Integrating the Development of Professional Skills Throughout an ICT Curriculum Improves a Graduate’s Competency

The necessity to design a curriculum that improved the professional competency of graduates was a response to the growing concern that information and communication technology (ICT) graduates, while being strong in technical ICT skills, were weak in their professional skills, particularly in relation to communication and collaboration skills. To enhance the employability of graduates, an ICT curriculum was designed that integrated the development of professional skills, including communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking, alongside the development of ICT technical skills. This chapter reports on a longitudinal study from 2012 to 2018 that provided strong evidence that integrating professional skill development across an entire ICT curriculum significantly improved a graduate’s competency with professional skills without having a detrimental impact on their competency with ICT technical skills. This integrated curriculum can act as an exemplar to other ICT curriculum designers that the approach can lead to professionally competent employable ICT graduates.