Every employee must maintain a set of abilities and values known as "soft skills" in their work. This is just the case in STEM, as employees are expected to process just that. Yet there is a common misconception in regards to these workers: most people usually associate STEM professionals as brainy and intelligent, yet in reality, they often tend to lack important soft skills necessary to make a change and thrive in their environment.
What are Hard Skills and Soft Skills?
In order to understand soft skills, you need to know the hard ones; hard skills exhibit and show off job-related knowledge that people need in order for employees to be productive. Examples of these skills vary depending on the job, yet in regards to a software engineer, some hard skills are degrees, certifications, knowledge of programming languages, and testing and debugging. On the other hand, soft skills are the qualities an employee must know in order for them to thrive in the workspace; soft skills include effective communication, teamwork, problem-solving, time management, decision-making, and stress management. Although they seem like simple skills, studies show that those in STEM fields struggle with these aspects the most.
While most people are unaware of this issue, employers are definitely concerned that STEM students are advancing into the professional world without soft skills. According to Janelle Miguel, a writer for The Arizona State Press, “Employers hiring STEM applicants find it difficult to find suitable candidates that also possess strong soft skills in addition to their technical knowledge. Therefore, soft skills help demonstrate to employers that a candidate is more than capable of succeeding in whatever is on their resume and recognizing their potential.” Additionally, Tess Surprenant, chairwoman at the University of Minnesota’s College of Science and Engineering program, stated, “…the university has prepared students with the technical skills, but not necessarily the people skills, required to survive in the job market.” (This is evident as "classes help socially awkward engineering students” learn how to communicate and work with others efficiently and efficiently.) To summarize, students pursuing STEM fields that are good with the subject and have appropriate knowledge tend to lack any real “people skills.”
Solutions to this Problem:
In order to solve this issue, we first needed to identify it. Currently, after realizing many students struggle with their soft skills, we need to be able to generate as many possible solutions as we can. As a student, I know that the majority of us that strive for careers in STEM have introverted personalities and tend to be socially awkward. I tend to be awkward, but I can recognize it, and actively try to socialize with others to balance it, further improving my own soft skills. However, I notice that a lot of other students don’t work on any of their soft skills, struggling with the topic with little to no aid from teachers and mentors.
Our advice for educators is to assign more group projects (pairings consisting of more than two members). To clarify, not every assignment you create involving more than one person has to be a group project. If it is a small assignment, and you would prefer having your students do pair work, then that is totally acceptable; some students prefer to work alone in class, wanting to prove their competency (or because they do not enjoy working with others), but educators should be aware that in a real occupation, people have to work together and collaborate. This may be easier said than done, considering the fact that some students genuinely hate group projects, yet we can offer some helpful tips that we have researched along with personal tips that will improve a student’s overall experience. (“Implementing Group Work in the Classroom”, n.d.):
Before Starting the Assignment:
Tell your students the benefits of working with others: Be sure that your students understand why you are assigning a group project and how it can help them. For instance, you can tell them that all workers have to collaborate and that this assignment will benefit them in the future, giving them both hard and soft skills, as it gives them necessary information and the ability to communicate and work together.
Have students create their own groups (preferable): Have a minimum of three people per group, with a maximum of four or five (depending on the type of project you are having students do). If there are students left on their own, have them form a group or put them in a group with two students to hit the minimum. If you’re doing pair work, just make sure that everyone has a partner. Things might not go exactly as planned, but as long as everyone is doing an equal amount of work and reaping the same benefits it’ll balance out.
If you create groups randomly, have them get to know each other first: This may sound like an unusual practice, but I can assure you that students work better when they’re comfortable with the people they’re working with. This applies not only to students but to people as a whole. To properly implement this, have them talk to each other for a minute or two before introducing the task. Let them say their names, hobbies, and interesting aspects about themselves. Just make sure each group is talking and interacting, and if not, go over and help stir discussion.
Explain the task: You need to clearly explain your task, how long they have to complete it, and what the final product should look like. You can use written, visual, or spoken instructions. Remember to answer any questions that students may have.
Establish rules: Make clear the rules for how students should interact and work together. This includes teaching students about active listening, respect for others, and decision-making strategies as a group. Adding a group contract could be a nice touch, making sure that everyone is working hard and participating. If a member fails to follow these protocols, you should deduct points and act out punishments as necessary.
During the Assignment:
Keep an eye out on every group: Make sure that everyone is working well together and that they’re not distracted. Avoid interfering with discussions and allow students to solve the problem(s) on their own. Only interfere if something isn’t working out, like a heated disagreement or if they’re struggling and need the extra push to get going. Be careful when doing this: when giving that little push, try not to give them the answer. Instead, you should give them hints or point them in the right direction. Additionally, hovering over the group might make it awkward for them, so be sure to give them the space and independence they need to thrive.
After the Assignment:
Have your students reflect on their work: you can do this with oral or written reports. When taking the oral approach, have each member in a group take turns sharing with the class one thing they liked about the assignment and one thing they struggled with. The same can be done if you’re taking the written approach, with students answering the questions on a document.
Another way to improve your students’ soft skills is by making your class more welcoming. For instance, have motivational or witty quotes from famous people in the subject you are teaching, greet your students when they enter the classroom, and give them a kind farewell as they leave. Doing this will help students feel comfortable, allow them to open up, and can help students with their time and stress management. In addition, if students are struggling in your class or if they would like personal advice, be sure to find an appropriate time for a 1-on-1 conversation, thus allowing the student to really trust and get to know you.
Final Words:
In all, we want to raise awareness of this issue, and we hope that you, as teachers, can use our suggestions to improve your classroom. Any teacher of any topic can utilize the material in this article; however, as mentioned in the first section, STEM students are more deficient in soft skills than any other group. We wish you luck with helping the future of our world and hope to see a better change.
References:
Miguel, Janelle. “OPINION: STEM STUDENTS AREN’T LEARNING THE SOFT SKILLS THEY NEED AFTER GRADUATION.” The Arizona State Press, 12 Nov. 2020, https://www.statepress.com/article/2020/11/spopinion-stem-students-arent-learning-the-soft-skills-they-need-to-succeed-after-graduation#.
“Classes Help Socially Awkward Engineering Students.” MPR News, 27 Sept. 2011, https://www.mprnews.org/story/2011/09/27/socially-awkward-engineering-students.
“Implementing Group Work in the Classroom.” University of Waterloo, https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/alternatives-lecturing/group-work/implementing-group-work-classroom#:~:text=Facilitate%20some%20form%20of%20group%20cohesion.&text=Even%20for%20brief%20group%20activities,build%20a%20sense%20of%20teamwork.
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