Soft skills in higher education: importance and improvement ratings as a function of individual differences and academic performance

TLDR

Three UK studies examined a purpose-built instrument measuring the importance and development of 15 soft skills. The paper investigates the theoretical, methodological, and applied implications of these soft‑skill assessments. Across three studies (N = 444, 1,309, and 87), the authors replicated the inventory’s latent structure, linked soft‑skill ratings to academic performance and personality, and added an IQ measure to explore individual‑difference effects. Results show a cohesive latent structure dominated by student differences, with importance and improvement ratings predicting academic performance and mediating personality effects, higher ratings in softer courses, and a negative association between IQ and importance ratings.

Abstract

Three UK studies on the relationship between a purpose‐built instrument to assess the importance and development of 15 ‘soft skills’ are reported. Study 1 (N = 444) identified strong latent components underlying these soft skills, such that differences between‐skills were over‐shadowed by differences between‐students. Importance and improving ratings on these skills predicted academic performance and accounted for the effects of personality on academic performance. Study 2 replicated the structure of the soft skills inventory and associations with academic performance in a larger sample (N = 1309). Examination of mean differences across faculties (humanities, life sciences, hard sciences) revealed higher soft skills ratings in ‘softer’ courses. Study 3 (N = 87) incorporated an IQ measure, which was found to be negatively related to importance ratings on soft skills. Results highlight the cohesive structure of beliefs concerning various non‐academic skills and their significant links to educationally relevant individual differences. Theoretical, methodological and applied implications are considered.