Employers and societies increasingly ask for competent and ready to work graduates, endowed with a certain amount of capabilities and competencies when entering the workforce. Whereas the need for highly skilled worker has been climbing, the discrepancy between competencies of graduates and qualifications searched by employers continue to be a serious concern among various nations [1,24]. The main issue addressed by the present study is: “Is science and technology (S&T) students and new graduates’ development of core competencies influenced by their prior perception of importance of these competencies? And does the development of these core competencies guarantee their fitness for purpose in terms of entering into the workforce?” Findings revealed that S&T students and new graduates’ experience at the institution have developed all the seven core competencies under investigation in the present research and that the development of core competencies is not always influenced by prior perception of importance. With respect to the fitness for purpose, findings show that S&T students and new graduates perceived their preparedness for the workplace close to “more than adequate preparation for being an expert in my field of S&T”. This finding confirms the view of “fitness for purpose” explanation as a requirement of the higher education.

Korea, students, competencies, core competencies, science, technology, employers