Developing Soft Skills in Students PDF

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Developing Soft Skills in Students Meenu Wats, D.A.V. College, Chandigarh, India Research, Rakesh KumarWats, National Instituteof TechnicalTeachers'Training and Chandigarh, India -.Lbstract: With the changing educational trends, versatility in educational courses, availability of masses of quali...

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Developing Soft Skills in Students Meenu Wats, D.A.V. College, Chandigarh, India Research, Rakesh KumarWats, National Instituteof TechnicalTeachers'Training and Chandigarh, India versatility in educational courses, availability of masses of qualifed per-.Lbstract: With the changing educational trends,

v'hile remaining 85ok is made by soft skills' Most employers

ethical, econo

effective dependable, resourceful, e Indian oiit d". With the onset of are to be imbibed by Indian youth to show their real potential a

institutions in India have initiated programmes' proiecls and India' Chandigarh'

as undertaken in the most dynamic city of I J'acilities and iob

lls in students, tYPe

equipped with relev(,nt soft skills.

curriculum, Work Place Keyrvords: Hard Skills, Soft Skills, world of work, Higher Education Institutions,

lntroduction

EW TECHNOLOGIES HAVE

been

driving the emergence of a new 'knowledge economy' with ever increasing proportion of national GNPs dedicated to new techno-

logy based industry and high level services sector' The changes in occupational structure and required skills as countries adopt new technologies, therefore apply to emerging 'knowledge economy' as well, along with their implications for higher education and training system which is the backbone for the gowth and development of any country. The 'knowledge economy' is not just high technology industry or lCT. It can be broadly described as the one that hamesses and uses new and existing knowledge to improve the productivity of various sectors such as agriculture, industry servrces etc' and increases overall welfare. The central theme of the emergence of a knowledge economy revolves around the knowledge which may be in the form of complex problem solving, innovation and creativity, visualization of new markets, understanding social and global implications, working in new environ-

ments and with people

of different cultures

and

countries, developing new products and services etc"

€,common Ground, Meenu wats,

ln this scenario the contemporary workplace is also characterized by (rather than merely subject to) continuous change. One impact of this transformation

is that lifelong learning has been identified as a means of sustaining employability as well as profes-

sional and career growth. It is widely believed that such dimensions of performance as learning, innovation and enterprises can be enhanced by placing greater emphasis on developing soft skills within the education and training processes. While hard skills are discipline specific skills needed to performbasic duties at work, soft skills are the ones that define an individual's approach towards work and life problems etc. In other words, it can be said, while hard skills are the academic skills, experience and level

of expertise as generally described in a resume and indicate the knowledge of concepts, principles, methods, procedures and techniques needed for performing jobs, soft skills are those sought out behaviours and characteristics that employees demonstrate unconsciously and routinely on the job. Though, the importance of soft skills has been recognized throughout the world, but the terminology used to refer these varies from country to country' These are generally referred to as key competencies,

soft skills, generic skills or employability skills in

THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LEARNING' VOLUME I5, NUMBER 12'2009 bttp://www.Learning-Joumal.com, ISSN I 447-9494 Rakesh Kumal wats, All Rights Reserued,'Pemissions: cg-support@commongroundpublishing'com

THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LEARNING. VOLUME

15

Australia; key skills or core skills in United King-

sector, their expectations of the type of manpower

dom; essential skills in New Zealand; and necessary skills, employability skills or workplace know-how in United States. Although, the nomenclature may vary but their centrality to competence of an individual and need and importance especially in today's techno-economic scenario has been accepted and readily appreciated. According to Costin (2002), the appropriate and skilful application of hard skills is soft skills dependent. He categories hard skills as being those associated with 'product' and the 'individual', while soft skills are those of 'process and community: warning against being too ready to dichotomize the two, he proposes a soft skill- hard skill continuum . Such amodel makes it easierto comprehend the territory in which soft and hard skills blur,

in terms of both discipline specific hard skills and

mend and work together

(l).

The imporlance of soft skills in today's global environment can be further emphasized based on the

