Soft skills curriculum on a budget: Tackling the STEM skills gap with limited resources using online video

Abstract

Employers seek employees who can communicate clearly with others from different backgrounds, solve problems in a team structure, and embrace leadership roles. However, there is often a skill gap between what employers need and what their potential employees provide. Many employers are finding recent college graduates lacking in soft skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, and communication, yet these are considered essential for success in the workplace. As part of an NSF S-STEM grant, the University of Wisconsin - Platteville implemented a series of professional development opportunities to STEM Master Students on a variety of topics. In asking students about topics they wanted, students reported a need for soft skills. Knowing the students desire to learn about soft skills and knowing that employers find soft skills essential, the team wanted to determine how effective incorporating professional development opportunities, called 'Scholar Spots,' to the scholarship program were at increasing the student's ability in the topic areas. The team decided to advance students' learning about soft skills through a series of monthly webinars, dubbed 'Scholar Spots.' Each spot was required viewing for students in the scholarship program and was hosted by a subject matter expert on the chosen topic. Each spot ran for an hour-with the first forty-five minutes dedicated to the main subject and the remainder reserved for questions by the viewers. These spots were recorded and then segmented into smaller five to ten-minute videos, which were then edited, refined and uploaded to our YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3nI8qyyPDMM3y_nVxdlFJg), available as online resources to be viewed by all. Participants were asked a series of pre- and post-test questions about their abilities in relation to the soft skill spots presented throughout the year. Additionally, participants were asked specific questions to show their ability gains regarding the various topics. The team reviewed the collected data using both qualitative and quantitative methods. While measuring a change in soft skills is not possible with existing validated instruments [1], [2], qualitative data showed a positive impact. The University of Wisconsin-Platteville found that this was a low-cost benefit to students as it added the necessary soft skill curriculum to the student's academic program without adding courses. Students agreed that attending the spots was not overly burdensome. Most agreed that they learned something to incorporate into their employment practices.