Employers also emphasized the value of (and frequent lack of) critical soft skills, such as teamwork, adaptability, communication, writing, and critical thinking. Significant gaps were found between skills expected by employers and those emphasized by instructors, particularly in the areas of general laboratory skills (e.g., media preparation, molecular techniques, microscopy, and competence with other lab equipment) and recognition of plant problems that are not caused by pathogens. While content knowledge coverage among plant pathology courses was generally consistent and aligned well with employers’ knowledge expectations, delivery modes and skill development components were more variable and less aligned. This work examined the content, skills, and delivery modes of undergraduate plant pathology courses at a national scale, and assessed employer expectations for these courses and for students entering the workforce with degrees in plant science-related disciplines. Foundational plant pathology courses, taught at the undergraduate level, serve students from a wide array of disciplines, and for most will be the only plant pathology course taken.
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