industry & research campusreview . com . au
The human touch
The importance of soft skills to the careers of tomorrow .
Alexia Maddox interviewed by Wade Zaglas
A study conducted by Oxford University Press surveyed 1000 recent graduates and found that 88 per cent of them believed soft skills were necessary to their future career success .
Even as these graduates prepare to enter an increasingly automated workforce , a substantial 78 per cent said such “ soft skills will give them an advantage ” in the workplace . Indeed , upskilling in soft skills in the workplace is predicted to be a new trend , with more than one-third
( 38 per cent ) believing that upskilling in this area will be an ongoing practice throughout their professional lives .
But what , exactly , are soft skills , and have they always been viewed as being critical in the labour market ? To discuss the importance of soft skills both now and in the future , Campus Review spoke to Dr Alexia Maddox of Deakin University , one of the authors of the study .
Maddox emphasised that soft skills complement technical skills , and encompass how we “ think , communicate , cooperate and collaborate and innovate ”. Within the domain of innovation are the soft skills of complex problem solving , critical thinking and creativity ; skills the students nominated as being the most important to their careers .
Indeed , such is their importance of these skills that Maddox calls them “ the glue that make our professional lives work ”. While the Deakin University lecturer noted that it is within the humanities and social sciences that these skills are traditionally acquired , the important thing is that they are taught to students , regardless of the discipline .
Maddox also touched on some ways in which these critical soft skills can be taught .
CR : How do you define soft skills ? What do they include and how do you think you can support their development ? AM : I have a slightly different definition , I guess , of soft skills . And that definition is that soft skills complement technical skills . I believe they ’ re how we think , communicate , cooperate , collaborate and innovate . And it ’ s really that last point , innovation , students are seeking to obtain according to the report .
Why do you think Australian graduates think soft skills are more necessary for the jobs of tomorrow than technical skills ? I think there ’ s two responses that I would give to that question . The first one is , as you observed , that our technical skills are going to need to be constantly updated . But it ’ s our soft skills that are the enduring skills that will really complement that technical knowledge with how to apply it within our professional context . And so , soft skills are really what we need , and they
16