ERIC Number: EJ1458669
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024-Mar
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0021-9584
EISSN: EISSN-1938-1328
A Survey of Soft Skills Expectations: A View From Work Integrated Learning Students and the Chemical Industry
Pinkie Ntola; Elena Nevines; Lindelani Q. Qwabe; Myalowenkosi I. Sabela
Journal of Chemical Education, v101 n3 p984-992 2024
Universities tend to focus on the hard skills required within disciplines, with a general lack of focus on the teaching of soft skills, specifically in the hard sciences, while a graduate with good attributes ought to have both. There is an uncertainty over whose responsibility it is to teach soft skills between industry and universities, with the chemical industry in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa, having expressed concern regarding the lack of soft skills from students joining the Work Integrated Learning (WIL) program. This study aimed to understand the gap between industry's expectations regarding these skills and what students expected from their industrial supervisors. Surveys were administered to students and industrial supervisors, the results indicating that students are mostly aware of what soft skills they have and how important they are in the workplace. Despite their high ranking of soft skills, such as discipline, determination, teamwork, and communication, they do not always apply them in the work environment. The differences between the supervisors and the students' responses highlight the latter's lack of specific knowledge about the world of work.
Descriptors: College Science, Soft Skills, Science Instruction, Chemistry, Work Based Learning, Job Skills, Student Attitudes, Employer Attitudes, Industry, Foreign Countries
Division of Chemical Education, Inc. and ACS Publications Division of the American Chemical Society. 1155 Sixteenth Street NW, Washington, DC 20036. Tel: 800-227-5558; Tel: 202-872-4600; e-mail: eic@jce.acs.org; Web site: http://pubs.acs.org/jchemeduc
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: South Africa
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A