Employer perspectives of the current and future value of STEM graduate skills and attributes: An Australian study Gerry M. Rayner 1 and Theo Papakonstantinou 1 gerry.rayner@monash.edu; theo.papakonstantinou@monash.edu 1 School of Biological Sciences, Monash University. Abstract Graduate employability has become increasingly contentious as employers call for greater development, evaluation and benchmarking of student skills and capabilities in university courses. However, the increasing range of graduate attributes and competencies demanded by industry is further pressuring an Australian higher education sector already stretched by greater student numbers and declines in government funding. Given these circumstances, there is a need to better understand employer perspectives of the current and future value of vocational, interpersonal and generic attributes of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) graduates. A survey of STEM graduate employers showed that vocational skills, such as graduates’ abilities to contextually apply and develop knowledge, together with generic skills such as critical thinking and problem solving, were valued most highly. Conversely, self-confidence and independence, along with numeracy and related skills, were valued least by the employers. However, attributes such as flexibility/adaptability, self-confidence, personal planning and organisation and developing knowledge relevant to the position were all predicted to become significantly more valuable in a decade’s time. The results of this study suggest that Australian undergraduate STEM curricula, which commonly focus on knowledge acquisition, be redesigned to provide students with opportunities to apply such knowledge more often, and in real life, industry-based contexts, such as work- integrated learning (WIL) and industry-based learning (IBL) programs. Through such initiatives, together with greater dialogue and collaboration between academics and employers, employability skills and attributes can be better inculcated in undergraduates, to the benefit of graduates and society as a whole. Keywords: Graduate employability, employer perspectives, STEM education, graduate attributes, work-integrated learning Introduction Graduate employability has become an increasingly contentious issue (Hinchliffe, 2009; Ferns, 2012) as the tertiary education sector grapples with rapid change, and a range of other complex issues. These include the balancing of research and teaching, maintenance and assessment of academic standards amid competing pressures of reduced government funding and massification of undergraduate cohorts, and optimizing ICT for effective learning and teaching delivery (Christensen & Eyring, 2012). As a consequence of the changes that are sweeping across the higher education landscape, the traditional model of a university degree - the inculcation of discipline-specific knowledge and associated relevant skills and attributes - has been called into question (Boud, 2013; Christensen & Eyring, 2012). From a Rayner, G. & Papakonstantinou, T. (2015). Employer perspectives of the current and future value of STEM graduate skills and attributes: An Australian study. Journal of Teaching and Learning for Graduate Employability, 6 (1), 100–115. 100