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The Employability Skills Needed To Face the Demands of Work in the Future: Systematic Literature Reviews

The qualified human resources with high competitiveness and employability skills are needed to face the era of technological disruption, but employers find a lack of expertise among job seekers. Insufficient skills are related to the issue of education quality. This study aims to identify the employers’ employability skills needed in the career field and the way to integrate it into the instructional process. The research was conducted through Systematic Literature Review (SLR) and mapping approach that consisted of three stages: planning, conducting, and reporting. The literature reviews in this research were derived from Science direct, Springer and IEEE as the main references. The results from the analysis in the literature review showed that employability skills are needed in relation to the work demands in the future according to the employers covering communication, team working, problem solving, and technological skills. The implementation of employability skills in the instructional process is to integrate them into the classroom for all subjects.

1 Introduction

Employability skills are indispensable in the current era of technological disruption and globalization. Employers complain about the insufficiency of skills among the workers [ 1 ]. Approximately 75 million young people in developing countries are unemployed, and in most countries, youth unemployment rates are 2 to 4 times higher than adults. Further, education providers must support them with knowledge and skills either soft or hard skills relevant to the world of work to make them productive and able to be employed by the industry. Beside technical skills, employers are looking for workers who have some abilities in communication, collaboration, problem solving, and critical thinking ability. More than 50% of stakeholders could not find the right competencies in job seekers in accordance with the vacancies they provided so that more than 80% of jobseekers failed to get a job [ 2 ].

The disruption and globalization era inevitably presents a formidable challenge for the community related to the opening of countries around the world in this case regarding products, services, and labor migration between countries. They also have brought many widespread changes in the world of business, banking, transportation, social society, and even education. The ability to deal with those changes in the era is deemed critical then.

Disruption initiates a new business model more innovatively. The conventional ways, in turn, are abandoned and moved to technology and digitalization. It has caused various problems, including high unemployment.

The high level of unemployment is often associated with the failure of the education system in generating graduates supported with employability skills and high competitiveness. Lack of expertise among job seekers is the cause of increasing unemployment [ 3 ]. If the skills’ gap of the job seeker is related to the world of education, then this problem is related to the issue of education quality.

Based on the problems, it is necessary for the institutions of education to prepare their students who not only have technical skills but also employability skills. The biggest challenge in education today is to generate graduates who have academic skills, ability in mastering technical skills, and balanced employability skills [ 4 ]. Employability skills are knowledge, skills, and competencies that workers need to have in improving their ability to get and keep a job, progress at work, face change, get other jobs if the worker wants to quit from a job or dismissed and enter more easily into the labor market at different periods of their life cycle. People will be more easily employed if they have extensive education and training, high skills, ability to work in teams, the ability of information and communication technology (ICT), ability to solve problems, and communication skills. This combination of skills enables them to adapt to the changes in the world of work [ 5 ].

People need to develop their potential to have employability skills. This is supported by the Australian Government stating that employability skills are important not only to get a job but also to develop their potential for company success [ 6 ]. In addition, people should have the following skills to survive in the job market, including the ability to communicate, problem solving, working in teams, long life learning, and being adaptable to change [ 5 ]. This statement is in accordance with the Indonesian Middle Term Program Plan (RPJM) from 2020-2024 stating that to improve the qualified and competitive human resources, it is needed to gain qualified instructional as well by integrating soft skills [ 7 ].

Based on the problems and the importance of students as prospective workers having employability skills and becoming graduates who are ready to work and to be accepted by the workforce, it is deemed necessary to identify the employability skills needed by employers as an effort to face the disruption era.

Considering the importance of employability skills, this research collected data from previous studies that discussed employability skills to deal with the era. In addition, this literature study contributes to show the work skills needed by employers so it can assist education providers in preparing their students to enter the work-force.The data were collected from 2014 to 2019 and they were identified using the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) and mapping method. By the SLR and mapping Method, a systematic review and journal identification can be carried out in each process following the steps or protocols set. The SLR and mapping method can avoid subjective identification. Futhermore, different with other literature reviews proccess, systematic review and mapping methods are employability skills needed by the workforce and reduce bias. It is expected that the identification result will be the literature in terms of of the SLR and mapping method use in journal identification.

2 Research Methods

2.1 method review.

This research was conducted using the Systematic Literature Review (SLR) and mapping approach – a process of identifying, categorizing, analyzing, evaluating and interpreting all research relevant about employability skills in order to figure out in an auditable, accurate, and fair way [ 8 ]. It can also be stated as a process of identifying, assessing, and interpreting all available research evidence with the aim of providing answers to certain research questions [ 9 ]. According to Kitchenham [ 9 ] and Neiva, David, Braga, and Campos [ 8 ], this review comprises three main stages:planning, conducting, and reporting the study.

2.2 Review and Mapping Planning

The first stage consisted of identifying needs and developing a review protocol. In Phase 1, the purposes of identifying needs were to find out the definition of employability skills according to the researchers, to identify the types of employability skills needed by employers, and to figure out the way to implement employability skills in learning according to the researcher’s suggestions. Phase 2, meanwhile, was to develop a review protocol by making a research question. The research questions are divided into mapping questions and SLR questions. The Mapping questions are useful for brainstorming in the very beginning steps of a literature study and directing the scope to be studied. The questions used in systematic mapping are as follows:

MQ 1: Which article discusses the most comprehensive about the employability skills needed by employers?

MQ 2: Which article discusses the most complete process of learning employability skills in school?

MQ 3: What research method is the most widely used researcher to assess a person’s level of employability?

Then, the SLR research question are as follows:

RQ1: What is the definition of employability skills according to the researchers?

RQ2: What are the types of employability skills required by employers?

RQ3: What are the types of employability skills needed by employers in the industry revolution 4.0 and the future?

RQ4: How should the education system implement employability skills in school?

2.3 Review and Mapping Conducting

The second stage of SLR is conducting, which consists of five steps: research identification, selection of primary studies, study quality assessment, data extraction & monitoring, data synthesis.

2.3.1 Research Identification

In this step, a search and selection of relevant previous research were carried out. The search was done through a trusted digital library. The digital library used in this SLR included IEEE eXplore (ieeexplore.ieee.org), ScienceDirect (sciencedirect.com), and Springer (link.springer.com).

The search was carried out as follows:

Identifying the search terms from research questions

Identifying search terms in years, titles, abstracts, and relevant keywords. Articles used were between 2014 - 2019.

