International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education 2022, Volume 33, Number 3, 374-384

http://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe/ ISSN 1812-9129

Direct Instruction and Assessment of Personal and Professional Skills Across

Disciplines: Faculty Perspectives
Laura Saunders Stephen Bajjaly
Simmons University Wayne State University

Employers value soft skills and often report a “skills gap,” resulting in calls on higher education to
teach these skills more widely. However, few studies have examined faculty perspectives on soft skills.
The researchers conducted a nationwide survey of faculty in the fields of business, education,
engineering, library science, nursing, and social work to explore whether and how they are teaching
soft skills. Most faculty believe soft skills are important and are integrating them into their courses,
although there are variations by discipline. Methods for teaching soft skills are varied, but “passive”
approaches like readings and lectures are most prominent. The results have implications for curriculum
development and will be of interest to faculty across these disciplines as well as employers in the
associated industries.

Soft skills, or inter- and intrapersonal skills and are not mutually exclusive. Competencies, like critical
qualities such as communication, customer service, thinking and global perspective, and soft skills, such as
flexibility, and critical thinking, transfer across communication, service orientation, and the ability to
industries and positions, in contrast with the domain- work across cultures, seem to span both of these goals.
specific knowledge and skills associated with, and often Employers place a high value on personal and
unique to, a discipline or field. Soft skills are highly professional skills and those skills are also identified as
valued by employers across fields and professions and crucial to lifelong learning and general success, making
certain personal and professional skills have been linked them valuable for both responsible citizenship and for
with academic success, making them critical for college workplace success. As Gibb (2014) puts it, personal and
students to develop. Employers often report a “skills professional skills “enable and enhance three things that
gap” in this area, prompting them to lament a disconnect are believed to be closely interconnected: personal
between higher education curricula and the needs of the development, participation in learning, and success in
field. However, most studies focus solely on employer employment” (p. 456), making them relevant across
needs, while fewer studies have examined faculty higher education curricula.
perspectives on personal and professional skills. As the cost of tuition continues to rise, along with
Similarly, much of the literature in higher education stakeholder demands for accountability, more emphasis
offers suggestions for faculty to address soft skills has been placed on metrics related to employment upon
without exploring whether faculty are already teaching graduation (Murakami, 2020; Palmer, 2015;
these skills. Protopsaltis, 2019). Multiple studies and reports show
This study begins to address the gap in the literature. that employers value and seek a range of personal and
The researchers surveyed faculty across the United professional skills (Burning Glass Technologies, 2015;
States in the six fields of business, education, Hart Research Associates, 2018; Kukkonen, Leino,
engineering, library science, nursing, and social work to Koskinen, Salminen, & Strandell Laine, 2020; Linked-in
explore how they are teaching and assessing students in Learning, 2018; National Association of Colleges and
soft skills. Specifically, this study examined the Employers, 2018; Turner, 2019). While the specific mix
following questions: (a) How important do faculty of skills may vary, the findings span sectors, including
believe soft skills are to student success in their fields?; highly technical industries (Burning Glass Technologies,
(b) Do faculty believe they are responsible for teaching 2015; Craig, 2019).
these skills?; and (c) To what extent do they integrate However, employers also report a “skills gap” or
instruction and assessment of these skills into their difficulty finding job candidates with soft skills such as
curricula, and what methods of instruction do they use? communication, customer service, problem-solving,
The results have implications for curriculum flexibility, and critical thinking (Burning Glass
development and will be of interest to faculty across Technologies, 2015; Robles, 2012; Somerville, 2019;
these disciplines. Vista, 2020). These studies have implications for higher
education faculty, but while the reports tend to include
Literature Review recommendations for higher education, they generally
gather data only from employers, and rarely include
Higher education in the United States has long tried faculty perspectives.
to balance education for citizenry and education for the The importance of personal and professional skills
marketplace (Martin, 2019). Of course, these two goals is not limited to the workplace. Soft skills associated
Saunders and Bajjaly Faculty Perceptions of Students’ Soft Skills 375

