Soft Skills and Employability of Online Graduate Students

Bedoya-Guerrero, Alejandra; Basantes-Andrade, Andrea; Rosales, Francisco Orlando; Naranjo-Toro, Miguel; León-Carlosama, Rocio

doi:10.3390/educsci14080864

Open AccessArticle

Soft Skills and Employability of Online Graduate Students

by

Alejandra Bedoya-Guerrero

¹

,

Andrea Basantes-Andrade

^2,*

,

Francisco Orlando Rosales

³,

Miguel Naranjo-Toro

² and

Rocio León-Carlosama

¹

Grupo de Investigación en Gestión Financiera Contable y Auditoría (GIFCA), Universidad Técnica del Norte, Ibarra 10105, Ecuador

²

Network Science Research Group e-CIER, Universidad Técnica del Norte, Ibarra 10105, Ecuador

³

Facultad de Posgrado, Universidad Técnica del Norte, Ibarra 10105, Ecuador

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Educ. Sci. 2024, 14(8), 864; https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14080864

Submission received: 28 March 2024 / Revised: 19 July 2024 / Accepted: 25 July 2024 / Published: 9 August 2024

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vocational Education, Skill Formation, and Social Development)

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Abstract

In the current context, with the growing influence of Artificial Intelligence, soft skills emerge as a crucial and distinctive factor for professionals. This research focuses on assessing the relationship between soft skills and their importance in the employability of online graduate students. A mixed methodological, non-experimental and explanatory level approach was used; a sample of 192 online graduate students from a university in northern Ecuador was analyzed. Data collection was carried out through an online survey, validated with a Cronbach’s Alpha coefficient of 93.2%. The survey addressed socioeconomic data and the evaluation of soft skills through a 30-question questionnaire with a five-point Likert scale. According to the students’ perception, the soft skills most in demand for employability are leadership and teamwork. After the reduction of dimensions using multiple correspondence analysis (MCA), respondents were classified into three clusters. Individuals in clusters one and three developed soft skills such as self-regulation, effective communication, leadership and innovation.

Keywords: soft skills; employability; online graduate students; online education; skills development; student development; innovative training; social development

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MDPI and ACS Style

Bedoya-Guerrero, A.; Basantes-Andrade, A.; Rosales, F.O.; Naranjo-Toro, M.; León-Carlosama, R. Soft Skills and Employability of Online Graduate Students. Educ. Sci. 2024, 14, 864. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14080864

AMA Style

Bedoya-Guerrero A, Basantes-Andrade A, Rosales FO, Naranjo-Toro M, León-Carlosama R. Soft Skills and Employability of Online Graduate Students. Education Sciences. 2024; 14(8):864. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14080864

Chicago/Turabian Style

Bedoya-Guerrero, Alejandra, Andrea Basantes-Andrade, Francisco Orlando Rosales, Miguel Naranjo-Toro, and Rocio León-Carlosama. 2024. "Soft Skills and Employability of Online Graduate Students" Education Sciences 14, no. 8: 864. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14080864

APA Style

Bedoya-Guerrero, A., Basantes-Andrade, A., Rosales, F. O., Naranjo-Toro, M., & León-Carlosama, R. (2024). Soft Skills and Employability of Online Graduate Students. Education Sciences, 14(8), 864. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci14080864

Note that from the first issue of 2016, this journal uses article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.

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