Identifying synonyms, alternative spellings, and antonyms of the search terms [ 10 ]

2.3.2 Selection of Primary Studies

The study selection criteria were intended to identify primary studies providing the direct evidence about research questions. To reduce the possibility of bias, the selection criteria must be decided during the protocol definition in stage 1 and the inclusion and exclusion criteria must be based on the research question [ 9 ].

The following inclusion criteria were presented below:

IC1: the articles discusses employability skills AND

IC2: the articles discusses the employability skills needed by employers AND

IC3: the articles discusses the employability skills needed in the future OR in the era of technological disruption OR in the industrial revolution AND

IC4: the articles discusses the implementation of employability skills learning in schools.

While the exclusion criteria were established:

EC1: the papers do not discusses employability skills OR

EC2: the papers do not discusses the employability skills needed by employers OR

EC3: the papers do not discusses the employability skills needed in the future OR in the era of technological disruption OR in the industrial revolution OR

EC4: the papers do not discusses the implementation of employability skills learning in schools.

Futhermore, steps in the identification of research and selection of primary studies are shown in the flow chart in Figure 1 .

Flowchart of Identification and Select Studies

Meanwhile, in order to gain the answer from mapping questions, it was set an approach to note-taking in terms of brief table by title, goal, method, result, strength and weaknesses of article.

2.3.3 Study Quality Assessment

Study quality assessment aimed to provide more detailed inclusion/exclusion criteria, investigate whether quality differences provided explanations for differences in study results, used as a measure of the importance of individual studies when results were being synthesized, guide the interpretation of findings and determine the strength of conclusions, and give recommendations for next research. In addition, quality checklist are made to assess individual studies and support the article selection process [ 8 ].

In SLR research, the data found were evaluated based on the following quality assessment criteria (QA) questions:

QA1: Are journal and proceeding articles published in 2014-2019?

QA2: Do journal and proceeding articles provide a clear definition of employability skills?

QA3: Do journal and proceeding articles state clearly about the employability skills required by employers?

QA4: Do journal and proceeding articles state clearly about the employability skills needed in the industry revolution 4.0 and in the future?

QA5: Do journal and proceeding articles discuss how employability skills should be applied in schools?

From each article, the value of the answers below would be given for each question above.

Y (Yes): for journal and proceedings articles published in 2014 - 2019

Y (Yes): for journal and proceedings articles providing a clear definition of employability skills

Y (Yes): for journal and proceedings articles clearly stating the employability skills needed by employers

Y (Yes): for journal and proceedings articles clearly stating the employability skills needed in the industry revolution 4.0 and the future

Y (Yes): for journal and proceedings articles discussing the implementation of employability skills learning in schools

N (No): for journal and proceedings articles not writing the criteria in the question above.

2.3.4 Data Extraction & Monitoring

Selected primary studies were extracted to collect data that contributed to answering mapping (MQ) and SLR research questions (RQ). For each of the 15 primary studies selected, the data extraction form was completed (step 2 of the fourth step). Data extraction forms were designed to collect data from primary studies that were required to answer research questions. Properties, meanwhile, were identified through research questions. Four properties were then used to answer the research questions as shown in Table 1 . Here, data extraction was done iteratively.

Map of data extraction into research questions

2.3.5 Data Synthesis

The purpose of data synthesis was to gather evidence from some selected studies to answer research questions. The data extracted in this review included quantitative and qualitative data. Various strategies were also used to synthesize the extracted data related to research questions. It was important to identify whether the results of the research were consistent ( e.g . homogeneous) or inconsistent ( e.g . heterogeneous) to each other.

3 Review and Mapping Report

3.1 significant journal publication.

In this systematic literature review, 66 articles, both journals, and proceedings were found after going through the planning and conducting process. The articles obtained were from the IEEE, Springer, and ScienceDirect publishers. The search results were then be reselected through inclusion and exclusion criteria.

3.2 Results of Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria Selection

The results of the search process have been selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Of 66 significant articles, there were only 15 articles left and then data scanning was performed. Figure 2 shows the grouping Journals and Proceedings of search results.

Journals and Proceedings of Search Results

The results indicate, only eight journals and seven proceedings fulfill the inclusion and exclusion criteria.

3.3 Quality Assesment Result

Table 2 below shows the results of the Quality Assessment.

Quality Assesment

Based on the results of the quality assessment from the primary study above, all articles, both journals and proceedings published in 2014 – 2019, were used in this SLR research and answer QA1. Eight articles providing a clear definition of employability skills (QA2), all articles state clearly about the employability skills required by employers (QA3), only four articles state clearly about the employability skills needed in the industry revolution 4.0 and in the future (QA4), then five articles discuss how employability skills should be applied in schools (QA5). The data were chosen for having sufficient problems, approaches, and information about the issues raised in the study.

Meanwhile, to answer the mapping question (MQ1), an approach to note-taking is carried out. From the results of the analysis of the 15 articles above, there are 5 dominant articles discussing the employability skills needed by employers. But the most comprehensive and clear in describe employers’ needs for employability skills that job seekers must have is Pengnate’s research [ 11 ]. Another advantage, Pengnate used forty (40) employers from four (4) industry sectors as respondents. The data obtained is obviously gained from the stakeholders, as job seekers recruiters.

The identical approach is carried out to answer MQ2. There are 4 dominant articles discussing learning process of employability skills. On the other hand, the most completed research article in depth exposed of learning process and employability skills transfer towards students was done by Jayaram and Engmann [ 15 ]. This study explores about the innovative and effective instructional model along with its on target successfulness principles that must be delivered to improve employability skills needed by employers.

Regard to MQ3, the research method applied from those 15 articles includes development, quantitative by questionairre, qualitative in interview, and literature study research. From all the researches as mentioned above, literature study is most commonly used as research method.

4 Review and Mapping Discussion

4.1 systematic mapping discussion.

Through a note-taking approach, it has been done a systematic mapping to gain an answer from the research mapping (MQ) and the research questions (RQ). Regarding this, a research done by Pegnate is the most comprehensive and clear in discussing employability skills needed by employers. He points out research on employers’ perception on employability skills needed on the career field through questionnaire. The employability skills needed by the employers are personal qualities; core skills; and subject knowledge. The researcher also states the suggestions towards the educational institution about things to do in assisting the students with working skill. On the other hand, this research has not exposed clearly and in details in how to assist them with working skill through instructional process at school. He only gave general description in terms of improving instructional process on working based, training to meet the career field needs, and personal quality improvement (11).

