SOFT SKILLS IN THE PERCEPTION OF FIRST-YEAR AND FOURTH-YEAR FULL-TIME STUDENTS: FROM UNDERSTANDING TO IMPLEMENTING

A modern specialist of post-industrial society should have a portfolio of competencies, which have evolved from developing hard skills as well as soft skills. It should be noted, however, that the role of the latter is often underestimated by students, as they do not fully comprehend subject content of soft skills and their impact on employability and personal development. In order to clarify the current students' understanding of soft skills and the purposeful development of these ideas the authors conducted a research, 120 students of Moscow universities (71 first-year full-time students and 49 fourth-year full-time students) being the participants. These groups of students passed the Pretest questionnaire. The research of students' understanding of the role of soft skills included the following stages. At the first stage all participants filled in a questionnaire aimed at revealing their understanding of the soft skills phenomenon. At the second stage the participants held training sessions on the development of soft skills competencies; each training was accompanied by a standardized interview. At the third stage, the final questionnaire was implemented, designed to record the presence or absence of shifts in understanding the phenomenon of soft skills. The obtained results allowed to record a weak understanding of this phenomenon or a lack thereof before the study and a steady increase of interest in the phenomenon during the research followed by recognition of its importance at the end of the research, accompanied by a desire to actively develop soft skills in the process of educational interaction. The fourth-year students fixed a great interest in the development of soft skills. According to the general opinion of the participants, incorporation of workshops aimed at the development of soft skills will make it significantly more effective. The limitation of this study is the involvement of only first-year and fourth-year full-time students and a limited research period (1 academic year). The results of the research may be used to optimize educational process at universities.