with emotional intelligence have been linked to Method

better academic performance (Berenson, Boyles &
Weaver, 2008; Chamorro-Premuzic, Arteche, The purpose of this study was to examine faculty
Bremner, Greven, & Furnham, 2009; MacCann, perspectives on soft skills across disciplines, including
Jiang, Brown, Double, Bucich, & Minbashian, whether and how faculty are addressing and assessing
2020), including in online environments (Abe, those skills in their courses. Specifically, the study
2020). Skills associated with metacognition, focused on the following questions:
reflective practice, and self-regulation are also 1. How important do faculty believe personal and
considered essential to life-long learning and professional skills to be for graduates of their program?
personal fulfillment (Di Pardo Léon-Henri, 2019; 2. Do faculty feel responsible for teaching
Gibb, 2014). A number of educators have also personal and professional skills?
emphasized the importance of certain personal and 3. Do faculty provide direct instruction on specific
professional skills to the overarching goals of personal and professional skills in their courses? If so,
“citizenship” and “global citizenship” (Díez- a. What methods do they use to teach these skills?
Gutiérrez & Díaz-Nafría, 2018; Jarkiewicz, 2020), b. Do they provide students with feedback on
with Islam (2019) asserting that “intercultural these skills?
communicative competence, digital literacy and soft 4. Are there differences across modalities, faculty
skills are the main required competencies and skills ranks, or disciplines as to whether faculty teach personal
for students” (p. 203). and professional skills?
Many professional associations and researchers As noted in the literature review, emphasis on
recommend reprioritizing curricula to include personal and professional skills cuts across industries
greater emphasis on soft skills (Rebele & St. Pierre, and fields. Indeed, one of the characteristics of these
2019; Tseng, Yi, & Yeh, 2019; Turner, 2019), and skills is that they are considered transferable in that they
some have proposed frameworks or models for can be applied in different settings, positions, and job
addressing specific sets of skills (see e.g., Botelho & functions. The researchers were interested in exploring
Lima, 2020; Islam 2019; Price, Gilkerson, & Barry, faculty perspectives across several disciplines to better
2018). A few studies have gathered faculty understand disciplinary perspectives on soft skills and
perspectives on the role of personal and professional soft skills instruction. The study focuses on professional
skills (Benbow & Hora, 2016; Mitchell, 2008) or programs, as these tend to have a close connection to the
offered strategies for teaching and assessing soft fields and faculty may feel an impetus to respond to the
skills (Ingols & Shapiro, 2014; Rebele & St. Pierre, perceived skills gap and the stated needs of their
2019). Some research has indicated that explicit graduates’ employers.
training and assessment can improve personal and Because the intention of the study was to develop a
professional skills (Developing Soft Skills in Higher baseline of understanding of faculty perspectives on soft
Education, 2003; Edwards, 2018; Price et al., 2018), skills, and draw comparisons across fields, a large
and Gibb (2014) argues for more systematic sample was needed. A survey offers the ability to reach
instruction and assessment of these skills based on a a wider audience than qualitative methods such as
research-informed agenda. However, most of these interviews and focus groups. A larger sample size allows
studies relied on limited samples and have not the possibility of generalizing results, making it an
explored whether faculty are teaching these skills. appropriate tool for this study (Dillman, Smyth, &
While a few case studies report on faculty efforts Christian, 2014).
to teach personal and professional skills (Anthony & Between January and March of 2020, the
Garner, 2016; Ellis, Kisling, & Hackworth, 2014; researchers distributed the survey to a sample of between
Gibb, 2014; Jones, 2020; Robinson & Stubberud, 2,000 and 3,000 faculty each in the fields of business,
2014; Singh & Vorbach, 2017; Valenzuela, 2020), it education, engineering, library science, nursing, and
remains unclear how widespread these efforts are, social work, for a total of 15,890 invitations. These
and whether they involve the direct, active programs were chosen as offering a range of
instruction, and specific feedback. As Martin (2019) perspectives, including fields that are more high-tech and
notes, “there seems to be broad consensus that soft those that are more “high-touch.” Faculty information
skills development should take place before students was collected using a Google Chrome extension to
graduate, but there is a lack of consensus as to how extract emails from the publicly available directories on
or where” (p. 49) these skills should be addressed. He selected institution’s websites. The survey was
criticizes the “sporadic, non-continuous distributed through Qualtrics. An initial email explained
developmental events” (p. 50) that characterize most the purpose of the research and confirmed that the
approaches to personal and professional skills researchers had obtained IRB approval. Three days later
training. another email provided a link to the survey. Two follow-
Saunders and Bajjaly Faculty Perceptions of Students’ Soft Skills 376

