The Importance of Soft Skills to LIS Education

Abstract

Soft skills, or intra- and interpersonal skills such as writing, customer service, and flexibility, are highly sought by library and information science employers. A perceived gap in soft skills has led to suggestions that LIS programs are not adequately addressing these skills in their curricula, and to calls for them to do more. However, no study has examined the extent to which LIS faculty currently are providing direct instruction of soft skills in their courses. The researchers employed a nationwide survey to explore whether and how LIS faculty are teaching soft skills. The findings suggest that faculty are incorporating a range of soft skills into their courses but are relying heavily on passive over active learning. The results could have implications for course and curriculum design.