Strategically Addressing the Soft Skills Gap Among STEM Undergraduates
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51355/jstem.2021.99Keywords:
STEM education, soft skills, higher education, workforce educationAbstract
Employers are seeking candidates with uniquely human, or “soft” skills to survive and thrive in their future careers. This article aims to illuminate the soft skills gap of STEM undergraduate students by understanding the soft skills that will be needed in the future of work and the soft skills that students are currently missing. These skills include teamwork, collaboration, leadership, problem-solving, critical thinking, work ethic, persistence, emotional intelligence, organizational skills, creativity, interpersonal communication, and conflict resolution. To address this soft skills gap, this paper also explores various collaboration strategies between employers and academic institutions, such as working jointly on curriculum, raising awareness, establishing leadership support, and building communities of success. These can be implemented to enhance the soft skills capabilities of STEM undergraduate students entering the workforce. This qualitative research examined STEM employers’ perceptions of the most essential soft skills needed and missing among recently hired STEM undergraduates. Findings identified the top ten most in-demand soft skills needed for the next five years with leadership and human-connection on the top of the list. Furthermore, the result of this inquiry indicates that the soft skill gap in current STEM undergraduates is not only evident, but it is steadily increasing. To address this problem, this paper suggests that an ongoing synergy is needed between employers and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to guide students in developing and acquiring these essential skills. This effort will hopefully improve student employability, increase employer outcomes, and ultimately reduce the nationwide soft skills gap. Also, it provides insights into soft skills that organizations and HEIs should invest in the years ahead.
References
Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) (2017). 2018-2019 Criteria for accrediting engineering programs. ABET Engineering Accreditation Commission. https://www.abet.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/E001-18-19-EAC-Criteria-11-29-17.pdf.
Association of American Colleges and Universities (2018). Fulfilling the American dream: Liberal education and the future of work: Selected business findings from online surveys of business executives and hiring managers. AAC&U. https://www.aacu.org/sites/default/files/files/LEAP/2018EmployerResearchReport.pdf.
Balcar, J. (2016). Is it better to invest in hard or soft skills? The Economic and Labour Relations Review, 27(4), 453-470. https://doi.org/10.1177/1035304616674613.
Barr, B. (2019, November 1). The 9 biggest technology trends that will transform medicine and healthcare in 2020. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2019/11/01/the-9-biggest-technology-trends-that-will-transform-medicine-and-healthcare-in-2020/#39b14d5672cd.
Bernd, S. (2008). The importance of soft skills: Education beyond academic knowledge. Journal of Language and Communication. 146-154. https://doi.org/10.1016/0006-3207(93)90452-7.
Besterfield-Sacre, M., Cox, M., & Borrego, M. (2014). Changing engineering education: Views of U.S. faculty, chairs, and deans. Journal of Engineering Education, 103(2), 193-219. https://doi.org/10.1002.jee.20043.
Bidwell, A. (2014, February 25). Education leaders: Time to rethink what a college degree promises. U.S. News. https://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/02/25/education-leaders-say-its-time-to-rethink-what-a-college-degree-promises
Böhm, A. (2004). Theoretical coding: Text analysis in grounded theory. In U. Flick, E. von Kardoff, & I. Steinke (Eds.) A companion to qualitative research, (270-275). SAGE Publications.
Brown, T., & Ahmadian, M, (2014, June). Improving students’ softs skills through an NSF-supported S-STEM scholarship program. Poster session presented at the Annual Conference and Exposition for the American Society for Engineering Education, Indianapolis, IN.
Charmaz, K. (2003). Grounded theory: Objectivist and constructivist methods. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Strategies for qualitative inquiry 2nd Ed. (249-291). Sage Publications.
Cimatti, B. (2016). Definitions, development, assessment of soft skills and their role for the quality of organizations and enterprises. International Journal for Quality Research, 10(1), 97-130. https://doi.org/10.18421/ijrq10.01.05.
Colburn, M. (2018). An alternative to categorizing skills as soft or hard. OD Practitioner, 50(4). 65-66. https://www.odnetwork.org/page/Publications.
Crawford, P., Lang, S., Fink, W., Dalton, R., & Fielitz, L. (2011). Comparability analysis of soft skills: What is important for new graduates? Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities.
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th edition). SAGE Publications.
Darabi, H., Douzali, E., Karim, F. S. M., Harford, S. T., & Johnson, H. (2017, June). Life after university for engineering graduates. Paper presented at the Annual Conference and Exposition for the American Society for Engineering Education, Columbus, OH.
Deming, D. J. (2017a). The growing importance of social skills in the labor market. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 132(4), 1593-1640.
Deming, D. J. (2017b). The value of soft skills in the labor market. NBER Reporter, 1(4), 7-11.