Whereas, the article published by Jayaram & Eng-man was the most completed of all discussed employability skills. Itexplained the innovative and effective instructional models involving its principles to improve employability skills needed by employers. This article shows on how to establish an innovative model to transfer the skills to the students and its supporting needed to create an effective model. It also includes the use of innovative information, communication, and technology (ICT), stakeholders-multi partnership, innovative budgeting mechanism, and ascertain the readiness of teachers and trainers.Moreover, the supporting environment for a policy is very important to make sure that the model is financially supported efficiently, applied effectively, and continuously in long term (15). In contrary, the explanation in this article only gives a general description while the detailed implementation technically has not exposed clearly yet.

During answering the mapping question, the other interesting facts were revealed. One of them there are articles that discuss the development of a weighted score clustering model that can identify the level of students employability skills. After being identified, the education provider determines the specific skills training that needs to be held to improve their employability skills. The development of this model is carried out considering the importance of employability skills when graduates enter the workforce. However, the model was developed only to identify problem solving and thinking skills, while other employability skills components have not been developed [ 13 ].

Beside model development, it was found system that was able to assess students’ aptitude, soft skills, and subject knowledge. This will prepare them better in the competitive workplaces and have work readiness. But the system developer does not clearly state what indicators are used to evaluate students’ aptitude and soft skills.Actually these indicators are very important to know and can help other researchers who want to develop a similar system as an effort to increase employability skills. In addition, the way that needs to be done to correct these deficiencies is not suggested more deeply by researchers [ 14 ].

Other articles tend to reveal what employability skills are needed by employers [ 12 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ], the gaps between the desire to transform students’ life skills through learning process and educational curriculum with the needs of workplace [ 16 , 19 , 24 , 25 ] and how should the education system implement employability skills to face the demands of employment and the industrial revolution 4.0 [ 17 , 20 ]. These studies are interesting because they illustrate the needs of the world of work today and the future and what education providers need to do to overcome these problems. However, most researchers only give some simple pure expressions and general comments.

4.2 RQ1: What is the definition of employability skills according to the researchers?

Employabiliy skills are the personal attributes enabling the people to get a job and support an individual’s career life more easily. They are a set of skills to perform a particular job including technical skills, higher order thinking skills, personal skills, people skills/social skills, generic skills, and self-perceived employability skills. The lack of employability skills may cause unemployment and hinder people’s career development. To be successful in their work, people need to have employability skills or a mix of them in addition to have technical skills. It is very important for individuals to have those skills. Technological development might influence the employability skills required. Therefore, people are required to renew their skills in accordance with the demands of the workplace, otherwise, it will be difficult for them to get involved in the desired work/industry [ 11 , 14 , 26 , 27 ]. Then, the OECD stated that employability refers to an ability to find a job and adapt to labor market demands [ 28 ]. Employability skills are non-technical skills needed to enter the workforce, to stay afloat and develop a career in the workplace, or for career development in a new workplace [ 29 ]. In summary, employability skills are the set of skills employees should have to perform a particular job and to adapt to any changes in the workplace.

4.3 RQ2: What types of employability skills do employers need?

Researchers stated that employers demand their employees to develop all the skills and knowledge to produce a better result and improve performance [ 30 ]. From the literature study, one of the results of the research stated that employers need employees who have three key types of skills: cognitive, non-cognitive, and technical. Although basic cognitive and technical skills are important in the workplace, non-cognitive skills such as communication, punctuality, problem solving, and flexibility are most important [ 15 ]. Additionally, employers need those able to adaptable in a dynamic work environment [ 27 ].

In short, according to the review of literature, as shown in Figure 3 , most employers seek candidates who have skill in communication, technology, problem solving, and team working.

The Types of Employability Skills Needed by Employer

The study results have been supported by Brewer that employees must have continuous learning ability and adaptability; communication skills; independent problem solving ability; technological skills, creative thinking skills and ability to work in a team [ 5 ]. This statement is in line with the other researchers explaining that employers are looking for employees who have employability skills such as the ability to communicate effectively and work in teams [ 31 ]. Further, employers expect that these soft skills will sustain technical expertise possessed by job seekers, so they are able to solve problems encountered while working [ 14 ].

4.4 RQ3: What type of employability skills needed by the world of work in the industry revolution 4.0 and in the future?

In the era of technological disruption of the industrial revolution 4.0, it is not enough to have technical skills, but it is necessary to develop methodological and social skills [ 19 ]. Another opinion stated there are the top three skills that are highly needed in the future include cognitive abilities, complex problem solving skills, and systemskills [ 31 ]. This is supported by the World Economic Forum, which states that new skills are needed to face the industrial revolution of 4.0 [ 32 ]. Further, BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) declared that the important skills to have for Industry 4.0 are knowledge about ICT, the ability to work with data, technical know-how, and personal skills [ 31 ]. While the BRICS personal skills’ indicator is almost the same as the eight skills grouping of the Australian Government’s employability skills framework. The eight skill groupings are communication, team work, problem solving, initiative and enterprise, planning and organizing, self-management, technology, and learning skills [ 6 ].

In addition to hard skills and formal qualifications, employers also place importance on the practical skills or competencies of new prospective employees to successfully carry out various work tasks. A range of skills relevant to work widely used in the era of disruption and in the future includes three main groups: cognitive abilities, basic skills, and cross functional skills [ 32 ]. Then, the World Economic Forum stated that the top ten of skill demand by 2020 will be dominated by soft skills and technological skills [ 33 ]. This shows, although technology is developing rapidly, soft skills and technological skills are still very needed in the industry revolution 4.0. and in the future.

4.5 RQ4: How should the education system implement employability skills in school?

According to the study of the literature review, it can be concluded that strengthening employability skills for students is no longer an option, but a necessity that needs to be done by the education system. If the employability skills of young people are the problem that needs to be solved, the school must support the development of competencies and skills for students who do not have or lack the skills needed in the workplace. Therefore, educational providers need to think about how to implement appropriate teaching employability skills for students. The education system needs to provide students with direct learning that reflects real-world problems and work opportunities in an interdisciplinary way [ 34 ]. This statement is supported by Anderson and Gantz that in facing the acceleration and development of the world of work, education providers in making learning objectives must consider a number of the core skills that employers/stakeholders expect to have when they graduate [ 35 ].

