Bridging the Gap in Dental Technology Education: A Tripartite Survey of Higher Education Institutions, Employers, and Graduates

Background/Purpose: As China's dental industry transitions towards digitalization and high-end development, the question of whether the undergraduate-level training system for dental technology professionals meets industry demands has become a critical issue. This study analyzes the degree of alignment between the training of undergraduate dental technology professionals and industry demands through surveys conducted with higher education institutions, employers, and dental technology graduates. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted from June to November 2024 to collect data from 27 undergraduate institutions, 68 employers, and 772 graduates nationwide. Comparative analyses were conducted of the three parties' perceptions of the job market, competency expectations, and curriculum design. Chi-square tests and one-way ANOVA were used to conduct inter-group difference tests. Results: The three parties demonstrated high consistency in identifying core employment directions and evaluating the importance of core professional courses. However, significant differences were observed in perceptions of employment positions, competency expectations, and the importance of non-core courses (all P < 0.05). Higher education institutions emphasized theoretical foundations and comprehensive development, assigning higher weight to all competency elements. Employers focused on job effectiveness, while graduates paid more attention to practical skills directly related to initial positions, with a greater emphasis on career planning awareness than employers expected, but placed significantly less importance on aesthetic courses than employers did. Conclusion: There are cognitive discrepancies among the three parties regarding the job market, competency requirements, and curriculum design in undergraduate dental technology education in China. It is recommended to strengthen industry-university cooperation, establish a stratified career guidance system, and improve a continuous feedback mechanism involving employers and graduates to dynamically optimize training objectives and curriculum systems, thereby narrowing the gap between educational supply and actual industry demand.