up emails were sent to non-respondents at two-week Findings

intervals to increase response rates.
A single definitive list of soft skills does not exist, Identical surveys were distributed separately to
and different studies focus on different competencies. between 2,000 and 3,000 faculty in the six fields of
However, certain skills and abilities are mentioned business, education, engineering, library and
repeatedly across studies and fields. This survey centered information science, nursing, and social work between
on ten of these personal and professional skills: (a) January and March of 2020. In total, 1,210 responses
interpersonal skills; (b) writing; (c) communication were returned for a response rate of 7.6%. Engineering
skills; (d) teamwork; (e) cultural competence (the ability had the lowest response rate, at 4.2%, and library science
to effectively communicate and interact across cultures); the highest at 13.6%. The number of respondents were
(f) reflective practice; (g) customer service skills; (h) relatively even across the fields. The largest percentage
commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion; (i) of respondents (25%) came from education, followed by
adaptability/flexibility; and (j) presentation skills. social work (19%), nursing (16%), library and
Several methods were used to identify this set of skills, information science (15%), business (14%), and
including literature reviews and previous research by one engineering (11%). Most respondents have been faculty
of the authors (Saunders, 2015; Saunders, 2019). This set members for 5 or fewer years (33%) or more than 15
of skills includes some of the more generic skills that years (33%). The largest group of respondents were full-
have been identified as important across studies and time contract faculty (34%). The vast majority indicated
fields. Other skills, like cultural competence and that they teach courses primarily face-to-face (67%),
reflective practice, have been studied extensively in with the rest split fairly evenly between teaching
health care fields but have received less attention in the primarily online (15%) or about equally online and face-
broader literature. Nevertheless, national events like the to-face (18%). Most teach primarily at the master’s level
Black Lives Matter protests suggest these skills will (48%), or equally at the master’s and bachelor’s level
become more widely recognized and thus they were (32%). Half of respondents indicated that they had taken
included here. a credit-bearing course on teaching and learning, and
The first section of the survey consisted of a set of 77% say they regularly or occasionally attend
matrix questions, asking faculty to rate the importance professional development activities focused on teaching
of each skill to their students’ success in the fields. The and learning.
next set of questions asked to what extent faculty Most respondents rate all 10 personal and
believed they had a responsibility for teaching each of professional skills as at least moderately important.
the skills. In the following section, faculty were asked More than half rated 7 of 10 skills as extremely important
if they provided direct instruction for each of the skills. for all graduates: communication skills (83%),
If they answered yes, they were asked to indicate what interpersonal skills (76%), adaptability/flexibility
methods they used to teach those skills, and whether (66%), teamwork (63%), commitment to diversity,
they provided students with specific feedback on those equity, and inclusion (63%), cultural competence (59%),
skills. Respondents were provided a list of teaching and writing skills (53%). Customer services was the
methods, as well as an option to specify additional lowest ranked skill, with only 29% rating it as extremely
methods not listed. A final, open-ended question asked important. Figure 1 shows the ranking for all ten skills.
faculty to list any skills not mentioned that they Respondents were also asked the extent to which
believed to be important, and to describe how they they believe faculty are responsible for teaching these
addressed those skills. The survey concluded with skills. More than 50% of respondents strongly agreed
demographic and background questions, including that faculty are responsible for teaching seven of the ten
rank, number of years as a faculty member, whether skills at the bachelor’s level, and nine of the ten skills at
they primarily taught bachelor or master-level courses, the master’s level. At the master’s level, customer
in what modality they primarily teach, and their service was the only skill that a majority of respondents
experience with credit-bearing courses or professional did not strongly agree faculty should teach. At the
development training related to teaching and learning. bachelor’s level, fewer than 50% strongly agreed that
The closed-ended questions were analyzed using faculty are responsible for teaching customer service,
both descriptive and inferential statistics. Total reflective practice, or presentation skills. Figure 2 shows
percentages were gathered for each response. Crosstabs the percentage of breakdown of respondents who
were used to test for statistically significant differences, strongly agreed that faculty should teach these skills at
for instance across fields, rank, and modality of each level.
instruction. Responses to open-ended questions were More than half of respondents indicated that they
relatively brief and were analyzed for any provide direct instruction in each of the ten skills in one
commonalities in additional teaching strategies or or more of their courses. Teamwork was the mostly
additional skills. widely addressed skill, with 84% of respondents saying
Saunders and Bajjaly Faculty Perceptions of Students’ Soft Skills 377

