The Necessity of Developing Soft Skills in STEM Areas in Higher Education, with Special Focus on Engineering Training

Abstract

One of the challenges of higher education today is to prepare students for the demands of the labour market. A goal becoming ever more important is that, in addition to the so-called hard skills (knowledge obtained from textbooks), the development of soft skills (inter- and intrapersonal skills) also be emphasised. It is a particularly important question in the field of STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics), and especially in engineering education, which abilities and skills are essential for new graduates on the labour market. The aim of our questionnaire survey, conducted in 2022, was to map the specifics of soft skills among engineering students. A total of 208 engineering students filled in our online questionnaire. We examined the characteristics of soft skills based on a list of 39 items. The 5 soft skills considered most important were problem-solving, reliability, resilience, communication and independent work. Students regarded themselves as most characterized by reliability, problem solving, independent work, responsibility and cooperation. Our research results drew attention to the importance of developing soft skills, especially social skills. Keywords: STEM, soft skills, social skills development