The strengthening employability paradigm within higher education has led to a situation where the practical value of liberal arts programmes is contested. While the potential for such programmes to develop valuable generic skills is recognised, critiques of liberal arts programmes centre around their loose structure and lack of clear alignment…

Purpose: In today's highly competitive global business environment, there is a growing demand for professionals who possess well-developed soft skills. Such abilities include flexibility, effective communication and other skills. Soft skills are personal attributes and qualities that are more closely related to the emotional side of human beings.…

This research aims to present a Fuzzy Expert System with psychologist expertise that seeks to assist professors, researchers and educational institutions in assessing the level of incorporation of students' Soft Skills while attending Active Learning sessions. The difficulties encountered by higher education institutions, researchers and…

In recent years, the South African basic and higher education departments have been besieged by egregious forms of violence. Although this has been a worrisome phenomenon dating back to time immemorial, of late, violence is at a very concerning and alarming level. The profusion of violence serves as an indictment to various stakeholders including…

New business graduates often have difficulty finding suitable employment in a competitive job market. Students need direct instruction for communicating their self-competence to employers. This paper highlights a practical application of mock group interviewing (MGI) and instruction over five semesters exploring multiple practice rounds of…

Generation Z members are our future leaders. They are eventually going to run the world and are starting to make their unique characteristics known. Due to the current generational transitions, they will assume leadership roles earlier than previous generations, mainly owing to the increased migration of Baby Boomers out of the workforce.…

The rapid pace of technological advancement and globalization is reshaping the landscape of work and innovation. This paper discusses the importance of empowering tomorrow's innovators through the development of essential skills, trade knowledge, and entrepreneurial competencies. By focusing on education, policy support, and community engagement,…

Purpose: With a focus on undergraduate music major students in China, the study sought to examine how higher music education institutions prepare professional knowledge, professional skills and soft skills in relevance to music students' employability. Design/methodology/approach: The quantitative survey engaged 359 music students from five music…

Internships are widely recognized within higher education as a useful work-based learning (WBL) approach to enhance student employability. However, there remains a need to understand whether internships provide a developmental experience that includes higher-level (soft) skills such as self-responsibility, flexibility and innovation. Our study…

Employers indicate their new employees lack the employability skills to be successful in the workplace. These skills are integral to the career and technical education (CTE) curriculum in Ohio. CTE teachers are responsible for grading and assessing student mastery of employability skills. This study examines Ohio CTE teachers' grading and…

The rapid growth of technology and computer science, which has led to a surge in demand for skilled professionals in this field. The skill set required for computer science jobs has evolved rapidly, creating challenges for those already in the workforce who need to adapt their skills quickly to meet industry demands. To stay ahead of the curve, it…

This paper explores the skills that Hong Kong employers and graduates see as important to have in the workplace as the result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our data are interviews with 40 employers and 69 graduates in the territory. Using reflexive thematic analysis, our qualitative findings center around four themes. First, we highlight the necessity…

Science mapping was utilized in this systematic review of research to analyze the body of knowledge on soft skills for employability. The research review selected high impact articles, charted the "intellectual structure", and recorded the volume, development rate, and geographical spread of this literature. Forty-five English-language,…

In pedagogy, it is often emphasized that we need to go beyond the traditional level of teaching and in addition to professional knowledge to integrate skills that support the acquisition of 21st century skills such as problem-solving, creativity and critical thinking, or social skills and emotional intelligence, which are highlighted in the labor…

Career readiness has become an expected outcome of earning a college degree, but employers and much of the public believe that graduates lack the skills necessary to be effective in the workplace. However, undergraduates, and especially those involved in cocurricular activities, routinely describe themselves competent in their abilities prior to…