Brosseau Lisa, Fredrickson Ann
University of Minnesota, School of Public Health, Division of Environmental Health Sciences, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, USA.
J Occup Environ Hyg. 2009 May;6(5):257-66. doi: 10.1080/15459620902754372.
To ensure that industrial hygiene professionals continue to be prepared for current and future trends, it is important to regularly assess the value of their education. Described here are the results of discussions with employers and a mailed survey of graduates. Comparisons are made with past mailed surveys of both groups. Two sets of discussions were held in late 2005 with employers of industrial hygienists and other health and safety professionals. Twenty-eight participants were asked to discuss current and future needs for professionals in their organization and economic sector, their expectations for knowledge and skills when hiring professionals, methods for finding and hiring, and the importance of ABET accreditation. At the same time, a survey was mailed to 71 industrial hygiene students graduating in the last 15 years. Respondents were asked to rank the value of and their proficiency in 42 competencies. Questions also assessed employment experience, certification, the importance of ABET accreditation, and demographic characteristics. There was a lot of agreement between the two stakeholder groups (employers and graduates) about the most important skill and knowledge areas. Most employers identified communicating effectively and exposure assessment among the most important skills, with designing and initiating research as among the least. Hazard recognition, exposure measurement principles, and personal protective equipment were the most highly ranked knowledge areas. Employers discussed the need for good "business skills" such as teamwork, communication, and project management, and the importance of problem-solving skills. Graduates reported that skills in the areas of recognition, evaluation, and control were most valuable in their first jobs and generally reported high levels of proficiency in these skill areas. There was a similar dichotomy in opinions about accreditation within each stakeholder group. The reputation of the academic program was important when making hiring decisions; accreditation became an important factor only when a program's reputation was not known. Graduates strongly supported ongoing accreditation but did not apply or attend on the basis of accreditation.
为确保工业卫生专业人员能够持续应对当前和未来的发展趋势，定期评估他们所接受教育的价值至关重要。本文介绍了与雇主进行讨论以及对毕业生进行邮寄调查的结果。并将其与过去对这两组人群进行的邮寄调查结果进行了比较。2005年末，与工业卫生学家以及其他健康与安全专业人员的雇主进行了两组讨论。28名参与者被要求讨论其所在组织和经济部门对专业人员当前和未来的需求、招聘专业人员时对知识和技能的期望、寻找和招聘的方法以及工程技术认证委员会（ABET）认证的重要性。与此同时，向过去15年毕业的71名工业卫生专业学生邮寄了一份调查问卷。要求受访者对42项能力的价值和熟练程度进行排名。问题还涉及就业经历、认证、ABET认证的重要性以及人口统计学特征。两个利益相关群体（雇主和毕业生）在最重要的技能和知识领域上有很多共识。大多数雇主认为有效沟通和接触评估是最重要的技能，而设计和开展研究则是最不重要的技能。危害识别、接触测量原则和个人防护设备是排名最高的知识领域。雇主们讨论了对良好“商业技能”（如团队合作、沟通和项目管理）的需求以及解决问题技能的重要性。毕业生报告称，识别、评估和控制方面的技能在他们的第一份工作中最有价值，并且普遍表示在这些技能领域具有较高的熟练程度。在每个利益相关群体内部，对于认证的看法也存在类似的分歧。在做出招聘决策时，学术项目的声誉很重要；只有在对某个项目的声誉不了解时，认证才会成为一个重要因素。毕业生强烈支持持续认证，但不会基于认证去申请或就读。
