Realities and Ideals of Competencies: The Perceptual Gaps between Companies and University Students

In this paper, we examine the gap between the competencies that companies seek in university students and the requested competencies from companies that university students expect, through the distribution of a questionnaire to Japanese companies and university students. We find that a gap exists between companies' and students' evaluations of students' competencies. Surprisingly, the companies' and students' stated priorities for competencies are seriously different. Our results show that companies highly value versatile personal or interior competencies as being essential for employees. Conversely, students highly value skills and knowledge as essential competencies for work. These findings contribute toward developing appropriate curricula for universities.