How Does the Teaching of Soft Skills in Institutions of Higher Learning Not Seem to Be Working Out Very Well? A Systematic Review

Abstract

Soft skills like communication and team management have been increasingly gaining importance to improve the employability of students graduating out of college. The educational institutes have been trying to incorporate soft skills in the curriculum of these students to make them more employment ready though the output is far from satisfactory. This research aims to identify the reasons why the educational institutes are unable to fill the gap even though soft skills, specifically communication, has been a part of the module and what are some of the steps that can be taken to make this whole exercise more effective. The paper suggests that all three stakeholders i.e. students, higher educational institutions and employers have a role to play to gauge the shortcomings and implement ways to improve the transfer of soft skills to students and their ability to apply their learnings better in real work scenarios.