Article

Evaluation of Career Readiness at an Industrial Technology Program Using a Fuzzy Approach

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Abstract

In this research, a quantitative model to measure the “career readiness” performance level of the current curriculum of the Industrial Technology and Packaging program at California Polytechnic State University is proposed. Career readiness is first defined through performance attributes and these attributes are further classified into specific categories and metrics. Using a fuzzy logic computational approach, “career readiness” measures are developed and a “career readiness” score referred to as (CRS) is calculated. The model is designed to be flexible, dynamic and easy to use. It should enable a systematic measurement of career readiness by producing a final integrated unit-less score. Results from the data collected for the Industrial Technology program’s main employers and graduates provided various insights about the level of career readiness the program currently provides in terms of strengths and weaknesses. In addition, these results, and the developed CRS approach, may serve as a practical tool for decision-making and improvement to various educational components to increase readiness level. Finally, the overall CRS, as well as its constituting scores, can be used to monitor progress along such improvements programs.

Keywords: career readiness|fuzzy logic|assessment

How to Cite:

Deif, A., Stark, C., Butler, K. & Olsen, E., (2017) “Evaluation of Career Readiness at an Industrial Technology Program Using a Fuzzy Approach”, The Journal of Technology, Management, and Applied Engineering 33(1).