Soft skills for hard times

It is no longer enough to equip students with the knowledge and capabilities needed to thrive in one specific career. Today’s students need skills that transcend academic, professional and technical knowledge and allow them to adapt and succeed in ever-changing and unpredictable working environments. Traditionally referred to as soft skills; a better label now, perhaps, is “human skills”, particularly as GenAI reshapes industry norms. But the digital transformation of work and lives is not the only factor requiring strong communication, creativity and critical thinking skills alongside emotional intelligence, resilience and adaptability – all of which feature in the top 10 skills in the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report.

Global economic and political instability means unpredictable job markets while longer working lives make a single career path for life less tenable. The post-Covid cohort, now entering university, spent formative years isolated and missing out on valuable schooling. And climate change is challenging the very foundations on which our economies and societies are built. This collection explores how academics and university educators can support students in developing the interpersonal skills, agility and ability to keep learning that may be needed to navigate what the future has in store.

How to embed transferable skills into university curricula

Educators today understand the importance of soft skills. But how to weave them into the fabric of your programmes? Find out how to design curricula and courses that develop timeless skills alongside discipline-specific knowledge.

Mapping employability skills across curricula: A mandatory university-wide initiative shows how mapping professional skills against all programmes can tailor students’ work readiness no matter their career path. Katy Gordon of the University of Southampton demonstrates how.

Weaving transferable skills into the curriculum – without losing the thread: Soft skills are critical for preparing students for success in university and beyond, but how do you weave transferable skills – such as teamwork, presentation and communication – into course design without sacrificing academic depth? Virginia Tech’s Tiffany Shoop offers practical advice.

Turning skills into stories: how longitudinal skills portfolios enhance student employability: Universities are adopting reflective digital tools to help students connect their learning to graduate skills. Cat Bailey of Jisc discusses what they’re doing and why it matters now.

Teaching activities that foreground human skills

The teaching of teamwork, communication skills, critical thinking and agility should run throughout university courses, rather than as a bolt-on. Here, read about activities and pedagogies you can use to develop these valuable human skills organically, in tandem with subject-specific content, helping students learn more effectively. 

Solving the soft skills crisis using artificial intelligence: Employers seek transferable skills such as communication and cultural awareness, but how can universities translate these aspirations into meaningful, scalable learning experiences for students? AI personas offer possibilities, suggests Kieran Williamson of the University of Canterbury/Te Whare Wananga o Waitata.

Real-world projects offer ideal conditions for teaching soft skills: With tomorrow’s graduates requiring agility, empathy and leadership capabilities on top of subject knowledge, the path forward is through connection with industry and community partners, as Kevin Koh of Singapore Management University explains.

Use experiential learning to embed transferable skills in the university classroom: Find out how Philip Y. Lam of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology integrated the transferable skills students need for employability into a content-heavy course.

Global learning: an emerging transferable skill for students: Teamwork, effective communication – these are what we think of as soft skills. But what about global learning and collaboration? Tiffany Shoop of Virginia Tech argues that global collaboration is a foundational skill for the modern world.

Developing soft skills with social justice work: The growing demand for students to gain workplace skills could see employability crudely bolted on to existing courses. The University of Westminster’s Jac St John and Naomi Oppenheim outline how partnering with charities and social justice organisations can make it more meaningful.

Cultivating emotional intelligence in business education: Cecilia Primogerio and Camila del Carril of Universidad Austral outline four strategies for fostering emotional intelligence in business students and preparing them for the workplace. 

Group work to build vital human skills

Very few jobs involve working in isolation. In almost any profession, the ability to work successfully as part of a team, manage and motivate colleagues and understand multiple perspectives will yield better results. Lecturers can switch students’ mindsets from competition to collaboration via group assignments. Working in groups can aid learning, foster greater empathy and understanding, and help students develop many human skills that are highly valued in a professional environment. Gather tips below on how to make it work.

Five considerations for effective group work: Why struggle through setting and assessing group tasks when this teaching approach can present considerable challenges around communication and conflict? These insights offer ways to design tasks that will benefit both educators and students, write Donna Hurford of the University of Southern Denmark and Andrew Read of London South Bank University.

Four simple steps to running a successful team task: In this video, Lauren Vicker and Tim Franz of St John Fisher University explain the key stages and considerations to help university educators run more effective group projects.

Taking the pain out of group assessment: Group assessment can be seen as unfair and unwieldy but it also teaches essential skills such as teamwork and collaboration, according to Edinburgh Napier University’s Sarah Sholl and Stephen Yorkstone. We owe it to our students to frame it in a way that allows them to see its benefits.