Eaves, Y. D. (2001). A synthesis technique for grounded theory data analysis. Journal of advanced nursing, 35(5), 654-663. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2648.2001.01897.x.
Glaser, B. G., & Strauss, A. L. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Aldine Publishing.
Hamstra, B. (2018, February 27). Will these nurse robots take your job? Don’t freak out just yet. https://nurse.org.
Heckman, J. J. (2000). Causal parameters and policy analysis in economics: A twentieth century retrospective. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115(1), 45-97.
Heckman, J. J. (2019). The economics of human potential. Heckman Equation. https://heckmanequation.org/.
Heckman, J. J., & Kautz, T. (2012). Hard evidence on soft skills. Labour economics, 19(4), 451-464. https://www.nber.org/papers/w18121.pdf.
Heckman, J. J., & Mosso, S. (2014). The economics of human development and social mobility. Annual Review of Economics, 6(1), 689-733. https://doi.org/10.3386/w19925.
J. P. Morgan (2019). Bridging the skills gap: Higher education’s opportunity. https://www.jpmorgan.com/global/cb/bridging-the-skills-gap.
Katz, D., & R. L. Kahn. (1969). Common characteristics of open systems. In F. E. Emery (Ed.), Systems Thinking (pp. 86-104). Penguin Books Ltd.
Kentucky Center for Statistics, Education and Workforce Development Cabinet (2018). Kentucky occupational outlook to 2026: A statewide analysis of wages, employment, growth and training. https://kystats.ky.gov/Content/Reports/2016-2026%20KY%20Occupational%20Outlook.pdf.
Khatri, R., Henderson, C., Cole, R., Froyd, J., Friedrichsen, D., & Standford, C. (2017). Characteristics of well-propagated teaching innovations in undergraduate STEM. International Journal of STEM Education. 4(2), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-017-0056-5.
LaPrade, A., Mertens, J., Moore, T., & Wright, A. (2019). The enterprise guide to closing the skills gap: Strategies for building and maintaining a skilled workforce. IBM Institute for Business Value. https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/EPYMNBJA.
Lewis, J. (2018, July 16). How to develop soft skills in the digital age. eCampus News. https://www.ecampusnews.com.
LinkedIn (2019). Global talent trends: 2019. https://business.linkedin.com/talent-solutions/recruiting-tips/global-talent-trends-2019.
Livia, A., Alenxandra, A., Dumitran, M., Crizboi, G., Holmaghi, A., & Roman, M., (2017). How to align the university curricula with the market demands by developing employability skills in the civil engineering sector. Education Sciences, 7(3), 74. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci7030074
Mckenna, A. F., Froyd, J., & Litzinger, T. (2014). The complexities of transforming engineering higher education: Preparing for next steps. Journal of Engineering Education, 103(2), 188. https://doi.org/10.1002/jee.20039.
Manullang, B., & Kons, S. M. M. (2010, June). The integration of soft skill and hard skill in learning revolution. Paper presented at the Second International Conference on Education Technology and Computer, Shanghai, China.
Matsouka, K., & Mihail, D., (2016). Graduates’ employability: What do graduates and employers think? Industry and Higher Education, 30(5), 321-326. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950422216663719.
McGraw Hill Education (2018). 2018 McGraw-Hill future workforce survey. http://www.mheducation.com/future-workforce.
MIT Technology Review Insights (2019, February 15). Self-driving cars take the wheel. MIT Technology Review. https://www.technologyreview.com/s/612754/self-driving-cars-take-the-wheel/
Mitchell, G., (2008). Essential soft skills for success in the twenty-first century workforce as perceived by Alabama business/marketing educators (Doctoral Dissertation). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. (UMI no. 334882).
Munhall, P. L. (2012). Simultaneous and sequential qualitative mixed-method designs. In J.M. Morse (Ed.), Nursing research: A qualitative perspective 5th Ed. (553–570). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2016a). Developing a national STEM workforce strategy: A workshop summary. The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17266/21900.
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2016b). Promising practices for strengthening the regional STEM workforce development ecosystem. The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/21894.
National Science Board (2015). Revisiting the STEM workforce: A companion to science and engineering indicators 2014. https://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2015/nsb201510/nsb201510.pdf.
National Science Foundation (2018). U.S. S&E workforce: Definition, size, and growth. https://www.nsf.gov/statistics/2018/nsb20181/report/sections/science-and-engineering-labor-force/u-s-s-e-workforce-definition-size-and-growth.
Northouse, P. (2007). Leadership theory and practice. Sage Publications.
Nguyen, D. Q. (1998). The essential skills and attributes of an engineer: A comparative study of academics, industry personnel and engineering students. Global Journal of Engineering Education, 2(1), 65-75.
Olson, S., & Riordan, D. G. (2012). Engage to excel: Producing one million additional college graduates with degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Report to the President. Executive Office of the President.
