1. Salford – 14 September 2007 Building up Undergraduate Skills: empirical evidence from a Portuguese University Eva Dias de Oliveira Miguel Sottomayor Ana Meireles Ana Martins Faculdade de Economia e Gestão Universidade Católica Portuguesa FEG|UCP

2. Salford – 14 September 2007 Undegraduate Students 3165 Post-Graduate Students 1451 Academic Staff 315 Non-Academic Staff 250 Undergrad Courses 14 Postgrad (Masters) 22 Other Postgrad Courses 14

3. Salford – 14 September 2007 Employers Graduates | University

4. Salford – 14 September 2007 Employers Graduates | University Market-Valued Skills Students self- assessment To think To communicate To act upon Coaching Curricula Development Savickas (2002)

5. Salford – 14 September 2007 Person- Environment Fit (Swanson & Fouad, 1999) Savickas (2002) CONGRUENCE individuals – environment feedback process Coaching Employers Graduates | University To think To communicate To act upon Market-Valued Skills Students self- assessment Coaching Curricula Development To think To communicate To act upon

6. Salford – 14 September 2007 Person- Environment Fit (Swanson & Fouad, 1999) Cabral- Cardoso et al (2006) Starfish-Model (Evans et al, 2001) Savickas (2002) CONGRUENCE individuals - environment feedback process Coaching Employers Graduates | University To think To communicate To act upon Market-Valued Skills Students self- assessment Coaching Curricula Development To think To communicate To act upon

7. Salford – 14 September 2007 Person- Environment Fit (Swanson & Fouad, 1999) Cabral- Cardoso et al (2006) Starfish-Model (Evans et al, 2001) Savickas (2002) CONGRUENCE individuals - environment feedback process Coaching Employers Graduates | University To think To communicate To act upon Market-Valued Skills Students self- assessment Coaching Curricula Development To think To communicate To act upon Study 1Study 2

8. Salford – 14 September 2007 Study 1 Objective: to identify the Market-Valued Skills Profile of Economics and Business Graduates

9. Salford – 14 September 2007 Interviews Employers (SONAE, UNICER, AXA, Salvador Caetano, AENOR) Individual Focus Groups Alumni Management and Economics Content analysis Method: Study 1

10. Salford – 14 September 2007 JOB RELATED SKILLS Subject matter relevant to work tasks METHODOLOGICAL SKILLS Personal Management Problems Solving Creativity Systemic Thinking LEARNING SKILLS Motivation to Learn Flexibility / Openness to Change Pursuit of Quality / Excellence Knowledge Management SOCIAL SKILLS Communication Assertiveness Interpersonal Relationship Team Work Results: “ Starfish-Model” VALUES AND ATTITUDES Initiative and entrepreneurship Commitment and persistence Responsibility Integrity and ethics Study 1 (Evans, 2001) adaptation

11. Salford – 14 September 2007 Study 2 Objectives: to assess the resulting Market-Valued Skills Profile amongst students to assert how confident were the students regarding such skills, at the early stage of their studies to relate the skills’ development to both individual characteristics and to life experiences

12. Salford – 14 September 2007 First-year students (N=100) Market-Valued Skills Profile Self-Report (Miles & Grummon, 2006; University of Salford, 2006) Student Career Concerns Inventory (Savickas, 2002; Ramos et al, 2002) Method: Study 2 Vocational Experiences (open-ended questions)

13. Salford – 14 September 2007 Results: Study 2 students’ soft-skills development very positive self-perception extra-curricular activities very limited experiences Social Skills: Values & Attitudes: Methodological Skills: Mobility: Volunteer-work: Civic Engagement: 4.09 (0.56) 3.79 (0.61) 3.78 (0.66) 1.38 (0.79) 1.64 (1.01) 2.35 (1.45)

14. Salford – 14 September 2007 Results: Study 2 students’ soft-skills development vocational experiences vocational development Correlational Analysis

15. Salford – 14 September 2007 Results: Study 2 students’ soft-skills development vocational experiences vocational development 0.16* 0.39** 0.19* 0.26** ns students’ unrealistic self-perception

16. Salford – 14 September 2007 Final Remarks: Study 1 & 2 Research findings draw attention to the need for developing new practices of teaching and assessing students’ progress, explicitly focused on: (1) the development of the soft skills most valued by employers and former students, and (2) the students’ self-perception of skills’ development and related job expectations.

17. Salford – 14 September 2007 self-evaluation Integrated System of Skills Development process presentation professors view peers view developmental aim coaching Where did I start from? Evidences collected What can I say about my skills?

18. Salford – 14 September 2007 Thank you! eoliveira@porto.ucp.pt Governo República Portuguesa

19. Salford – 14 September 2007 Thank you! eoliveira@porto.ucp.pt Governo República Portuguesa

20. Salford – 14 September 2007 Thank you! eoliveira@porto.ucp.pt Governo República Portuguesa

21. Salford – 14 September 2007 Thank you! eoliveira@porto.ucp.pt Governo República Portuguesa