experience of moving to a different country and culture in
order to study. In addition they all find themselves studying in a situation where the
learning context is different from their previous experiences in terms of expectations,
learning support and academic requirements (Chalmers and Volet, 1997). The vast
majority of these students also study in a language other than their first language. The
diverse language background implies a complexity of a wide range of communication,
language and literacy needs in the English teaching context. This in turn leads to high
levels of frustration, confusion and stress amongst non-English speaking background
students trying to master the language of their disciplines and communicate with
confidence and competence in the tertiary environment (Ramburuth and Mason, 2000).
Partly as a result of increased competition the importance of skill development has
surfaced as a new priority for universities. The need for graduates to leave university
with a good understanding of both disciplinary content as well as a range of highly
developed professional skills is advocated by students themselves, academics,
employers and professional bodies. Irrespective of the origin of students, Australian
universities are committed to equip graduates. Also, the landscape of higher education
has changed considerably as a result of the pressures of expanding student numbers,
more intense competition in the sector and innovations in teaching and learning (Mc
Innes, James and Hartley, 2000).
In response to this, universities actively encourage the development of professional
skills in their programs of study. In Australia, the incorporation of generic skills has
been the focus of curriculum development since the early nineties. Barrie and Jones
(1998) argue that one of the outcomes of successfully completing an undergraduate
degree is the acquisition of generic skills, as pointed out in policy documents of most
Australian universities. The development and integration of transferable skills are
expected to increase the employability of graduates and thus contribute to a better
competitive stance for the university (Murphy, 1996). Employers in the Australian
labour market seek amongst others time management; written business communication,
oral communication, interpersonal, team working, problem solving and comprehension
of business processes as skills in graduates (Neilson, 2000). The Asian job market in
turn values English communication skills, an Australian education and some
postgraduate experience (Lyons, 2001). In Hong Kong, professionals with experience
in foreign cultures, languages and business are best placed to sustain a strong position in
the job market (Solomon, 1998). In general, exposure to professional skills at
Australian Universities is appreciated as a core component for employability in Asia.
In the case of the Curtin Business School (CBS) the expectations of students,
academics and the industry translated in establishing the Professional Skills
Project (PSP) that aims to integrate the teaching and assessing of professional
skills into the units of the Bachelor of Commerce degree program. This forms
part of Curtin’s goals and strategic plan for teaching and learning, defined as “to
produce graduates who are well equipped for careers in their chosen fields”
(CBS(a), 2001). The PSP aims to enhance both the professional skills and
employability of CBS graduates (CBS(b), 2001). A cross discipline Task Force
of CBS staff identified five key professional skills as appropriate in the current
environment. These are; communication (written, presenting and speaking out),
teamwork, decision making, and computer and information literacy (CBS(a),
2000). The PSP endeavours to expose all students to the same skills and does not
differentiate between country of origin, language background or gender.
It is important to note that a dominant group tends to neglect their own cultural context
in a multicultural environment. This is attributed to the consideration of acceptable or
‘standard’ behaviour and everything else being deviant (Digh, 2001). While the PSP
attempts to allow all students to develop the relevant skill, there is a risk that the
program is biased towards culture and or language and thus not experienced as equally
suitable by all students. The consequence of this would be that, contrary to initial
objectives, one group of students would benefit more than another group.
2. The Project
In teaching the unit International Management 375, the author realized that the students
were drawn from a large variety of cultural, ethical and language backgrounds. This in
turn is assumed to contribute to a high level diversity in the skills of students in terms of
their ability to work in an environment where English is the common language.
Although CBS supplies support to all enrolled students in terms of skill development,
not all students might experience the same exposure to the support services. This can
mainly be attributed to the fact that a significant number of students are not primarily
English speaking and the limited exposure to communicating in English despite them
being third year students in Australia. For example, students are able to do a number of
units in their undergraduate studies with partners off shore (Malaysia, Singapore, Hong
Kong) and transfer to Australia to finish the outstanding number of units. In addition
there are a fair number of exchange students from a non-Australian and non-English
background that enrol for the unit.
