Abstract:

In Mexico, students of some private universities might get better job positions than students of some public universities in their first jobs. This could be in part because students of public universities are not proficient in English, and in this globalized world that language is necessary to get a good job because many of the high paid jobs are offered by transnational companies. It could also be because students of public universities have not developed certain soft skills which are now considered necessary for many employers [1]. Public universities should increase the teaching of English. English could be practiced daily by the students if the professors of public universities spoke it but most of these do not. The courses in some public universities are solid in mathematics, physics and engineering, and students learn to master them and some of the most brilliant students are hired regardless of deficiencies in soft skills. Soft skills should be practiced almost daily in class, but they require that the practices are imbedded in the teaching of some of the engineering courses. Even in virtual classes students could be asked to work in subgroups for the analysis of problems. The teachers could explain the general concepts to learn, then how to use some particular tools, and then pose a problem to be analyzed or solved with those tools. The students could also propose the problem instead. The students of each subgroup could elect their moderators. At the end of the class the moderators might ask their classmates to present the results or they might decide that the results be presented to the whole group. The professors should highlight the soft skills practiced during this task, like problem solving, creativity, working in teams and enhancing their communication skills. Some recommendations are given to the class in carrying out this activity; for example, that the students must be respectful with the rest of their classmates and that they have to be open to many different ideas. At the end of the exercise the students should be asked about the performance of their moderators in reaching the objectives of the discussions. Students are usually attentive and interested when the teacher recounts some experience he had in solving problems in previous jobs using the tools being taught. The storytelling should be appropriate with the topics being presented. Soft skills are universal, despite that different cultures have special words or even a particular body language to express appreciation or acknowledgments; some people could be at disadvantage if they do not dominate the language or have not been embedded in the culture of the country or the company where they work. In this paper, the experience of trying that the students practice some soft skills is explained, as well as some of the problems discussed and some of the conclusions. Some of the storytelling is briefly narrated as well as their main objectives.

References:
[1] D. Williams and E. Howell, Leadership moments from NASA, achieving the impossible. Toronto/Canada: ECW Press, 2021.

Keywords:

Soft skills, higher education, engineering, storytelling.