Patacsil, F., & Tablatin, C. L. S. (2017). Exploring the importance of soft and hard skills as perceived by IT internship students and industry: A gap analysis. Journal of Technology and Science Education, 7(3), 347-368. http://dx.doi.org/10.3926/jotse.271.
Penprase B.E. (2018) The fourth industrial revolution and higher education. In Gleason N. (eds) Higher education in the era of the fourth industrial revolution. Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0194-0_9.
Praslova, L. (2010). Adaptation of Kirkpatrick’s four level model of training criteria to assessment of learning outcomes and program evaluation in higher education. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 22(3), 215-225. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-010-9098-7.
Pritchard, J. (2013). The importance of soft skills in entry-level employment and postsecondary success: Perspectives from employers and community colleges. http://www.seattlejobsinitiative.com/wp-ontent/uploads/ SJI_SoftSkillsReport_vFINAL_1.17.13.pdf.
Rao, M. (2016). Shortlist your employer: Acquire soft skills to achieve your career and leadership success to excel as CEO. The Journal of Values-Based Leadership, 9(1), 1-10.
Rayner, G., Charlton-Robba, K., Thompson, C., & Hughes, T. (2013). Interdisciplinary collaboration to integrate inquiry-oriented learning in undergraduate science practical. International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, 21(5), 1–11.
Sarin, C. (2019). Analyzing skill gap between higher education and employability. Research Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 10(3), 941-948. https://doi.org/10.5958/2321-5828.2019.00154.2.
Sarkar, M., Overton, T., Thompson, C., & Rayner, G. (2016). Graduate employability: Views of recent graduates and employers. International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education. 24(3), 31-48.
Schwab, K., & Davis, N. (2018). Shaping the future of the fourth industrial revolution. A Guide to Building a Better World. Currency.
Society for Human Resource Management. (2019). The global skills shortage: Bridging the talent gap with education, training, and sourcing. https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/ trends-and-forecasting/research-and-surveys/documents/ shrm%20skills%20gap%202019.pdf.
Smithsonian Science Education Center (2018). The STEM Imperative. https://ssec.si.edu/stem-imperative.
Stid, D., & Brandach, J. (2009). How visionary nonprofit leaders are learning to enhance management capabilities. Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 37(1), 35-40. https://doi.org/10.1108/10878570910926052.
Strauss, A. L., & Corbin, J. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques (2nd. edition). Sage Publications.
Strauss, A.L., & Corbin, J. (2015). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory (4th ed.). Sage Publishing.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation (2018). Bridging the soft skills gap. http://www.globalsuccess.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/ BridgingSoftSkillsGap_US_Chamber_of_Commerce_Foundation.pdf.
Walker, J. L. (2012). The use of saturation in qualitative research. Canadian Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, 22(2), 37-46.
Weiss, L. (2019, January 28). Viewpoint: The case for soft skills. Society for Human Resources Management. https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/hr-topics/organizational-and-employee-development/Pages/Viewpoint-The-Case-for-Soft-Skills-.aspx.
West, M. (2012). STEM education and the workplace. Office of the Chief Scientist, 4(1), 1-4. https://www.chiefscientist.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/OPS4-STEMEducationAndTheWorkplace-web.pdf
White, E., & Shakibnia, A. F. (2019). State of STEM: Defining the landscape to determine high-impact pathways for the future workforce. In Proceedings of the Interdisciplinary STEM Teaching and Learning Conference, 3(1), pp. 4-36.
Williams, A. (2015). Soft skills perceived by students and employers as relevant employability skills (Doctoral dissertation).
Wilkie, D. (2019a, October 21). Employers say students aren’t learning soft skills in college. The Society for Human Resources Management. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/employee-relations/pages/employers-say-students-arent-learning-soft-skills-in-college.aspx.
Wilkie, D. (2019b). Is the 4-Year college model broken? SHRM. https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/employee-relations/pages/is-the-4-year-college-model-broken.aspx.
Wilkin, L. (2010). Workplace bullying in academe: A Grounded theory study exploring how faculty cope with the experience of being bullied (Doctoral dissertation). ProQuest Dissertation and Theses database. (UMI No. 3447190).
Woodward, B. S., Sendall, P., & Ceccucci, W. (2010). Integrating soft skill competencies through project-based learning across the information systems curriculum. Information Systems Education Journal, 8(8).
World Economic Forum. (2018). Towards a reskilling revolution: A future of jobs for all. http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_FOW_Reskilling_Revolution.pdf.
World Economic Forum (2020). Jobs of tomorrow: Mapping opportunity in the new economy. https://www.weforum.org/reports/jobs-of-tomorrow-mapping-opportunity-in-the-new-economy.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Haleh Karimi, Anthony Pina
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.