In support of the CBS Professional Skills Mini Project initiative, aimed at exposing
students to a range of professional skills in various units, a project was developed to
support students in the development of their presentation and written communication
skills. The choice of these specific skills was based on the fact that student literacy
(including speaking, listening, reading and writing) is increasingly becoming a
curriculum issue as the numbers of English as second language students increase in
Australian universities (Ingleton, 1996). In addition, Neilson (2000) points out that: “if
there is a dissatisfaction with graduate skills, it probably lies in the area of written
communication. … students are not taught to write in a manner appropriate to business
communications” (p.9). Opportunities for students to develop these skills were
integrated into the unit and staff in the CBS Communications Skills Centre provided
support.
During the course of the 13-week unit, students, working in self selected groups are
required to submit a written assignment of about 3000 words on a topic relevant to the
unit. In addition, groups are expected to make two presentations on the assignment
during the semester. Part of the CBS Professionals Skill project is that skills should be
assessed (CBS(b), 2000) and in this unit the presentations and written assignment
represent 40 per cent of the final mark for the unit. Of this, about 60 per cent assesses
skills and 40 percent assesses academic content.
Although students were also involved in developing their teamwork skills through
working in groups, no support was given in their activities and interaction in teams. The
teamwork activity can, therefore, be interpreted as a comparison activity in terms of the
impact of providing or not providing support on skill development.
3. Methodology
In order to assess the improvement of students’ perceptions of their presentation, writing
and teamwork skills, a questionnaire was developed to gather data on students’
perceptions of their skill levels. The questionnaire included 11 questions on
presentation skills, 12 questions on writing skills and 10 questions on teamwork skills
using a five-point Likert scale. A number of questions on the demographics of the
students were added. These included country of origin and first language preferences.
The questionnaire was developed in such a way that it served three purposes. Firstly, to
collect data on the perceptions of students at the beginning of the semester (week one).
Secondly, to collect data on the perceptions of students after the presentations (between
week 7 and 13) and at the end of the semester (week 13). Thirdly, to indicate to
students the actual criteria that would be used to assess the skills throughout the course.
All students attending lectures in International Management 375 on the Bentley campus
were requested to complete the self-assessment. After the data were collected in week
one, a consultant from the Communication Skills Centre presented a 90-minute
workshop on making presentations. Between weeks three and seven all groups had to
make their initial presentation. Feedback based on the skills as identified in the
questionnaire was given to each group of presenters. Between weeks seven and thirteen
all groups had to make their final presentations. Students completed a questionnaire on
their perceived presentation skills immediately after the presentation.
The written assignment was to be submitted to the CBS Communications Skills Centre
before being assessed by the lecturer. Consultants read assignments, underlined errors
and unclear expression and wrote comments and suggestions for improvement on a
sheet developed for this purpose. It should be noted that assignments were not edited or
corrected by Centre staff, rather it was stressed to students that they were responsible for
making necessary improvements and corrections
As mentioned, the data on students’ perceptions of their teamwork skills were collected
to serve as comparison data in the sense that no support was provided to students to
prepare them for or to address any problems that they may have had with team
interactions. As stated previously, students, in week one, had free choice in the
selection of team members and had to complete both presentations and the written
assignment as part of that team.
Pre and post data gathered were analysed in terms of the demographics and responses to
the different skills (presenting, writing and teamwork). In presenting the quantitative
data analyses, wherever possible, estimates of effect sizes were used. Borg and Gall
(1989) argue that effect sizes, when used appropriately, are a helpful method for
assessing the practical significance of relationships and group differences
When interpreting the effect sizes the usual conventions were adhered to, namely:
•
in relation to direction, positive effect sizes were interpreted as indicating higher
post than pre scores and negative effect sizes indicated lower post than pre scores;
and
•
in relation to magnitude, an effect size of less than 0.2 was considered trivial; effect
sizes between 0.2 and 0.5 were deemed small, moderate if they were between 0.5
and 0.8, and large if they were in excess of 0.8.