Blend individual and group work to build creative confidence: Combining collaborative accountability with personal ownership helps students take risks, navigate challenges and reflect more deeply, writes Dane Taylor of Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University.

The digital transformation of soft skills

Find out how digital tools, particularly GenAI, can support the development of key transferable skills. Although the existence of these tools has sharpened the focus on key human skills as vital to future-proofing students, working with GenAI can also offer new ways to hone these skills.

Can transferable skills be taught in distance learning? As workplaces are increasingly AI-integrated and hybrid, can teaching transferable skills – including body language – in a virtual learning environment, in some cases, offer a more authentic education experience? Emily Rutledge and Jonquil Lowe of The Open University say yes.

Machine v human skills: what do we teach now? Human-centred abilities such as curiosity, adaptability and self-reflection are rising in importance as AI threatens to automate routine tasks. Lynda Wee of Nanyang Technological University suggests ways educators can prepare students for the workforce of the future.

‘GenAI and critical thinking can – and should – work together’: Find out how to encourage critical thinking in the university classroom by working with GenAI tools, rather than against them. Joel Davis, Jane Southworth and Kati Migliaccio of the University of Florida offer advice.

Help your graduates beat AI in the job market by building transferable skills: Artificial intelligence is always going to have the edge when it comes to knowledge, so prepare students to become well-rounded employees. Aliasgar Shahiwala and Rahma Nasir Iqbal of Dubai Medical University show how to equip them with transferable skills.

Interpersonal skills for students who grew up in lockdown

Many of today’s students’ school years were disrupted by Covid-19 lockdowns, depriving them of opportunities for personal and social development that comes with being part of a classroom community. Higher education must support students in advancing social skills and building confidence, and there are many fun and creative ways to do this, as these educators explain.

The case for human-centred skills in higher education: For tomorrow’s challenges – and not just today’s jobs – students will need communication, critical thinking and interpersonal skills. So, faculty should look to embed these transferable skills across disciplines. Virginia Tech’s Lauren Thomas explains.

A participatory method to develop interview skills: See what happened when educators used role plays to dramatically demonstrate poor interview practice, encouraging students to analyse and suggest improvements. University of East Anglia academics offer guidance.

Bridging the digital knowledge gap between generations with podcasts: Faced with students who seemed to know it all, Mónica Itzel Gárate Carrillo of CETYS Universidad used podcasting to create engagement and intergenerational dialogue about how digital technology is impacting people’s lives.

Learning objectives as a tool to guide post-Covid learning: Instructors can use specific learning objectives to spark greater reflection and self-regulated learning in students. Jeremy Hsu of Chapman University provides a step-by-step guide to aligning learning, course and curriculum outcomes.

Which specific Covid disruptions impacted motivation and engagement? Lockdowns, isolation, remote learning and more have impacted various aspects of students’ lives. Knowing what and how puts educators in a better position to offer support, writes Andrew J. Martin of UNSW Sydney.

Teaching the most crucial skill of all: the ability to move from thinking to doing

One of the most important lessons university tutors can impart is, simply, how to get started and put theory into practice. Students who are stifled by perfectionism and fear of getting something wrong will never truly thrive in a world that demands action. Find out how to embed the mindset needed to allow space for creativity, trial and, sometimes, error, and move forward.

Teaching future-proof skills: lessons from degree apprenticeships: How degree apprenticeship-style teaching can develop the creative and social intelligence students need to succeed in a changing workplace. Yuxi Heluo of the University of Exeter shows how.

Get yourself unstuck: overthinking is boring and perfectionism is a trap: The work looks flawless, the student seems fine. But underneath, perfectionism is doing damage. The University of Lincoln’s David Thompson unpacks what educators can do to help high-performing students navigate the pressure to succeed and move from stuck to started.

Top business graduates lack one key skill – execution: Top-performing graduates often struggle with execution in the workplace. Educators can change that by designing learning exercises that hone decision-making skills and resilience, writes José Ignacio Sordo Galarza of Tecnológico de Monterrey.

How to write even when the words won’t come: Books, articles and grant proposals do not arrive in a single stroke. They are created, like sculptures, through a thousand small movements. Here, Bocconi University’s Catherine De Vries explains how to develop “skill power”.

Why range could be a crucial skill for the employees of the future: Students today will be treading a career path that doesn’t exist yet. Yılmaz Köylü of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology suggests encouraging them to develop the agility and resilience they’ll need for an uncertain world.

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