Abstract:

Today, employers are looking for graduates who have a more diverse set of skills, including conceptual, instrumental and interpersonal skills that allow them to work in complex and multicultural environments. However, and in addition to the efforts that HEI make in the promotion of these skills, this development is also influenced by sociodemographic factors and the psychological development of the students. In this context, HEI can seek to know the factors that influence the development of soft skills, aiming to adapt their educational strategies to the needs and contexts of the students.

The present study focuses a skills assessment tool, Laureate Professional Assessment (LPA), developed by Laureate International Universities for application in the 80 HEI worldwide. This tool evaluates the competency profiles of two distinct groups of students (applicants to higher education and last year students) – and socio-demographic data provided by the students when enrolling in higher education. Eight soft skills are assessed, namely adapting to change, working well with others, analyzing and solving problems, global mindset, generating ideas and innovating, learning and self-development, achieving objectives and leading others. Hence, our research aim is to identify and explore what personal and sociodemographic dimensions could explain the gap between different competency profiles. To do so, we used that assessment tool for assessing eight soft skills in a sample of 808 first year students. As variables in focus, we can highlight gender, age, socio-cultural and socio-economic background, parental educational attainment and students’ study program choice. In general, our results stress the relevance of those personal and sociodemographic dimensions as predictors of different student’s profiles in terms of soft skills.

Keywords:

Soft skills, Higher Education, Students, assessment.