In summary, while there is no simple answer to the problem of determining educational
significance of research results, effect sizes offer a viable method for assessing the
educational significance of relationships and group differences (Borg and Gall, 1989).
The methodology is limited in the sense that neither the group of Australians nor the
group of non-Australians are likely to be homogeneous groups. Being Australian does
not necessarily imply that you have been exposed to the Australian educational system
or consider English to be your first language and vice versa for being non-Australian.
The same argument applies to students indicating English as their prime language.
Although an attempt was made to simplify the language in the questionnaire some
terminology (like comfortable, easy, effectively and good) is open for interpretation.
4. Data
For the purpose of this paper, the data analysis of the student responses to the
questionnaires administered at the beginning and the end of the semester is based on the
country of origin of respondents. Responses are grouped in Australian and nonAustralian. The latter consists predominantly of students from Malaysia, Singapore,
Hong Kong, Thailand, China, Brunei, and Vietnam as well as individuals from
Zimbabwe, South Africa, Germany, Italy, Sweden and France. The analysis of the
demographic data and responses to the questions on the exposure to professional skills
are presented in tables 1, 2 and 3. The data on the presentation skills are presented in
Table 4 while the data on the writing and teamwork skills are presented in table 5.
4.1 Demographics and skill exposure
From Table 1 it is clear that the students were predominantly from a non-English
background (61 %), under 21 years of age (69 %) and have a non-Australian permanent
residence (66 %). This implies that there is a small group of respondents (5%) that are
non-Australian but from and English background.
Table 1: Demographic data
DEMOGRAPHICS
n
Gender
Male
Female
55
76
Language
English
Non-English
background
51
80
Permanent
Australia
Other
Residence
45
86
Age
Under 21
21 and over
41
90
%
Male
42
English
39
Australia
34
Under 21
31
Female
58
Non-English
61
Other
66
21 and over
69
Table 2: Demographics on academic progress
UNITS COMPLETED
n
%
< 10 10 to 20 > 20
< 10
10 to 20
Total
11
72
43
8
55
At Bentley
59
37
30
45
28
> 20
33
23
Table 2 indicates that most students were near the end of their course, with 55 per cent
having completed between 10 and 20 units and 33 per cent having completed more than
20 units of the 24 required to graduate. Incidentally, 45 per cent of the students had
completed less than 10 units at the Bentley campus in Australia, which explains the
relative high percentage of non-Australians taking the unit.
Table 3: Perceptions of skill exposure
SKILL EXPOSURE
N
Yes No
Does multiple reinforcement improve professional skills 91
1
Professional skills add value to my qualification
92
0
The amount of exposure to skill development
Too Just
Too
is
little right much
12
74
6
%
Yes No
99
1
100
0
Too Just
little right
13
80
Too
much
7
Table 3 reflects on general questions included to assess the perceptions of students on
the value and relevance of professional skills in units in general. The responses to these
questions are overwhelming in the sense that all the respondents indicate that
professional skills add value while 99 per cent agree that multiple reinforcement
improves the skill level. The level of exposure in the different units is assessed as just
right by 80 per cent of students while 13 per cent would prefer more and 7 per cent
would prefer less exposure.
4.2 Respondent groupings
Data gathered from respondents are analysed in different groupings to assess the
different impact of the skill exposure as perceived by these groupings. The
differentiation is based on three aspects; gender, language and country of origin. The
following tables and discussions indicate and explain the findings.
