Bridging Accredition and Professional Licensure: Using Competency Reports for Program-Level Soft Skills Assessment

Abstract

Canadian engineering programs must demonstrate attainment of Graduate Attributes (GAs), yet professional licensure requires engineers to articulate competency through structured Situation-Action-Outcome (SAO) reports. This study bridges accreditation assessment and licensure expectations by embedding a licensure-aligned competency reporting activity into a fourth-year engineering course. Eighteen students submitted SAO-based reflections across seven soft-skill GAs (GA6-GA12), producing 126 competency narratives with self-reported ratings (1-5 scale). Mean scores ranged from 3.88 to 4.24, indicating high perceived competence, particularly in communication and lifelong learning. Inductive thematic analysis revealed that students predominantly demonstrate procedural competence (task coordination, structured communication, compliance), while strategic competence (systems thinking, stakeholder influence, socio-technical trade-offs) is less consistently articulated. Co-op experiences emerged as important catalysts for higher-order skill development. Findings suggest that licensure-style competency reporting offers a scalable, high-fidelity mechanism for program-level soft-skill assessment while supporting professional identity formation in engineering education.