Based on the primary study, a researcher exposed that to have a readiness for fresh workers and give a relevant working skill by the career field or working are, it is needed an effective and innovative model to improve working skill required by employers. Instead of a model to transfer it in order to be adopted properly by them, it is also necessary a support to gain it in effective way. It focuses on the improvement of input , output, or process. Innovative ICT’s and Teacher training resources which involve into the input are in line with the emphasis on non- cognitive skills and workplace learning as in output. Last, the process itself covers innovative financing and multi-stakeholder partnership. The researcher explained that it is required to have teachers’ readiness to deliver the content of knowledge effectively and being able to keep and apply it in long term. It is done to set them be ready getting into the working area. That is why, it is obviously crucial to make a joint partnership between the educational institution and the industry area to create an effective curriculum. Moreover, the researcher declared that the use of innovative ICT will expand its learning experience, having flexibility in time and space, and building their independent in learning. The ability to learn independently is what needed by the employers. The emphasization on learning at the working space and non- cognitive skill are absolutely essential as it plays very important role as their outcomes while getting into the working area. Some aspects will contribute more in this way to create an effective model consisting of a) skills gap analysis, b) curriculum articulation, c) assessment and accreditation, d) industry involvement and accreditation, e) communication and information sharing [ 15 ].

Another opinion states the implementation of employability skills in school can be done by combining the skills needed in the workplace in the learning process [ 14 ]. The education system needs to embed the employability model into the curriculum to bridge the gap between what skills industry needs and what skills the graduate [ 27 ]. The economist added that to be effective, employability skills must be integrated into every subject area so that the skill development becomes inseparable from knowledge sharing because soft skills cannot be taught in an isolation [ 36 ]. For example, in Indonesia, as stated in the RPJM 2020-2024 to improve quality and competitive human resources, one of the government’s efforts is to improve the quality of teaching and learning by integrating employability skills in the learning process [ 7 ]. This is supported by Munadi research stating that employability skills in the form of communication are taught by discussions, questions and answers, and presentations. Teamwork which includes the division of tasks and respect among group members is learned through groupwork,while problem solving is learned through discussion of given tasks [ 29 ]. If an education system want to prepare the graduates to be tomorrow workforce, then they must develop lifelong learners [ 37 ]. In addition, in the learning process, educators need to consider how to improve and hone the skills needed by the world of work today and in the future.

Referring to the literature study, the most required employability skills component by the employers are problem solving skill, team working, communication and the usage of technology to be integrated in the instructional process. Those four models are truly significant in social learning model. This model supports the employability skills where social and intellectual aspects can be learned together. One of the model in social learning in group investigation. It trains the skills of problem solving, cooperation, and communication.As an addition, it is assumed that this model is able to deliver knowledge academically by involving social aspects [ 38 ]. To go deeper on the skill in utilizing technology, it needs a blended learning. The combination of group investigation and blended learning can be taken as the way to improve students’ employability skills. It is an activity and learning format that runs through direct meeting and online with some characteristics as follows; 1) student centered on active and creative learning, 2) the rising interaction between student- instructor, student-student, student’s content, and the resources of student-external factor, 3) formative and summative evaluation mechanism to be integrated student and instructor [ 39 ]. It is also in accordance with instructional that focuses on the future. In brief, the mixture between group investigation model and blended learning is one of the ideal way to accelerate students’ employability skills.

5 Conclusion

Employability is a skill that individuals should have to continue their career in life. To face global competition and future world work, individuals need to renew their employability skills. Based on the results of a study from 15 kinds of literature, employability skills must be owned by workers according to the employer including communication, team working, problem solving and technological skills. Then, the relevant skills towards working are widely used in the era of disruption and in the future including three main groups: cognitive abilities, basic skills, and cross functional skills. But most of the projected skills in the future will be dominated by soft skills and technological skills. Because of the significance of employability skills, the education system needs to apply employability skills in every learning process. As in Indonesia, to improve quality and competitive human resources, the government in accordance with the technocratic design of RPJM 2020-2024, seeks to improve the quality of learning through the integration of employability skills in each subject.

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R&D Management in the Knowledge Era pp 421–438 Cite as

Technology Transfer: A Literature Review

João Ricardo Lavoie 7 &
Tuğrul Daim 7
First Online: 25 June 2019

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Part of the book series: Innovation, Technology, and Knowledge Management ((ITKM))

With global economic dynamics and customers demanding better products and services, organizations regard innovation as a critical component of their businesses, regardless of the sector they compete on. Innovation, in turn, can be translated into more and better processes and products that minimize costs and that fulfill the ever-increasing and ever-more complex requirements and expectations of consumers. Having this scenario in mind, research and development (R&D) activities become more and more crucial since the innovation that organizations need spans largely from these activities. R&D, once seen as a purely creative and non-manageable process, has started to attract the attention of managers who see an opportunity to enhance innovation and the whole performance of an organization by means of managing research and development efforts. In that context, many managerial processes have been created and advanced, among which one can mention project management, program and portfolio management, new product development, and road mapping, among others.

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Lavoie, J.R., Daim, T. (2019). Technology Transfer: A Literature Review. In: Daim, T., Dabić, M., Başoğlu, N., Lavoie, J.R., Galli, B.J. (eds) R&D Management in the Knowledge Era. Innovation, Technology, and Knowledge Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15409-7_17

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How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates

Published on January 2, 2023 by Shona McCombes . Revised on September 11, 2023.

What is a literature review? A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources on a specific topic. It provides an overview of current knowledge, allowing you to identify relevant theories, methods, and gaps in the existing research that you can later apply to your paper, thesis, or dissertation topic .

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Search for relevant literature
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What is the purpose of a literature review, examples of literature reviews, step 1 – search for relevant literature, step 2 – evaluate and select sources, step 3 – identify themes, debates, and gaps, step 4 – outline your literature review’s structure, step 5 – write your literature review, free lecture slides, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions, introduction.

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When you write a thesis , dissertation , or research paper , you will likely have to conduct a literature review to situate your research within existing knowledge. The literature review gives you a chance to:

Demonstrate your familiarity with the topic and its scholarly context
Develop a theoretical framework and methodology for your research
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Evaluate the current state of research and demonstrate your knowledge of the scholarly debates around your topic.

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Writing literature reviews can be quite challenging! A good starting point could be to look at some examples, depending on what kind of literature review you’d like to write.

Example literature review #1: “Why Do People Migrate? A Review of the Theoretical Literature” ( Theoretical literature review about the development of economic migration theory from the 1950s to today.)
Example literature review #2: “Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines” ( Methodological literature review about interdisciplinary knowledge acquisition and production.)
Example literature review #3: “The Use of Technology in English Language Learning: A Literature Review” ( Thematic literature review about the effects of technology on language acquisition.)
Example literature review #4: “Learners’ Listening Comprehension Difficulties in English Language Learning: A Literature Review” ( Chronological literature review about how the concept of listening skills has changed over time.)

