In this blog post, I discuss the methods and documents researchers have used to capture employers’ expectations for the communication skills and abilities of college graduates in technical and engineering fields. These studies take as a “given” previous studies’ claims of the gap between graduates’ writing abilities and employers’ expectations (see Ruff and Carter 2015) and seek evidence of what specific
abilities or skills are perceived to be lacking, to what extent these skills can be learned in college or need to be learned on the job, and how college curricula can be improved. While other studies have surveyed graduates (for instance Blythe et al 2014), the studies examined in this post survey employers or analyze documents that demonstrate the writing characteristics that employers seek. In a forthcoming blog post, Paula Rosinski will describe what employers from various fields say are the
writing and communication needs of their hires, according to this research; I focus specifically on technical communication as there has been a substantial amount of research in this area, in part because technical communication programs have traditionally had strong links to industry. In the studies of employers’ expectations examined for this blog, researchers reached employers through a range of professional networks or they accessed and analyzed job ads. Studies that surveyed or
interviewed employers accessed them through professional networks, such as conferences (Pfeiffer 1999; Ruff and Carter 2009; Ruff and Carter 2015), through listservs (Rainey el al 2005; Ruff and Carter 2015), or university boards or events (Ruff and Carter 2009; Ruff and Carter 2015). Two large-scale studies of job ads (Lanier 2009, Brumberger & Lauer 2015) both accessed the ads via Monster.com. As the research on this topic has developed, researchers have developed a more nuanced understanding of the communication skills employers seek. The earliest studies (Pfeiffer 1999; Rainey et al 2005) sought to identify the communication skills or competencies employers in technical fields expected of their recent college graduate hires. Rainey et al (2005) and Ruff and Carter (2009) connected these skills to university curricula in order to better prepare students for workplace writing. More recent research (Lanier 2009; Ruff and Carter 2015; Peltola 2018) had sought to nuance the earlier studies by identifying which skills employers prioritized or which ones employers felt should be learned on the job versus learned in college. In addition, methods have become more robust. For instance, researchers looking at job ads (Brumberger & Lauer 2015, for instance) argue that surveys can be unreliable and that interviews and focus groups can yield a small response rate. Thus, a large-scale study of job ads (in Brumberger and Lauer’s case, 1,500 ads) provides an opportunity to see patterns across a large range of fields and jobs. Descriptions of methods have also become more robust, thereby aiding replicability. A recent article (Chopra et al 2018) argues for the use of text and data mining to understand employers’ expectations, providing a replicable method for other researchers to adopt and apply. Text mining identifies common words and graph mining identifies networks and connections in job interview data (in order to see the nature of competition). The following reference chart compares participant size, how participants or documents were accessed, which research instruments were used, and what analysis methods were used, if this information was provided. Organized chronologically, the chart shows how research questions and methods have developed.
References
Julia Bleakney is director of The Writing Center in the Center for Writing Excellence and assistant professor of English at Elon University. She is co-leading the 2019-2021 research seminar on Writing Beyond the University: Fostering Writers’ Lifelong Learning and Agency. How to cite this post: Bleakney, Julia. 2020, January 9. How do researchers access employers for their studies of workplace writing? [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://www.centerforengagedlearning.org/how-do-researchers-access-employers-for-their-studies-of-workplace-writing/ What are the three purposes of technical communication?Most forms of technical communication address one of three primary purposes: (1) to anticipate and answer questions (inform your readers); (2) to enable people to perform a task or follow a procedure (instruct your readers); or (3) to influence people's thinking (persuade your readers).
What is technical communication quizlet?"Technical communication is the exchange of information that helps people interact with technology and solve complex problems. "
Who is the audience for technical Communications quizlet?technical communicators audience, made up of a specific group of people. a group of people who share certain language using practices. suggests a community bound together primarily by their use of language, and can be tied by other things as well, geographically, socioeconomically, ethically, professionally, etc.
Why is the ability to prioritize and respond quickly more valuable in the contemporary workplace than ever before?Prioritizing and responding quickly is especially important today because of the internet and social media. People can post and respond to things at any time of day, so employees must be able to respond quickly.
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