findings of various surveys conducted in different countries. A survey on'Technological Innovation, Ageing Labour Forces and Effective use of Human Resource' conducted in Japan emphasizes that a worker will be required not only to perform a complex job compounding several tasks - programming, maintenance, monitoring and operation, he or she will be required, in addition, to possess logical mental power, problem solving ability and adaptability to go through the changes. Such an 'All round worker' would be equipped with widely varied skills and technical knowledge in such a way that he understands every action in the performance of skills in relation to the relevant technical knowledge. Another survey conducted in New Zealand on the perception of employers about the most important skills and knowledge among employees emphasizes communication skills, supewision skills, diagnostic skills and design ability. An Australian study by Stevenson and Mckavanagh argues for a more comprehensive view of skills and emphasizes the need for 'the less obvious but important transferable skills such as leaming how to learn, discovery, analysis, problem solving, experimentation, linking new concEpts with existing knowledge, relating verbal and non verbal representations and concrete objects, analysing and interpreting (2). These studies and similar other studies conducted throughout the world clearly highlight the importance ofsoft skills. Thus, the higher education and training system for this emerging formal economy, that is increasingly imbued with higher technologies and globalisedknowledge will have to deal with the twin challenge ofbuilding both: higher order soft skills as well as specific hard skills because the manpower with only hard technical skills will have little value if it is poor in soft skills. The need of the present time is to find out from industrv. business and service

soft skills and inculcate these in the students through various curricular and extra-curricular interventions.

Giving sufficient weightage to soft skills in curriculum of the courses of higher education would not only strengthen the employable skills for workforce effectiveness and competency but also help in building better social and cultural relations leading to success and quality oflife. Understanding the importance of soft skills in today's competitive world and the role of higher education in building competent and relevant manpower for the economic and social growth of the country, most of the educational institutions in India have initiated programmes, projects and activities for developing soft skills in students, the manpower of future. Institutions are using different approaches, methods. media. evaluation and assessment mechanisms. There was a need to understand the impact of these initiatives for developing right type of manpower for meeting the needs of the emerging knowledge economy of the country. Keeping in view, the above objective, a study was

undertaken

in the most

dynamic

city of

India,

Chandigarh, also recognized as the Knowledge City. The city, Chandigarh, has almost all types of educational facilities and campuses of many multi-national and world class organisations and hence represents the changing scenario of Indian economy in terms of varied job opportunities available. The present study tries to understand the awareness, need and

importance

of soft skills in

students, type

of

courses/proj ects/activities initiated by varied educational institutions at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, their relevance, teachingJearning process, their impact and benefits to students. This paper presents the findings of this study. The paper also

puts forward some recommendations for making above initiatives more effective for developing competent students as per the requirements of the

world of work.

Review of Literature Although alarge amount of documents, reports, research papers, articles etc. were reviewed for the study, however, a few important are presentedbelow:

Rosalie Flynn (2006) in his discussion paper prepared for Australian Industry Group and the Business, Industry and Higher Education Collaboration Council highlights employment outcomes of higher education. While presenting the definitions and descriptions of graduate employment skills, he explains the ways and means adopted for developing, assessing and recording these skills in the universities of Australia (3).

MEENU WATS. RAKESH KUMAR WATS

Goel (2006) collates recommendations made by various professional councils and researchers about core competencies for engineering graduates. He brings together the contemporary prescriptions of accreditation agencies of US, UK, Australia, Japan and Singapore. He presents a three dimensional taxonomy of competencies. While highlighting the resource based accreditation criteria of NBA in India, the recommendations of National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) and lndian Government Task Force to examine human resource challenge for IT and IT enabled services sector have also been discussed by him. He also suggests transformation in teaching-learning and assessment processes for developing sfudents as per the needs ofpresent day industry (4). Chadha & Nicholas (2005) while discussing the integrated approach present embedded and bolt on approaches for skills development in undergraduate engineering students. Based on the case sfudies of four institutions/programmes using different approaches for transferable skills development, they enlist the advantages and disadvantages ofthe above three approaches (5).

,

Paul Benkeser and Wendy Newsletter (2004) present an approach ofdeveloping soft skills in stu-

dents through the use of problem based learning (PBL) experiences infused throughout the curriculum. Examples ofproblems, tools and assessment techniques designed to promote the leaming of soft skills have also been incorporated in their paper (6). Hangman and Almekinders et.al. (2003), while suggesting the interweaving of soft skills in existing courses, describe two processes which were designed to integrate soft skills development in different academic settings. Encouraging lessons and insights for learning participation have also been presented by them (7).

;t il I

t

I I lt

Clayton et.al. (2003) in their research study investigate the nature ofgeneric skills as dgfined and understood in contemporary Australian and intemational VET context. Embedding ofthese skills in training packages and accredited courses, assessment and certification of these skills and the implications of the increased emphasis of these generic skills on Australian VET system have also been emphasized

by them (8). Saxton ( I 996) highlights the importance of generic skills in additionto technical skills. For strengthening his vier*' point, he reviews the findings of three re-

searches

viz. study by American Association of

Commrrniw and Junior Colleges, Study by Conference Board of Canada and Curriculum Evaluation in Singapore. He presents an integrated list of generic skills based on the findines of the above studies. He

Objectives The broad objectives ofthe present study were to:

.

