Description
Employers continually emphasize the importance of soft skills as a crucial element of
success for their employees and point to a lack of incorporated soft skills training within the
traditional higher education curriculum. This study examined the perceptions of both students
and faculty in regard to the importance of soft skills on a student’s academic and career success
and evaluated the perceptions of students and faculty in terms of the incorporation of soft skills
training in the curriculum.
This quantitative study used a descriptive comparative design to analyze survey data
from students (N = 94) and faculty (N = 13) at a public Midwestern regional master’s-level
university. Data included information from faculty and students in their final year of the
welding engineering, plastics engineering, and manufacturing engineering programs.
Data collection occurred through an online questionnaire wherein participants
articulated their perception of curricular, educational, and career opportunity related to soft
skill development.
Findings revealed that both students and faculty within the School of Design and
Manufacturing believe that soft skills are important components to both academic and career
success. In addition, students generally believed that they had been taught the skills at a higher
rate than faculty perceive teaching the skills. Furthermore, the data and findings of this study
provide a baseline for open dialogue among and between students, faculty, administrators, and
employers concerning alignment and importance of soft skills within the curriculum and the
workplace.