Gender
Table 4: Male and Female respondents
Male
Female
Male
ITEM DESCRIPTION
MEANS
MEANS
ES
Pre Post Chge Pre Post Chge g
sig
Overall, I was a good presenter
3.27 3.60 0.32 3.12 3.93 0.81 0.40
*
Presentation Skill
3.39 3.68 0.29 3.29 3.92 0.63 0.31
(average items: 1.1 to 1.11)
*
Overall, I believe I am a good
3.44 3.65 0.21 3.16 3.67 0.51 0.27
writer
*
Writing Skill
3.53 3.78 0.25 3.44 3.83 0.39 0.28
*
(average items: 2.1 to 2.12)
Overall, I believe I am a good
3.84 3.91 0.08 3.96 4.21 0.25 0.11
team worker
Team Working Skill
3.85 3.81 -0.04 3.86 3.93 0.07 -0.05
(average items: 3.1 to 3.10)
Female
ES
g
sig
1.22
0.73
0.82
0.50
0.39
0.09
Note. Large effect size = *** Moderate effect size = ** Small Effect size =*
A differentiation based on gender as reflected in Table 4 indicates that female
respondents experienced skill support differently from male respondents. In the presemester self-assessment males perceived their skill levels in presenting and writing
better than females. In the post semester self-assessment this was reversed and females
indicated higher levels of skill than males. This is reflected in all the changes for female
respondents being positive and reaching a high of 0.81. In comparison to male students
female students indicated significant improvements in all skills except team working
***
**
***
**
*
skills. The educational significance of changes experienced by female students is large
or moderate for both presenting and writing skills while male students recorded only
small effect size changes. In differentiating between the different skills, changes in
presentation skills were the largest, changes in writing skills were smaller and teamworking skills were small or insignificant.
Language
Table 5: English speaking background (ESB) and Non-English speaking
background (NESB) respondents
ESB
NESB
ESB
ITEM DESCRIPTION
MEANS
MEANS
ES
Pre Post Chge Pre Post Chge g
sig
Overall, I was a good presenter
3.30 3.91 0.61 3.09 3.71 0.62 0.87
***
Presentation Skill
3.47 3.99 0.52 3.23 3.72 0.49 0.58
(average items: 1.1 to 1.11)
**
Overall, I believe I am a good
3.34 3.88 0.54 3.23 3.50 0.27 0.85
writer
***
Writing Skill
3.54 4.06 0.51 3.42 3.63 0.20 0.65
(average items: 2.1 to 2.12)
**
Overall, I believe I am a good
3.93 4.28 0.35 3.89 3.96 0.07 0.52
team worker
**
Team Working Skill
3.94 4.06 0.12 3.79 3.75 -0.04 0.15
(average items: 3.1 to 3.10)
NESB
ES
g
sig
0.82
0.56
0.37
0.24
0.11
-0.05
Note. Large effect size = *** Moderate effect size = ** Small Effect size =*
A second level of differentiation between respondents is language. A large number of
students come from a non-English speaking background (NESB) while others come
from an English speaking background (ESB). Table 5 indicates that ESB respondents
perceived their level of presenting, writing and teamwork skills higher than NESB
respondents. This was the case for both the pre semester and the post semester selfassessment. Although the improvement throughout the semester was similar for ESB
and NESB respondents there was a significant difference for writing and teamwork
skills. ESB respondents indicated double the improvement in writing skills than NESB
respondents. The comparative figures for teamwork skills was even bigger, ESB
respondents improving 0.12 while NESB respondents slightly deteriorated in average
team working skills. The educational significance of changes in presenting skills is
similar for both ESB and NESB respondents. In the case of writing skills and teamwork
skills there is a moderate to large effect for ESB respondents (excluding team working
skills) while there is a small or insignificant effect for NESB respondents. A
comparison between the different skills indicates that the NESB respondents indicated
the most improvement in presenting skills, a significantly smaller improvement in
writing skills and at the extreme a deterioration of teamwork skills. Although ESB
respondents indicated similar improvements in presenting and writing skills, the
improvement in teamwork skills was significantly smaller.