Figure 1
Importance Ranking of Soft Skills

How important are the following skills for ALL graduates of your
program to acquire to be successful in the profession?
Customer Service skills
Presentation skills
Reflective Practice
Writing skills
Cultural Competence (the ability to effectively…
Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Teamwork
Adaptability/Flexibility
Interpersonal skills
Communication skills

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Extremely important Very important Moderately important Slightly important Not at all important

they provide direct instruction in this skill, and customer than those teaching primarily at the master’s level
service was the lowest at 60%. At least half of (p=0.000004). Faculty teaching primarily at the master’s
respondents who indicate that they provide direct level were somewhat less likely than others to teach
instruction in a skill also say that they provide feedback customer service skills (p=0.004) and teamwork
to students on that skill. Teaching methods varied (p=0.004). The majority of faculty who provide
somewhat by skill, but discussions and instructor instruction also provide feedback on those skills. Only
lectures were among the most popularmethods. Table 1 three skills showed a statistically significant difference
provides a breakdown of the percentage of respondents by field in whether faculty provided feedback: (a)
who indicate that they taught each skill, the percent that commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion
provide feedback on that skill, and the top methods for (p=0.008), (b) cultural competence (p=0.020), and (c)
instruction of that skill. writing (p=0.00001). In addition, there were statistically
significant differences by modality in whether faculty
Significant Differences provided direct instruction for cultural competence
(p=0.025), teamwork (p=0.023), and
The researchers tested for statistically significant flexibility/adaptability (p=0.0001). In general, those
differences across fields, modalities, or faculty faculty who identified as teaching primarily online
demographics using crosstabs with a significance level seemed less likely to provide instruction in these skills
of 0.05. The greatest number of significant differences than those who teach primarily face-to-face. Finally,
for direction were by field. For instance, there was a faculty who had taken a credit-bearing course in teaching
statistically significant difference for interpersonal skills and learning were more likely to teach interpersonal
(p=0.000) with nursing faculty being most likely to teach skills (p=0.0004) and cultural competence (p=0.002).
these skills (71.4%) and engineering faculty least likely
(40.2%). Engineering faculty are mostly likely to teach Additional Skills Identified
teamwork (93%), while library science faculty are least
likely (63.5%). Table 2 shows the results of the chi- The survey ended with an open-ended question
square test for statistical significance by field. asking respondents to discuss any other personal and
There were also some differences in instruction by professional skills not addressed in the survey. Fifty-
level. Faculty teaching at both the master’s and bachelor eight participants responded to this question. The
level were more likely to teach flexibility/adaptability responses were generally quite brief, and many people
Saunders and Bajjaly Faculty Perceptions of Students’ Soft Skills 378