Understandthe awareness and importance of soft

.

skills amongst students; Identify type of courses/programmes and meth-

.

ods adopted by higher education institutions for developing soft skills in students; Understand the impact of methods adopted for

.

developing soft skills; and Suggest measures for making soft skills development courses/programmes more effective.

Methodology The methodology for the study comprised of descript-

ive research design and accordingly a survey was conducted. The information for the study was sourced, first fiom an initial review ofliterature relating to development of soft skills. For this pu{pose various documents, reports, research papers and articles were scanned. The second and the major source of information was generated from primary research

involving use of comprehensive undisguised and parlially structure questionnaire, interviews and observations. The population for the survey comprised of 150 students and 50 teachers, professionals and experts involved in developing soft skills amongst students. The data was also collected from colleges conducting varied courses (both general education and professional education courses). The collected data was edited, coded and tabulated. The tabulated data was analysed and inferences drawn to interpret the meaning. Simple statistical tools like percentages, averages etc. were used for the analysis ofdata.

Findings The main findings of the study are presented below:

.

Most ofthe respondents were aware of soft skills. However, their level of awareness varied to a considerable extent. For some ofthe respondents, soft skills are needed for better performance in interviews. For others, these meant "a gate way to better employment". A section of respondents was of the view that for the personal growth of an individual, soft skills are one of the most important components. A few respondents were of the opinion that soft skills lead to better personality of an individual. Although small, but a section of respondents was of the opinion that for leading a quality life, soft skills are the vital must.

However, there was

a

degree

of

consensus

amongst respondents that soft skills underpin

THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF LEARNING. VOLUME

value of soft skills as they relate to employability is largely due to their transferable nature. Regarding relationship between hard skills and soft skills, most of the respondents were of the opinion that both ofthem are interlinked. Several respondents indicated that soft skills cannot be easily separated from the discipline specific hard skills and are equally important as hard skills. A section of the respondents was of the view that it is relatively easy to teach discipline specific hard skills to those who already possess important soft skills, but it is not so easy to build soft skills if individuals lack them. While ranking the important soft skills especially

in today's fast changing techno-economic

and

competitive world, almost 100% of the respondents were of the view that the most important soft skill for any individual is communication skill. Without effective communication, success

Figure

15

in today's scenario is almost impossible. You may have excellent knowledge, but unless you are able to convey that knowledge to others and convince them, it is of no use. So, effective communication is the buzzword today, whether you are at your home, work place and in society at national level or intemational level. Other five

soft skills which ranked high especially in today's world of work are problem solving skills, leadership skills, team work skills, IT skills and

learning to learn skills, though, other soft skills like creativity and innovation, managing self, coping with change, initiative and entelprise, sensitivity towards global, societal and environmental issues, motivation skills etc. are also very important. Figure 1 presents some of the important soft skills required to be developed in students.

l: Soft Skills for Students

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Most of the students were ofthe opinion that soft skills help in development of increased level of confidence and understanding, resulting in better performance during job interviews. In the views of some of the experts from the world of work, soft skills lead to better application ofindividu-

tl$*Bls

Teamw ork Sftils

Lsarningi0 Learn Ski$s

+

al's knowledge and skills and adaptability to change, leading to effective performance in the work place. A section ofthe teachers felt that for the holistic development (personal, social and professional) of students, soft skills play an important role. Figure 2 shows some ofthe benefits of soft skills development in students.

MEENU WATS, RAKESH KUMAR WAIS

Figure 2: BensfiE of Soft Skills Elevelopmsnt

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Benetits Ef Soff gkllls DeveloFnrent

In response to a question as to which is the best environment for developing soft skills in an individual, the opinions of the teachers, HRD experts and the employers were divergent. While a section of the informants was of the view that as soft skills are needed for better performance in the world of work, the best place for their development is workplace, where these can be developed as per the needs ofthe job/industry and are customized. The other group was of the opinion that the classroom is the ideal learning gtound, where one can practice altemative ways of dealing with people, and facilitating leaming, experimenting and transferring knowledge in an interactive rather than prescriptive form. It is a place of learning where one can make mistakes without losing his face and the job (7). While deciding about the right time for the development of soft skills in students, most of the experts and teachers were of the opinion that it is a continuous and life long process. The leaming experiences at different stages i.e. primary seconda4r, tertiary and higher levels of education should be integrated in a chronological order to have cumulative effect. Even the'development ofsoft skills should come up to the naturalization stage of learning by the time a student completes his formal higher education. The inconsistentway in which soft skills are dealt in the curriculum of most of the courses has created the potential for inconsistent delivery and assessment outcomes across assessors and across

training courses (8). Most ofthe respondents felt that soft skills are not clearly described in curriculum documents of most of the courses in higher education. At the same t...