Country of origin
Data are also differentiated on the base of country of residence. In the pre semester selfassessment, Australian respondents indicated higher skill levels than non-Australian
respondents in all but believing to be a good team member. The post semester
***
**
*
*
assessment shows that Australian students perceived themselves at a higher skill level
than non –Australian students. The increases in skill levels indicated by Australians are
also significantly higher than the improvements noted by non-Australians. This also
reflects in the educational significance of these changes where Australians note a large
effect in being a good presenter and writer compared to a moderate effect for nonAustralians. Similarly, Australians note an average to small effect size for the
improvement in teamwork skills while non-Australians note an effect size that is
neglible or even negative. Considering the different skills, both Australians and nonAustralians improved most in the presentation skills, slightly less in writing skills and
the least in team working skills. Non-Australians actually indicated a deterioration in
the average team working skills.
Table 6: Australian and Non-Australian respondents
ITEM DESCRIPTION
Overall, I was a good presenter
Presentation Skill
(average items: 1.1 to 1.11)
Overall, I believe I am a good
writer
Writing Skill
(average items: 2.1 to 2.12)
Overall, I believe I am a good
team worker
Team Working Skill
(average items: 3.1 to 3.10)
NonAustralian
Non-Australian Australian Australian
MEANS
MEANS
ES
ES
Pre Post Chge Pre Post Chge g
sig
g
sig
3.24 3.97 0.73 3.15 3.70 0.55 0.94
3.49 4.09 0.60 3.25 3.69 0.44 0.65
3.40 4.03 0.63 3.21 3.44 0.23 1.02
3.54 4.15 0.61 3.44 3.60 0.16 0.74
3.80 4.20 0.40 3.96 4.04 0.07 0.57
3.88 4.09 0.21 3.84 3.76 -0.08 0.25
***
**
***
**
**
*
0.77
0.51
0.32
0.20
0.11
-0.09
Note. Large effect size = *** Moderate effect size = ** Small Effect size =*
5. Discussion and Implications
It is difficult to determine the skill levels of students when entering or even while
progressing through a program. The expectation is that students with an Australian
background have developed a higher level of communication skills compared to nonAustralian students due to their proficiency in English and familiarity with the
educational system. The purpose of integrating professional skill development in units
taught at CBS is partly to create opportunities for non-English speaking and nonAustralian students to diminish the skill divide. The reality however is that English
speaking and Australian students seem to benefit more from the skill integration. This
raises the question whether the integration and assessment of skills are biased towards
language and culture and thus place non-English and non-Australians on an unequal
footing.
At the same time it is difficult to obtain direct empirical evidence of a link between the
existence of support services and positive academic outcomes, including professional
skills, due to the many external variables that have an impact on the lives and academic
performance of students. Promnitz and Germain (1996) state, however, that the
experiences of students generally support the positive role that support services play. In
**
**
*
*
addition, Ingleton (1996) insinuates that the promotion and support of literacy and
communication skills will address the literacy levels of students.
Data in this paper suggests that the more students were exposed and supported in the
development of professional skills, the more confident students became in these skills or
the more they perceived that their skills had improved and developed. These findings
are true for all groupings. The continuous exposure to presenting skills has contributed
to the largest improvement in pre and post semester assessment. Similar the managed
exposure to writing skills has contributed to moderate skill improvement while the lack
of exposure to teamwork skills is suggested to be reflected in the poor improvement and
sometimes even deterioration of these skills over the semester.
6. Conclusion
The need for professional skill development seems to be universal while the
development of these skills is a complex task. The diverse language and cultural
backgrounds with which students enter the Australian tertiary education system further
contribute to the complexity of the task. Although English is being used as a common
medium of communication worldwide, the development of professional skills based on
English remains a difficult task. Similarly, there are issues of gender and country
background that seemingly impact on the ability of students to benefit from proposed
skill support mechanisms. The challenge for Australian Universities is to integrate
professional skill development in such a way that gender, language and country of
origin does not impact negatively on the development of skills. Similarly, professional
skill support systems should be made neutral in that there is no bias towards the
language or educational system in which they are developed.
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