Employer Perceptions of Soft Skills in the Workplace.
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| Title: | Employer Perceptions of Soft Skills in the Workplace. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Gauthier, Thomas1 |
| Source: | Career & Technical Education Research. 2025, Vol. 50 Issue 2, p52-72. 21p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Employer attitudes, *Career development, *Community colleges, *Job skills, Soft skills, Professional competence, Workplace management, Face-to-face communication |
| Geographic Terms: | Duval County (Fla.), United States |
| Abstract: | Community colleges focus on technical skills, completion rates, and employment metrics. As careers in the United States become increasingly technical, employers indicate that technical skills are just part of an employee's role. Regardless of the level of technical application, employees must be able to make decisions, think quickly and rationally, exhibit self-awareness, communicate effectively, and solve problems. Due to the technical nature of the work, employees must be motivated to develop career and cultural competencies. The purpose of this study was to explore employers' perceptions of the role of soft skills in the workforce. Using a semi-structured protocol and eight industry professionals in Duval County, Florida, a focus group was conducted to explore employer perceptions of soft skills in the workforce. Four themes emerged from the data: cultural fit, motivation, communication, and performance. The data indicated that employees' contributions to the organization's culture were most important to them, while an employee's performance was considered the least important. Organizations could use this data to better inform onboarding and professional development for new employees and those moving into supervisory positions. Community colleges could use this data to better inform their curriculum and course content. Data indicated that community colleges must offer soft skill training as a prominent element of a two-year degree program, while employers will focus on discipline and industryspecific skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Career & Technical Education Research is the property of Career & Technical Education Research and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Education Research Complete |
| FullText | Links: – Type: pdflink Text: Availability: 0 |
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| Header | DbId: ehh DbLabel: Education Research Complete An: 189353209 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| PLink | https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=189353209 |
| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.5328/cter50.2.52 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 21 StartPage: 52 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Employer attitudes Type: general – SubjectFull: Career development Type: general – SubjectFull: Community colleges Type: general – SubjectFull: Job skills Type: general – SubjectFull: Soft skills Type: general – SubjectFull: Professional competence Type: general – SubjectFull: Workplace management Type: general – SubjectFull: Face-to-face communication Type: general – SubjectFull: Duval County (Fla.) Type: general – SubjectFull: United States Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Employer Perceptions of Soft Skills in the Workplace. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Gauthier, Thomas IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 05 Text: 2025 Type: published Y: 2025 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 1554754X Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 50 – Type: issue Value: 2 Titles: – TitleFull: Career & Technical Education Research Type: main |
| ResultId | 1 |