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To begin organizing your literature review’s argument and structure, be sure you understand the connections and relationships between the sources you’ve read. Based on your reading and notes, you can look for:

Trends and patterns (in theory, method or results): do certain approaches become more or less popular over time?
Themes: what questions or concepts recur across the literature?
Debates, conflicts and contradictions: where do sources disagree?
Pivotal publications: are there any influential theories or studies that changed the direction of the field?
Gaps: what is missing from the literature? Are there weaknesses that need to be addressed?

This step will help you work out the structure of your literature review and (if applicable) show how your own research will contribute to existing knowledge.

Most research has focused on young women.
There is an increasing interest in the visual aspects of social media.
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There are various approaches to organizing the body of a literature review. Depending on the length of your literature review, you can combine several of these strategies (for example, your overall structure might be thematic, but each theme is discussed chronologically).

Chronological

The simplest approach is to trace the development of the topic over time. However, if you choose this strategy, be careful to avoid simply listing and summarizing sources in order.

Try to analyze patterns, turning points and key debates that have shaped the direction of the field. Give your interpretation of how and why certain developments occurred.

If you have found some recurring central themes, you can organize your literature review into subsections that address different aspects of the topic.

For example, if you are reviewing literature about inequalities in migrant health outcomes, key themes might include healthcare policy, language barriers, cultural attitudes, legal status, and economic access.

Methodological

If you draw your sources from different disciplines or fields that use a variety of research methods , you might want to compare the results and conclusions that emerge from different approaches. For example:

Look at what results have emerged in qualitative versus quantitative research
Discuss how the topic has been approached by empirical versus theoretical scholarship
Divide the literature into sociological, historical, and cultural sources

Theoretical

A literature review is often the foundation for a theoretical framework . You can use it to discuss various theories, models, and definitions of key concepts.

You might argue for the relevance of a specific theoretical approach, or combine various theoretical concepts to create a framework for your research.

Like any other academic text , your literature review should have an introduction , a main body, and a conclusion . What you include in each depends on the objective of your literature review.

The introduction should clearly establish the focus and purpose of the literature review.

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Write in well-structured paragraphs: use transition words and topic sentences to draw connections, comparisons and contrasts

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A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources (such as books, journal articles, and theses) related to a specific topic or research question .

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Writing the literature review shows your reader how your work relates to existing research and what new insights it will contribute.

The literature review usually comes near the beginning of your thesis or dissertation . After the introduction , it grounds your research in a scholarly field and leads directly to your theoretical framework or methodology .

A literature review is a survey of credible sources on a topic, often used in dissertations , theses, and research papers . Literature reviews give an overview of knowledge on a subject, helping you identify relevant theories and methods, as well as gaps in existing research. Literature reviews are set up similarly to other academic texts , with an introduction , a main body, and a conclusion .

An annotated bibliography is a list of source references that has a short description (called an annotation ) for each of the sources. It is often assigned as part of the research process for a paper .

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Expanded Yet Restricted: A Mini Review of the Soft Skills Literature

Anna k. touloumakos.

1 Department of Education, Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom

2 Department of Psychology, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, Athens, Greece

There has been a progressively heightened preoccupation with soft skills among education stakeholders such as policymakers, educational psychologists, and researchers. Soft skill curricula have been considered these days and developed not only for graduates and as on-the-job training programs but also for students across all levels of education. However, different people mean different things when referring to soft skills. This review presents evidence to suggest that the use of the term “soft skills” has expanded to encompass a variety of qualities, traits, values, and attributes, as well as rather distinct constructs such as emotional labor and lookism. It is argued here that these infinite categories of things can be skills because soft skills research is primarily focused on what are the needs and requirements in the world of work. This approach is problematic because it assigns characteristics to soft skills, which in turn affect the design of the soft skills curricula. For example, soft skills are often construed as decontextualized behaviors, which can be acquired and transferred unproblematically. The paper proposes that an in-depth and embedded approach to studying soft skills should be pursued to reach a consensus on what they are and how to develop them because otherwise they will always be expanded before restricted (as they have become ambiguous) in their meaning and definition.

Introduction

Suppose you are present in a communication encounter between two men, Joe and Martin. Joe looks upset and literally screams while recounting an incident that has happened to him:

“Can you believe this?,” , Joe starts, “CAN YOU BELIEVE HIM? THE NERVE (.) he actually ended up ordering me “shut up, already, and do as I say!” (sounds infuriated) Joe is breathing heavily.
Martin nods thoughtfully.
(0.7) “As if he was in charge of me (.) as if he owned me … Where does he come off telling me what to do? Who does he think he is?” Joe continues.
Martin nods again, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
(0.9) Joe seems lost in his thoughts.
“I still can’t believe that this happened to me (.) It still makes me furious … ”
Martin’s nodding continues.
< “Can you understand now why I acted the way I did?” Joe asks. “I was badly provoked = = What would you do if you were me?” >
Martin responds with a nod.

Throughout Joe’s outburst, Martin keeps nodding. Nodding, in this instance, is an expressed form of active listening ( Pasupathi et al., 1999 ; Browning and Waite, 2010 ). The behavior of listening as a unified whole, moreover, features most prevalently in the lists of communication skills encountered in the soft skills literature – educational, medical, management, policy, or other (see for example, Jain and Anjuman, 2013 ). However, is Martin’s behavior a communication skill as these lists inform us? Let us consider two alternative scenarios providing context for this exchange, which, hopefully, can help us decide.

In the first scenario, Martin is a clinical psychologist, and Joe is his client. Martin has been treating Joe for the past 2 years; he is, therefore, aware that Joe suffers from bipolar disorder and that, as part of this, he experiences, periodically, manic episodes, like the one he recounts in the aforementioned exchange taking place in a supermarket between him and a stranger. In this communication encounter, Martin’s nodding and listening are the expressive form of his active processing of the contents of this narrative. It can be argued that it realizes Martin’s relation to Joe (i.e., he is Joe’s therapist) and his intention to encourage him to let it out and that it is enacting Martin’s knowledge of Joe’s condition, the relevant symptoms, and the techniques to deal effectively with it. In line with this, it seems fair to suggest that Martin’s listening behavior is an effective communication strategy and that it can, therefore, be construed as a “communication skill.”

