Extended Reality Vocational Training’s Ability to Improve Soft Skills Development and Increase Equity in the Workforce

Abstract

With the rise of the metaverse, extended reality (XR), which includes virtual, augmented, and mixed reality, has emerged as a key alternative education medium alongside more traditional online and onsite approaches. The onset of COVID-19 accelerated the efforts of private education companies in this sector to explore enhanced education opportunities in vocational training. Companies that produce immersive learning platforms integrate partners, content creators, and customers, focusing on the future by supporting soft skills. Immersive learning has helped a substantial number of workers to use XR learning methods to acquire knowledge faster, measure and validate their skills, and find upward mobility in the workforce through improved, on-demand accessibility options. This article examines an XR development plan through a diffusion of innovation framework coupled with social capital theory. A literature review reveals organizations’ ability to capitalize on soft skills development while expanding global accessibility options for adult learners to improve learning equity opportunities.