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Purpose: The aim of the study was to determine which engineering and managerial competences are of high importance in enterprises operating in accordance with the assumptions of Industry 4.0. Design/methodology/approach: The MAXQDA tool was used to analyze the acquired information, generating structured data clouds. Findings: As a result, soft skills turned out to be the most important competences, mainly related to effective interpersonal communication, systematic learning and adaptation to change, also in the technological area. Research limitations/implications: Quantitative research on a larger sample would be needed to examine the links between specific factors on a set of competences and adaptability to changes in workers. If respondents were to be informed about the areas most affected by the impact of Industry 4.0, more extensive and detailed qualitative research would have to be carried out focusing on this issue. Practical implications: The information obtained in the results of the research allows to emphasize the importance of soft skills in the catalog of those that are significant in Industry 4.0 enterprises. Thanks to this, the selection of training for employees can be more adapted to the actual needs of the company. Originality/value: The analysis of literature sources allowed to see that the previous research focused on presenting the competences of engineers and managers in relation to individual areas of industry. The research results included in the publication are a list of the most important competences of these in enterprises 4.0. This allows you to understand the key elements influencing the development of the professional path of engineers and managers during the Fourth Industrial Revolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. In the course of the study we have identified a contradiction consisting, on the one hand, in the increased requirements to the level of communicative training of technical specialists in post-industrial society. On the other hand, there is an almost complete lack of research on the problem of forming a discussion competence of future engineers. Based on the abovementioned, the author has formulated the goal of this paper. It consists in defining the place of the discussion competence in the structure of modern engineer training, caused by the networking and socio-technical transformation of technical activity. Theoretical analysis. The generalization of philosophical and pedagogical approaches to the study of engineering activity (EA) allowed us to classify the functions of a modern engineer according to the nature of the tasks to be solved. The classification revealed that under the influence of networking and socio-technical transformation of engineering activity there is a growing demand for engineers who are ready to implement professional tasks based on socio-technical functions. The correlation between the engineers’ mastery of the discussion competence and the effectiveness of their implementation of sociotechnical functions: design, research, organizational and managerial, was revealed. Conclusion. The study made it possible to draw a general conclusion about the need to distinguish the discussion competence as an independent element in the structure of universal competences and to include discussion training in the curriculum of technical universities in two directions: traditional (offline discussions) and network (online discussions).

Transition from education to practice can be troublesome for many early-career engineers because expectations, habitual work practices and values tend to conflict with realities of engineering workplaces. Emerging technologies referred to as 'Industry 4.0' or the 'fourth industrial revolution' have prompted many to argue for students to develop improved socio-technical skills. Understandings of practice emerging from contemporary research could help educators shape a new generation of engineers with more appropriate abilities to restore global productivity growth and transform economies to eliminate greenhouse emissions in a short enough time to limit human-induced global warming. However, so far, explicit curriculum reforms addressing graduate attributes and workplace skills have not resulted in significant employability improvements. This paper argues that assessment practices and curriculum gaps may be acting as an implied or hidden curriculum shaping student expectations and values. This paper proposes ways to overcome these curriculum deficits in higher education institutions and also workplace education interventions. These changes could help educate engineers about productivity improvement, commercial and social value generation, business requirements and entrepreneurship. Changes like these will be needed to achieve sustainable development goals, especially in developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored if it is possible for liberal arts students to develop engineering professional competencies without detailed engagement with the engineering sciences. Students on a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences programme were compared with their undergraduate peers in Civil Engineering. A new method for evaluating such competencies was developed. Two one-hour individual problem-solving exercises were devised to assess capabilities against 14 criteria, based on the Institution of Civil Engineers' Competency framework for professional development (2011 The BASc cohort's scores for each criterion improved notably from the start of term to the end. This cohort rated their capabilities more highly at the end of term and was more satisfied with the answers they gave. Engineering students showed a slight decline in performance against the criteria. Self-evaluation in this group revealed a smaller increase in perceived capability but increased dissatisfaction. Both cohorts felt more anxious about the assignment at the end of the term. PBL environments can improve student competence in attributes associated with professional engineering. The scope of the study is constrained by the small cohort but the findings and evaluation method provide the basis for further development, including detailed statistical evaluation and validation of the evaluation instrument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]