In the second scenario, Joe has just started working as an employee in his uncle’s business. He works along with other seven employees under a team leader (Jacob). The team reports to Martin, the line manager. Joe is difficult to work with and has been constantly reporting problems to Martin with either his team leader or other team members. In the above excerpt, he recounts a recent episode between him and his team leader, Jacob, when the former refuses to follow the agreed strategy during a negotiation meeting. The encounter between Joe and Martin is one of many within the past few weeks. In this instance, and contrary to what one might have expected from a line manager, Martin’s behavior toward Joe fails to articulate the sensible aim of reasoning with Joe and taking actions to ensure such fights come to an end. Martin’s behavior, therefore, seems to be guided by something different; a possible explanation could be that he fears his behavior might displease the boss, so he remains silent instead. If that is the case, could still the behavior of listening be construed as a “communication skill” within the context of this scenario?

These episodes aim to illustrate how meaningless it is to call listening – as a random sample of any of the behaviors commonly featured in the different soft skills lists – a communication skill, before having access to all contextual information that would allow making an informed judgment. However, as the review of the literature that follows highlights this is the norm conceptualization of soft skills: any behavior mobilized in a communication encounter can be taken out of context and find its place to a list of communication skills without any formal and scientific criterion for doing so. The review starts first with the norm approach in the conceptualization and use of the term “skill” – itself.

Sources and Search Strategy

The literature review for this mini-review article was undertaken at two separate points in time: in the first instance looking at the literature up to and including 2011 and later for years 2011–2020. During the first period (up to 2011), a review of the term soft skills formed part of the literature review undertaken as part of a doctorate thesis ( Touloumakos, 2011 ). During this period, (a) keyword searches using the term “soft skills” (but also “soft skills” AND “characteristics,” “soft skills” AND “nature,” “soft skills” AND “development”) were conducted through the scientific databases: Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Scopus; (b) specific journals focusing on education, management, and the labor market were targeted and searched to meet the criteria of the doctoral research that looked at the difference between soft skills conceptualization in practice and in educational policy.

During this second period, the previous steps were reiterated to produce an up-to-date list of papers in which the term was used and defined. The author acknowledges that this article does not follow the methodology of a systematic review and that there is certainly scope for a thorough and systematic review on this topic in the future.

What Do We Mean by Skill?

The first known use of the term “skill” dates back in the 13th century (Merriam-Webster’s, 2019). Skill is considered as the “dexterity or coordination…in the execution of tasks” (typically of physical nature), as the “ability to use one’s knowledge effectively and readily in execution and performance,” and as “learned power of doing something competently.” The practical disposition of skill is acknowledged in these definitions. It is also highlighted in the work of Ryle (1949) and Polanyi (1962) , according to who skill is construed as what knowledge sets in action (know-how and know-that, respectively), and, therefore, the two (knowledge and skill) are seen as “reciprocally constitutive” ( Orlikowski, 2002 ). For the purposes of this paper, I adopt the view of skill as what knowledge sets in action (know-how).

The Expansion of Skills: The Emergence of the Soft Skills Category

Contributing factors in the expansion of the term skill.

Over the years, the term skill has expanded considerably, to the point that its meaning became vague. In recent discourse, especially, it has taken on a range of meanings, and as a result, it refers, frequently, to “what is not skill” ( Hart, 1978 ). Indicatively, the term often refers to attitudes, traits, volitions, and predispositions ( inter alia , Payne, 2004 ; Clarke and Winch, 2006 ) and is sometimes confused, and even interchangeably used, with terms such as expertise and competence ( Payne, 2000 ; Pring, 2004 ; Eraut and Hirsch, 2007 ). Its gradual expansion has meant (and is reflected in) the emergence of new skills categories and subcategories (indicatively: generic, soft, interpersonal, etc.). Key contributing factors toward such gradual expansion of the term skill are identified at three levels. The first is at the rhetorical level; the second is at the definitional level; and the third level is at the dispositional character of term itself within different scientific fields.

Focusing on the rhetorical level, in recent years, there has been a linguistic transition from terms such as “skilled work” and “skilled labor” to “skills.” Payne’s paper highlights this shift:

Whereas the Carr Report of 1958 (HMSO 1958: 10), for example, could still talk of “ skilled craftsmen ” [my emphasis] as being the “backbone of industry,” 40 years on, The Learning Age (Department for Education and Employment 1998: 65) was employing a much wider discourse of “basic skills,” “employability skills,” “technician skills,” “management skills,” and “key skills” ( Payne, 2000 , p. 353).

As is evident, the term “skill” (i.e., a noun) began to be used as an independent concept and replaced the use of the term as a characteristic referring to people and professions for example “skilled craftsmen,” “skilled labor,” and “skilled trades” (i.e., an adjective) in the policy rhetoric. The consistency of the use of “skill” in the literature reflects a tendency to turn the abstract notion of a “skilled craftsman” into something more concrete. In this transition, one can identify a reified conceptualization of skill, according to which “skill” is an entity – often a property of an individual (see Sfard, 1998 ; Clarke and Winch, 2006 ).

At the definitional level, the criteria of what counts as skill expanded considerably, which naturally meant the expansion of the term “skill” as well. Relevant here is the ongoing debate around which jobs should be placed on the high skills end of the spectrum (see Lloyd and Payne, 2008 ). In Marx’s work (1970), for example, distinguishing criteria for skilled job included the high wages and low levels of physical labor at the same time. More recent seminal theoretical work summarizes the criteria distinguishing “unskilled” and “skilled” jobs ( Lloyd and Payne, 2008 ). The thinking behind such distinction is quite different from that of Marx. The authors discuss as an example (p. 1–2) the emergence of categories such as “emotional labor” ( Hochschild, 1979 , 1983 ) as a form of skilled labor “ requiring a range of quite complex and sophisticated abilities (see Bolton, 2004 , 2005 ; Korczynski, 2005 ).” The additional criteria for “what count as skill” in this work suggest a progressively ambiguous use of skill, which destined to term “skill” itself to ambiguity.

Third was the versatility of the term rendering it useful within the context of a range of scientific disciplines. Research on skills is rampant in the international literature, for example in cognitive studies – since many decades now – ( Anderson et al., 1996 , 1997 ), in education ( Clarke and Winch, 2006 ; Eraut and Hirsch, 2007 ; Ritter et al., 2018 ), in policy-making ( Wolf, 2004 , 2011 ; Ewens, 2012 ; World Economic Forum [WEF], 2015 ; OECD, 2016 ; LINCS, 2020 ), in labor market studies ( Meager, 2009 ; Kok, 2014 ), in management ( Kantrowitz, 2005 ; Stevenson and Starkweather, 2010 ), or in medicine ( Maguire and Pitceathly, 2002 ; Kurtz et al., 2005 ), to name a few. This evidence corroborates the multi-currency of “skill”,” which operationalizes cognitive mechanisms , human capital (the worker) , and jobs and tasks , depending on the discipline. It is because of this that we tend to speak of people and work in terms bundles of “skills” ( Darrah, 1994 ). The problem is this seems hard to avoid considering that the “deeper one looks into any activity the more knowledge and skill one is likely to find” ( Lloyd and Payne, 2009 , p. 622 drawing from Attewell, 1990 ).

