Competencies in higher education: identifying and selecting important competencies based on graduates & professionals in food technology

ABSTRACT

Students in higher engineering education should develop competencies to be prepared for their future professional careers. However, in the field of food technology it is not clear what set of competencies is most relevant. This paper created a comprehensive list of competencies for food technologists by combining both domain-specific and general literature (n = 4), and policy documents (n = 6). This list was used to establish the relative importance of its elements and map opportunities for optimal curricular improvement at Wageningen University. Data were collected via a survey and interviews with graduates and professionals. A comparison of the perceived importance of competencies versus the perceived opportunities for learning showed that analytical thinking, critical thinking, problem solving and decision making needed more attention in the study curriculum. The comprehensiveness of the list was assessed by pilot testing with respondents. The list and method show potential for other disciplines to identify and select important competencies.

KEYWORDS:

• Competencies
• higher education
• food technology
• graduates

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was conducted while the first author, the main researcher, was provided with funding from the Food Sciences & Technology chair groups at Wageningen University.

Notes on contributors

Melanie van Berkum

Melanie van Berkum works at the Food Process Engineering group as a teacher and doctoral student. The main focus of her work is to improve the bachelor Food Technology at Wageningen University by developing and implementing teaching and assessment methods for competencies.

Julia Diederen

Julia Diederen is a teacher in the Food Chemistry group and researcher in designing (digital) learning material.

Carla A.P. Buijsse

Carla Buijsse is a teacher in the Food Process Engineering group and works on educational innovation.

Remko M. Boom

Remko Boom is professor and chair of the Food Process Engineering group.

Perry J. den Brok

Perry den Brok is full professor in and chair of the Education and Learning Sciences group at Wageningen University and Research. He is also chair of the 4TU Centre for Engineering Education, a centre aimed at educational innovation and research at the four universities of technology in the Netherlands.