Our lab manager was interviewed by Behaviour - HR-magazine about the importance of specialist and generalist knowledge. Recalling the results of a recent research study in our lab, Roland Molontay said, "Analysing data from students enrolled at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics over the past decade, we found that general knowledge components of the admission score are better predictors of later academic performance than tests measuring specific knowledge. In other words, a student's performance in an engineering course is determined not only by how he or she did in science subjects, but also by his or her grades in humanities. In fact, we have found that generalists on average perform better at BME than their specialist peers. It may therefore be worthwhile to place more emphasis on the assessment of generalist knowledge in selection processes."
Our lab manager also pointed out that "in recent years, we have moved away from the I-shaped specialist, i.e. someone with a very deep knowledge of a subject, towards the T and even π and comb-shaped experts. This means that it is not enough to be a specialist in one area, but also to have a broader general knowledge and, of course, deeper specialist knowledge in some areas."
The article is also available online.