Taken together, this evidence suggests not only the “ conceptual equivocation ” ( Payne, 2000 ) of the term as it is, but also the potentially perpetual emergence of new skills categories, a “galaxy of “soft,” “generic,” “transferable,” “social,” and “interactional’ skills ” (p. 354).

Soft Skills, Categories of Soft Skills, and Links Between Them

Soft skills were among the skills categories resulting from such expansion. While the emergence and use of the category of “soft skills” signified an important division between those skills that were cognitive and technical in nature – now frequently referred to as hard/technical skills – and those that were not, a unified view of the term in the literature has not been achieved. The genesis and use of the term are traced as far back as 1972 in training documents of the US Army (see Caudron, 1999 ; Moss and Tilly, 2001 ). Since then, the term has been expanded itself to comprise categories (in the various lists of soft skills) that include (but not exhaust to):

(a) Qualities (some of which one can see in the emotional intelligence literature) including adaptability, flexibility, responsibility, courtesy, integrity, professionalism, and effectiveness, and values such as trustworthiness and work ethic (see indicatively Wats and Wats, 2009 ; Touloumakos, 2011 ; Robles, 2012 ; Ballesteros-Sánchez et al., 2017 );
(b) Volitions , predispositions , attitudes like good attitude , willingness to learn , learning to learn other skills , hardworking , working under pressure, or uncertainty (see indicatively Stasz, 2001 ; Stasz et al., 2007 ; Andrews and Higson, 2008 ; Cinque, 2017 );
(c) Problem solving , decision making, analytical thinking/thinking skills , creativity/innovation , manipulation of knowledge , critical judgment (see indicatively Cimatti, 2016 ; Succi, 2019 ; Succi and Canovi, 2019 ; Thompson, 2019 );
(d) Leadership skills and managing skills (see indicatively Crosbie, 2005 ; Lazarus, 2013 ; Ballesteros-Sánchez et al., 2017 ), as well as self -awareness , managing oneself/coping skills (see Cimatti, 2016 ; Cinque, 2017 ; Thompson, 2019 );
(e) Interpersonal savvy/skills , social skills , and team skills , effective, and productive interpersonal interactions (see indicatively Kantrowitz, 2005 ; Bancino and Zevalkink, 2007 ; Succi and Canovi, 2019 ; Thompson, 2019 );
(f) Communication skills (see indicatively Wats and Wats, 2009 ; Mitchell et al., 2010 ; Stevenson and Starkweather, 2010 ; Robles, 2012 ; Cinque, 2017 ) including elements of negotiation , conflict resolution , persuasion skills , and diversity (see, in addition, Bancino and Zevalkink, 2007 ; Majid et al., 2012 ; Cinque, 2017 ; Succi and Canovi, 2019 ) as well as articulation work – that is orchestrating simultaneous interactions with people, information, and technology (see Hampson and Junor, 2005 ; Hampson et al., 2009 ); but also going as far as.
(g) Emotional labor (originally from Hochschild, 1983 ), and even in some cases (in service jobs for example).
(h) Aesthetics , professional appearance , and “ lookism ” (see Nickson et al., 2005 ; Warhurst et al., 2009 ; Robles, 2012 ); finally,
(i) Other areas covered included cognitive ability or processes (see Cimatti, 2016 ; Ballesteros-Sánchez et al., 2017 ; Thompson, 2019 ), ability to plan and achieve goals (see Cimatti, 2016 ).

Next to the expansion of the categories comprising soft skills, the hierarchical relationships between the different categories of soft skills, as featured in the literature, added to its ambiguity. An example is the relationship between communication and interpersonal skills. In some places, the two terms are used as interchangeable; in some other cases, they are seen as two distinct categories forming alongside other categories of the construct of soft skills ( Halfhill and Nielsen, 2007 ; Anju, 2009 ; Selvalakshmi, 2012 ; Jain and Anjuman, 2013 ). Finally, elsewhere, a hierarchical relationship exists between the two, namely the former is seen a part (a subcategory) of the latter ( Rungapadiachy, 1999 ; Hayes, 2002 ; Harrigan et al., 2008 ). The simultaneous overlap, submerging, vicinity, and yet disparity of terms such as communication and interpersonal skills is just one of the many in the skills literature (cf. Kinnick and Parton, 2005 , for discussion about overlap between communication and leadership). It becomes evident, accordingly, that these terms, much like the term soft skills has often become so stretched that their limits have become, in turn, vague. Their expansion meant actually that they became polysemous and, because of that, hard to grasp in a unified and organized way and therefore restricted in meaning and use.

This mini- review unveiled two important aspects in relation to the research and the conceptualization of soft skills. The first is that the rampant categories and lists of soft skills seem to be either the outcome of empirical work focusing on breaking down work activities (paraphrasing Lloyd and Payne, 2009 ) in addressing skills requirements, or recycled lists drawing from this work. This is the approach typically encountered in papers focusing on training graduates, training programes within organizations, and employers skills demands (for example Schulz, 2008 ; Constable and Touloumakos, 2009 ; Chamorro-Premuzic et al., 2010 ; Majid et al., 2012 ; Ballesteros-Sánchez et al., 2017 ; Succi and Canovi, 2019 ). This, however, can only be taken to be a veneer of an evidence-based approach to soft skills conceptualization, which is key for their understanding and development for two reasons:

(a) Because same categories mean different things and different categories mean same things to stakeholders (researchers, participants, policymakers), and
(b) Because the aim of researching skills requirements is very different to the aim of researching soft skills characteristics and their nature (soft skills conceptualization).

It is at the level of the conceptualization, characterization, and definition, therefore, that we need to pursue an evidence-based approach, so as to achieve a common language and avoid getting lost in translation in the use of the various soft skills terms.

