Skills nomenclature: what to expect from college versus university bachelor’s degrees

Abstract

ABSTRACT Students invest time and money in post-secondary education to secure employment in their chosen field of study. In the past, choices were often constrained by the type of credential (college diploma or university bachelor’s degree). Albeit this decision criterion became blurred when colleges started offering bachelor’s degrees. Matriculating students now also decide which type of institution might best prepare them for their future employment. Students often look to course descriptions to select courses that can be reasonably expected to offer skills for career preparedness. But what happens when academia uses a different language to describe skills desired by employers? This study aims to understand whether colleges or universities offer a stronger lexical alignment between course descriptions and high-demand industry skills. It examines communication barriers arising from a potential linguistic misalignment of skills using a computer-assisted text-analysis tool to compare course curricula with online job postings. Findings support a general misalignment but show that course descriptions at colleges have a stronger linguistic overlap of skills demanded by industry. We discuss the implications of employing a dynamic technology-driven tool to improve the academic-industry alignment of skills nomenclature.