Figure 2
Level of Agreement that Faculty are Responsible for Teaching Soft Skills

Strongly Agree Faculty Are Responsible for Teaching

Customer Service skills
Presentation skills
Reflective Practice
Adaptability/Flexibility
Cultural Competence (the ability to effectively…
Writing skills
Interpersonal skills
Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Teamwork
Communication Skills

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Master's level Bachelor's level

used the space to clarify earlier answers or offer but in some cases the terms chosen might not have fit the
additional comments. Most of these additional skills fields surveyed. For instance, researchers chose the term
were only mentioned by one or two respondents and did “customer service” to describe the kind of service
not constitute a pattern, but three skill areas did emerge orientation that might be expected in any public-facing
as important from the open-ended responses. Fourteen position in any field. However, some respondents,
respondents discussed the importance of broad especially in nursing and social work, indicated that they
professional skills such as professional writing (e.g., favor different language as they do not think of their
memos, business emails, resumes, and cover letters), the patients or clients as “customers.” These differences in
ability to manage themselves and their work (e.g., language might have impacted some responses.
timeliness, attention to detail, and managing health
issues), and understanding the work environment (e.g., Discussion
“professionalism” and expectations of the workplace,
managing up, and office politics). Eleven respondents The results of this study show that a majority of
highlighted the importance of emotional intelligence, faculty are teaching a range of personal and professional
including developing empathy, active listening, skills and, when they teach those skills, they tend to
patience, and understanding. Finally, four respondents provide students with feedback. The vast majority of
discussed the need to be able to manage conflict in the faculty view personal and professional skills as
workplace. important, and feel at least some responsibility for
teaching those skills, which aligns with previous
Limitations research (Benbow & Hora, 2016). Faculty are more
likely to teach certain skills in a face-to-face rather than
This study has several limitations. Surveys always an online environment, and master’s level faculty are
run the risk of responder bias which can skew the results. less likely to teach certain skills, but these instances are
For instance, faculty who teach soft skills might have limited. In fact, given the necessity of pivoting to online
been more likely to respond to this survey. The risk of courses in the wake of the pandemic in spring 2020, it is
responder bias is compounded when response rates are reassuring to know that faculty are generally attempting
low, as they were in this study. As such, care must be to deliver equivalent experiences online and face-to-
taken in generalizing the results. face. The differences across fields are somewhat more
While the ten skills chosen for this study were culled pronounced.
from previous research, they are not comprehensive, and In addition to determining whether faculty teach soft
it is possible that different skills might have resonated skills, this study explored how they teach those skills.
more with some fields. Further, semantics are important. Lectures, readings, and discussions were the most
The researchers used the same wording across surveys, common approaches across skills. However, faculty also
Saunders and Bajjaly Faculty Perceptions of Students’ Soft Skills 379

Table 1
Direct Instruction, Feedback, and Top Teaching Methods

Skill % Direct % Giving Top teaching methods

instruction feedback
Teamwork 84 88 Group projects (19%)
Discussion (15%)
Instructor lecture (11%)
Flexibility/adaptability 80 54 Discussions (21%)
Instructor lecture (17%)
Readings (13%)
Writing assignments (10%)
Hands-on activity (10%)
Cultural competence 76 73 Discussions (17%)
Readings (16%)
Instructor lecture (12%)
Writing assignment (10%)
Commitment to DE&I 75 73 Discussion (17%)
Readings (15%)
Instructor lecture (14%)
Writing assignment (11%)
Communication 75 95 Discussion (15%)
Instructor lecture (13%)
Student presentation (12%)
Group project (11%)
Reflective practice 72 87 Writing assignments (19%)
Discussions (18%)
Instructor lecture (13%)
Readings (11%)
Presentation skills 70 97 Student presentations (21%)
Instructor lecture (16%)
Group project (13%)
Discussions (12%)
Writing 68 98 Writing assignments (22%)
Instructor lecture (13%)
Discussion (12%)
Readings (11%)
Interpersonal 61 84 Discussion (15%)
Instructor-led lecture (12%)
Group work (10%)
Customer service 60 76 Discussions (19%)
Instructor lecture (17%)
Readings (14%)
Saunders and Bajjaly Faculty Perceptions of Students’ Soft Skills 380

