There continues to be a growing divide between what students are learning in college and what employers are looking for in future employees. Due to rapid technological advancements and the incorporation of AI and automation in the workplace, having technical skills isn’t enough. Business leaders are changing the criteria by which they assess the next generation of workers, and soft skills are at the top of that list.
Why are soft skills important?
Let’s run the numbers.
A survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) found that skills such as teamwork, problem-solving, decision making, planning and organizing were ranked amongst the most important by employers. Additionally, another study by NACE found that 99.2% of employers viewed critical thinking and problem solving as “extremely important” when considering future employees.
A report conducted by Boston College, Harvard University and the University of Michigan suggested that training employees in soft skills lead to an increase in overall productivity and retention. In an internal study, Google established that the most effective teams in a company were not those comprised of “top scientists” but rather those that possessed a strong set of soft skills.
Despite the consensus about these crucial skills, a survey by Payscale discovered that a majority (60%) of businesses felt that recent graduates were not up to par in terms of their critical-thinking skills and more than 56% also felt they lacked the ability to pay attention to detail.
Lastly, a mere 26% of working adults in the US who had exposure to college feel that their education is applicable in their daily or professional life.
This all adds up to students losing faith in their degrees, and many employers believing that higher education institutions aren’t adequately preparing their students for the future and seeing a big deficiency in these essential skills.
What can colleges do?
In addition to preparing students with the necessary soft skills, a report by Jobs for the Future (JFF) and Pearson titled, “Demand Driven Education: Merging Work & Learning to Develop the Human Skills That Matter”, discusses a new age of education, one which takes into account all the societal trends and urges individuals, educational systems and industries to adapt.
The goal of “demand-driven” education is to ensure college graduates are prepared for life-long careers. Instead of traveling on a linear path, demand-driven education would give learners the necessary skills to explore various opportunities throughout their lives, aiming to meet the needs of both the graduate and the employer.
Advocates for a demand-driven education argue for a mean, where soft skills serve as a complement to technical skills. As the future of work unfolds, what makes us human is what will make us employable. Jobs requiring effective social interaction — such as management, teaching, nursing, and counseling — increased by over 10% in the US labor force between 1980 and 2012. Ongoing demographic change and the growing impact of globalization mean this trend will likely increase over time, as intercultural interactions become increasingly critical.
