Analysis of the behavioral styles of ET students and the inherent implications of this knowledge

Success in corporate organizational life depends upon two requirements and universities have a responsibility to acquaint the students with this reality. First, industry requires its employees to perform a specific job function and to achieve certain corporate goals. Second, companies expect employees to work effectively with others and to contribute to the spirit and well being of the team(s) to which they are assigned In this regard there are no trade-offs and firms expect their employees to succeed in both of these areas. Getting the job done occurs with, through, and because of the people one work with in their professional environment and this requires interpersonal skills not taught in most undergraduate programs. Leaders within teams must know how to build enthusiasm, confidence and morale because of the task at hand and not in spite of the job that needs to be done. In order to be truly effective from an interpersonal perspective, leaders must understand their own behavioral style and that of their subordinates. While general in nature, behavioral styles have various subsets, each directly related to their overall effectiveness. The subsets include styles or preferences for learning, for leading, for communicating for building teams and for presenting thoughts, ideas and reports. Making students aware of their dominant behavioral style, and implications associated with it, provides them with valuable insights into their personal preferences as well as the preferences of others. These insights provide important information that enables the student to effectively deal with people that have conflicting behavioral styles. In turn, this leads to greater appreciation and respect for others resulting in a new level of understanding and effectiveness when working with others of a different style. This paper presents the initial findings on behavioral styles of 80% of the students enrolled in UPJ´s Engineering Technology Program. A collective analysis of the entire student body revealed the predominant style while individual classes were surveyed to determine the “class” style. The study shows student behavioral styles in the above areas with special emphasis on each student´s learning style. Showing students how they can develop new ways to become more effective as an undergraduate and future employee gave them insights into an area they would not normally be exposed to in their undergraduate education