AAA

Among expectations and reality - young workers' soft skills

Magdalena Jasińska, Karolina Podgórska

Abstract

Many documents issued by the European Union and Human Resources experts point out that so called „soft” skills are closely connected with employability, particularly of young people entering the labour market. Nevertheless, at present, EU countries use different methodologies and approaches to the teaching and development of those skills, which leads to a mismatch between academic education and requirements of the labour market.

In the project eLene4work: Learning to learn for new digital soft skills for employability ten European countries conduct research on soft skills expected by employers from new workers and possibilities to develop them (using also ICT tools) during studies. First step was to collect information about soft skills (what is needed, what is important, what should be improved etc.) during Focus Groups organised in each partner country. During these meetings the same set of questions was asked to participants. Results will be used to create common methodology for developing soft skills during studies.

In this article results of Focus Groups in Poland are presented. The most interesting findings such as definitions of soft skills, list of most important ones, difficulties in their development and possibilities to solve problem of lack of those skills are described, not only from the perspective of student/young employee, but also employers and academic teachers.

Bibliography

  • European Commission, New skills and jobs in Europe: Pathways towards full employment, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg 2012.
  • European Commission, Transferability of Skills across Economic Sectors. Role and Importance for Employment at European Level, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg 2011.
  • Flick U., Projektowanie badania jakościowego, Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warszawa 2011.
  • Life Skills Education for Children and Adolescent in Schools, WHO/MNH/PSF/93.7A.Rev.2, World Health Organization, Geneva 1997.
AUTHORS

Magdalena Jasińska

Maria Curie-Skłodowska University

Karolina Podgórska

Maria Curie-Skłodowska University

About the article

DOI: https://doi.org/10.15219/em62.1213

The article is in the printed version on pages 16-20.

pdf download PDF

pdf read the article (Polish)

How to cite

M. Jasińska, K. Podgórska, Między oczekiwaniami a rzeczywistością - umiejętności miękkie u osób wchodzących na rynek pracy, „e-mentor” 2015, nr 5(62), s. 16-20, http://dx.doi.org/10.15219/em62.1213.