Table 2
Percentage of Faculty Providing Explicit Instruction (No, Yes) in Specific Soft Skills

Faculty Members’ Field of Discipline

Business Education Engineering Library Nursing Social Total
Science Work
Interpersonal Skills No 46.6 41.8 59.8 38.4 28.6 29.1 39.3
(n = 1,037) Yes 53.4 58.2 40.2 61.6 71.4 70.9 60.7
Writing Skills No 43.6 27.4 32.0 32.7 32.5 27.5 31.7
(n = 1,032) Yes 56.4 72.6 68.0 67.3 67.5 72.5 68.3
Communication Skills No 30.8 26.5 24.7 25.4 17.5 22.6 24.7
(n = 1,010) Yes 69.2 73.5 75.3 74.6 82.5 77.4 75.3
Flexibility / Adaptability No 04.7 09.3 02.9 62.8 11.7 13.5 20.1
(n = 603) Yes 95.3 90.7 97.1 37.2 88.3 86.5 79.9
Presentation Skills No 50.0 29.7 56.5 28.2 27.4 25.9 30.3
(n = 657) Yes 50.0 70.3 43.5 71.8 72.6 74.1 69.7
Commitment to Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion No 25.0 26.0 28.6 27.6 20.6 11.9 24.1
(n = 374) Yes 75.0 74.0 71.4 72.4 79.4 88.1 75.9
Teamwork Skills No 09.6 10.7 07.0 36.5 07.7 10.3 16.0
(n = 811) Yes 90.4 89.3 93.0 63.5 92.3 89.7 84.0
Reflective Practice No 45.7 25.2 37.5 37.7 25.0 14.6 27.9
(n = 653) Yes 54.3 74.8 62.5 62.3 75.0 85.4 72.1
Cultural Competence No 19.2 22.4 17.9 38.9 14.2 15.9 23.8
(n = 690) Yes 80.8 77.6 82.1 61.1 85.8 84.1 76.2
Customer Service Skills No 32.7 25.5 28.6 68.3 28.0 31.8 40.0
(n = 650) Yes 67.3 74.5 71.4 317 72.0 68.2 60.0
Saunders and Bajjaly Faculty Perceptions of Students’ Soft Skills 381

