Industrial employer's perceptions about technological literacy as an employability skill for new employees in Marathon County Wisconsin

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine to what extent selected industrial employers of Marathon County value technological literacy and to what extent technological literacy is valued in entry-level employees. With the focus of technology education being directed toward producing graduates who are “technologically literate” this study was conducted to determine if industrial employers found these same traits as valuable to them in regard to hiring new employees, the success of new employees, and the ability of these employees to advance within the company. With the goal of measuring the perceived value of technological literacy for entry-level employees in mind a thirty-four question survey was conducted with Marathon County’s thirty largest industrial employers. The survey asked the respondents to rate selected standards and benchmarks of the Wisconsin State Standards for Technology Education with a Likert scale type of survey. The survey concluded with some questions regarding the perceived value of technological literacy for the success and advancement of new employees. The survey was well received and a response rate of 46.7% provided a statistically adequate sample with which to suggest that the results are representative of the sample group. The respondents, as a group, placed a high value on overall technological literacy and their responses indicated that employers perceived the greatest value to be for new employees ability to advance in their career