Teamwork. Flexibility. Communication. Empathy. Work ethic. These are words and phrases that should resonate with all of us. I assume most of us would even agree that these qualities are crucial to success and happiness. Yet all of them also fit under the rather unimpressively labelled category of “soft skills.”

Recently, at one of our SPEAK events, author Jeff Selingo spoke about the necessity for developing soft skills. In his book Is There Life After College? he examines the factors that employers look for when young college graduates enter the work force. While having good technical training matters, Selingo argues that it’s really “the soft skills [that matter to employers]. Perhaps we need a better term to describe how people get along with one another, communicate and work in teams, but those soft skills are much more in demand these days by employers than any technical skills.”

Selingo also emphasizes that flexibility will be a key attribute for college graduates as they begin their careers. In an ever-changing world where a fickle market and evolving technology create a high degree of uncertainty and ambiguity, the versatile and nimble worker will do much better than one who has a too-defined set of limited skills. In this notion, Selingo's research parallels the work of Carol Dweck who has shown that a growth mindset--that is, the capacity to always be learning and growing--is much more effective than a fixed mindset in today's world.

 

Toward that end, Selingo emphasized that many college students would be well served to double major. Not only does this allow students to pursue two areas of interest, but it also encourages the growth of critical thinking, global perspectives, and empathy, all of which are important soft skills. Simply majoring in computer programming, for instance, limits a college student’s perspective and reduces a graduate’s opportunities. Much better for that computer science major to add a second emphasis, or a minor, in something like English, philosophy, or Spanish. That breadth of interest and experience will be much more attractive to those who are hiring. (And help dispel the myth that studying something in the humanities makes one “unemployable.”)

 

Happily, I do think at CA we encourage students to foster interests in a range of academic, social, artistic and athletic endeavors. The “well-rounded” student is still an important aspect of our educational goals. And we obviously put a high premium on developing the sort of emotional intelligence that will serve our young people well in the future. Whether we agree to call these skills soft or, even better, essential, doesn’t matter that much in the end. The point is to help them grow as human beings.