Abstract—As globalization and digitization progress rapidly, the world as well as the talent in demand and the skills and competencies required are changing. Under these circumstances, every corporation is under great pressure to adopt its organization to prepare for the coming future changes. Therefore, a discussion about how to develop new leaders who are capable of tackling complex problems in the future is required. Although the demand for talent in science and engineering is increasing over the course of digitalization, many engineers struggle in management jobs, especially regarding intangibles. This study aims to measure the competency of Japanese Information Technology (IT) engineers, utilizing the Progress Report on Generic Skills (PROG) assessment tool to identify the talent development opportunities in the field of engineering and science. Thus, this study demonstrates that general competencies, such as teamwork, personal, and problem-solving skills, were more often exhibited by IT engineers with a background in social sciences and liberal arts compared with those with a background in engineering and science. The results suggest that engineers have both challenges and opportunities to grow their competencies by increasing their training in non-cognitive skills.
 

Index Terms—Science and engineering, assessment, skills, competency, talent development

Cite: Akiko Ryu Innes-Taylor, Atsuko Yamazaki, Masahiro Inoue, Naoki Matsumura, Fumiaki Hirata, and Katsutoshi Waki, "A Preliminary Analysis of the Competency and Skills of Japanese IT Engineers in Managerial Positions," International Journal of Learning and Teaching, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 214-218, September 2021. doi: 10.18178/ijlt.7.3.214-218