indicated using other approaches, some of which align these skills. For example, one participant wrote,
well with the skill in question. For instance, writing “Empathy and active listening are both critical personal
assignments are the top strategy for teaching writing and professional skills for today's graduates. I address
skills, with 22% of respondents indicating they use this these skills through class lectures, assignments, and class
approach. Writing assignments were also the top choice discussions.”
for teaching reflective practice (19%). Group projects Overall, the results of this study suggest faculty are
were the most common strategy for teaching teamwork aware of the importance of soft skills and take
(19%), and student presentations were the top choice for responsibility to teach these skills, which seems to
teaching presentation skills (21%). Although not the top- contradict reports identifying a skills gap between
ranked strategy, faculty reported using hands-on employer expectations for soft skills. These studies often
activities to teach flexibility/adaptability, and group imply that faculty are not teaching these skills, and often
work or group projects for communication, end calling on colleges and universities to do more to
interpersonal, and presentation skills. prepare students. If faculty are teaching soft skills, it
Write-in responses were relatively limited, but some begs the question of why employers continue to identify
respondents mentioned additional teaching strategies. a skills gap in potential hires.
For example, some faculty reported using field visits, One answer might lie in the differences in the extent
service learning, and conferences to teach cultural to which certain skills are taught in each field. For
competence; portfolios and journals and other reflective instance, engineering faculty were significantly less
writing assignments to teach reflective practice; service- likely to teach interpersonal and presentation skills, and
learning projects to teach a commitment to diversity, business faculty were significantly less likely to teach
equity, and inclusion; and simulations and peer critiques writing and reflective practice. And, as noted, this study
for teaching teamwork. Thus, in at least some cases focused on only ten out of dozens of potentially
faculty are varying methods and including active important skills. Thus, although faculty are teaching a
learning. range of soft skills, there might be a disconnect between
Respondents identified three additional skills or the skills being taught in the classroom and the specific
skill groups they consider important in open-ended skills sought in the field.
responses. Professionalism was the most common, Nevertheless, more than half of faculty in each field
identified by 14 respondents. This skill set included report teaching most of these skills, suggesting some
specific writing skills, such as the ability to write an other factors might contribute to the perceived skills gap.
appropriate memo, email or cover letter; a general One possibility is that students are exposed to these skills
understanding of the workplace and organizational in the classroom, but they are not successfully
politics; and self-regulation skills, such as timeliness, transferring them to the workplace. Research suggests
attention to detail, and the ability to manage one’s own that active learning techniques, such as problem-based
health issues. One respondent expressed a need for learning, can improve student learning and retention of
“more emphasis on professional skills such as applying personal and professional skills (Imwattana et al., 2020;
for jobs, creating resumes and cover letters, Levant et al., 2016; Myers et al., 2014). However, this
interviewing, expectations of the professional study showed that lectures, readings, and discussions,
environment.” This respondent did not necessarily were among the top methods for teaching nearly all
believe faculty had to teach these skills, but believed skills. While these are legitimate teaching methods, they
students should be exposed to them, explaining, “I don't do not provide much scope for students to practice and
think these can all happen in the classroom, but should apply skills or to demonstrate learning. Further, because
be provided for everyone in the School.” Assumedly, these methods do not generally entail having students
some of these skills would be addressed through extra- apply or demonstrate learning, they allow little
curricular and support offices like career services. opportunity for instructors to provide explicit or
Conflict resolution was mentioned by four respondents, individualized feedback. While faculty did identify some
and these could perhaps be folded into professionalism active learning strategies such as hands-on activities, role
and self-regulation as well. plays, case studies, and so on, these were rarely among
Finally, 11 respondents discussed the importance of the top-ranked strategies, and often were identified by
empathy and emotional intelligence, which aligns with fewer than 10% of respondents. Thus, it may be that
other studies and literature that have identified areas such faculty are addressing soft skills in their courses, but not
as self-motivation and the ability to work independently in such a way that students are successfully mastering
(Hart Research Associates, 2018); socio-emotional and those skills.
self-regulation (Benbow & Hora, 2016); and listening
and building relationships (Burning Glass Technologies,
2015; Crawford & Fink, 2019) as important. Some
respondents indicated that they are actively teaching
Saunders and Bajjaly Faculty Perceptions of Students’ Soft Skills 382

Conclusion previously thought. Certainly, faculty seem to recognize

the importance of personal and professional skills for
Previous studies have established the importance of their students’ success in the field. The biggest issues
personal and professional skills across fields and have might be which skills are emphasized, and how they are
often identified a “skills gap” between the level of skills taught. Improved communication between faculty and
employers seek and what they find in applicants. Those employers might help to bridge this gap. Professional
studies often imply that higher education institutions are programs like the ones reviewed for this study might
not adequately preparing students in these areas, even look for new ways to gather input and feedback from the
though, as Benbow and Hora (2016) observe, such individuals and organizations who will ultimately hire
studies almost always focus on the employers’ their graduates, and to share information with those
perspective, without considering faculty perceptions or individuals and organizations about what steps they take
whether faculty attempt to teach such skills. The to meet those needs.
respondents of this study largely recognize the
importance of soft skills, feel a responsibility to teach References
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