The second aspect is that, in line with the way the literature features soft skills, they encompass such a wide and diverse range of categories (for example qualities, traits, values, predispositions, etc.) that makes it impossible to think about them as a coherent whole. Arguably, the warehousing approach of soft skills categories development, abstracts behaviors from the context of their enactment and call them skills. This approach, by definition, has ramifications for our understanding of soft skills characteristics, which in turn affects the thinking that underpins their development. For example, given that skills in line with this view are seen as actions toward tasks, it brings to the center the person who acts ( Matteson et al., 2016 ) and, by extension, construes them as personal properties of a generic nature that can be first acquired and transferred uncomplicatedly across contexts ( Touloumakos, 2011 ). Given that this (much like any other) conceptualization of soft skills affects the way we think about their development and their inclusion in education curricula, it is clear that a more inclusive, bottom—up and embedded view would provide a more pragmatic and meaningful alternative in their study.

Author Contributions

This work has been undertaken in its entirety by AT.

Conflict of Interest

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

The Ph.D. was funded by the Economics and Social Research Council and the State Scholarship Foundation. The author would like to thank Dr. Alexia Barrable for her thoughtful comments and insights on this work.

Funding. Part of the work presented here was undertaken as a Ph.D. research.

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Explore the latest full-text research PDFs, articles, conference papers, preprints and more on TECHNICAL SKILLS. Find methods information, sources, references or conduct a literature review on ...
Determinants of 21st-Century Skills and 21st-Century Digital Skills for
A systematic literature review is conducted to synthesize the academic English-language literature concerned with determinants of 21st-century skills and 21st-century digital skills. We expect that determinants of 21st-century skills also play a role in understanding 21st-century digital skills. The review also shows what methods are currently used to measure skills.
Skills development for software engineers: Systematic literature review
A Systematic Literature Review was performed on six databases, resulting in 56 selected articles identifying the soft skills and the teaching methodologies desired to train Software Engineers. These were the base for the proposed framework. ... (Soft skills OR non-technical skills OR personal skills OR transferable skills) AND (teaching OR ...
Full article: The rise of technology and impact on skills
The first section begins with a literature review of how technology impacts jobs and skills. This is followed by a discussion of implications for education and skills supply. ... Most studies of the impact of automation are based on the technical feasibility of automating jobs or tasks, and not the economic feasibility of actually doing so ...
The "new currency of the future": a review of literature on the skills
2.2 Skill taxonomy. The definition of skills remains highly debated topic in social science (Scandurra and Alberio 2021; Schlegel and Kraus 2021) but there is agreement that the process of skills formation is dynamic and continuously evolving, involving various components (Saar et al. 2013).Academics generally describe skills as capabilities that can be learned, context-based, and task ...
Determinants of 21st-Century Skills and 21st-Century Digital Skills for
A recent systematic literature review of academic literature proposed seven core skills with digital components. The identified 21st-century digital skills are technical, informa-tion, communication, collaboration, creativity, critical think-ing and problem-solving (Van Laar et al., 2017). While the importance of these skills to fulfill the demands
The Employability Skills Needed To Face the Demands of Work in the
The research was conducted through Systematic Literature Review (SLR) and mapping approach that consisted of three stages: planning, conducting, and reporting. ... non-cognitive, and technical. Although basic cognitive and technical skills are important in the workplace, non-cognitive skills such as communication, punctuality, problem solving ...
PDF Technological Skills in Higher Education Different Needs and ...
of technologies integration, which technological skills are built and developed by higher education students, and what their perception about the importance of technological skills is. Based on a literature review, an online questionnaire was designed and applied to 217 students from three public
Digital Skills for Project Managers: A Systematic Literature Review
The flowâ€™s description of the four steps of our systematic literature review 2.2. Results The 15 papers resulting from our systematic literature review are described in Table 1 below. Indeed, we highlight the main digital, technical and soft skills discussed in each paper. Step 1: Input papers from the 5 sources.
Association between Surgical Technical Skills and Clinical Outcomes: A
Our systematic literature review and meta-analysis indicates that surgeon technical skill is a significant predictor of clinical outcomes. However, despite the development and validation of numerous scoring instruments to assess surgeon technical skills, there are surprisingly few articles that evaluate the association between skill and outcomes.
PDF Soft Skills for IT Project Success: A Systematic Literature Review
person should have to carry out a task, soft skills are a psychological term that covers the personality types, social interaction abilities, communication, and personal habits, people believe that soft skills complement hard skills. Soft skills complement the technical skills requirements of a job.
Technology Transfer: A Literature Review
Scientific and technical human capital relates to the impact and advancements to technical skills and infrastructure caused by the transfer. Heinzl et al. ... Chen, A., Patton, D., & Kenney, M. (2016). University technology transfer in China: A literature review and taxonomy. The Journal of Technology Transfer, 41(5), 891-929.
PDF Bridging Technical Skills Gaps between High School Students and ...
According to Stone (2013), colleges and employers desire that young people demonstrate college and career readiness along three domains of knowledge, skills, and dispositions: academic, occupational, and technical. Academic skills include academic proficiency in math, science, and related areas.
Full article: Developing technical report writing skills in first and
This study focuses on a technical report written following a practical laboratory session. Agreeing upon a single definition of 'technical writing' for any given subject area is a cause of much debate in the literature (e.g. Grossberg, Citation 1978; Allen, Citation 1990). For clarity, we expect the technical report produced by students in ...
Nurses' perspectives on technical skill requirements in primary and
A review of studies on nurse professional capability emphasizes the lack of ... It has been claimed that nursing education should emphasize technical skills that are commonly used, to increase the students' preparation for the profession, while the employer should provide ... Citing Literature. Volume 7, Issue 5. September 2020. Pages 1424-1430.
PDF ICT in Education: A Critical Literature Review and Its Implications
Improve teaching and learning quality. As Lowther et al. (2008) have stated that there are three important characteristics are needed to develop good quality teaching and learning with ICT: autonomy, capability, and creativity. Autonomy means that students take control of their learning through their use of ICT.
A Literature Review on Skills and Innovation. How Does Successful
A Literature Review on Skills and Inno vation A CRIC Report for the DTI of pupils are failing to achieve the desired Key Stage-3 standards in English, Maths and Science, as shown in table 2.4 below.
Technical Skills and The Academic Performance.. Rak
Technology Education - refers to the education which deals on the improvement of technical skills. CHAPTER 2 Review of Related Literature and Studies Literature Technical skills are known as a specific skill which the person may possess through learning and practice. You may acquire technical skills through experience or pursuing it as ...
Writing a literature review
Writing a literature review requires a range of skills to gather, sort, evaluate and summarise peer-reviewed published data into a relevant and informative unbiased narrative. Digital access to research papers, academic texts, review articles, reference databases and public data sets are all sources of information that are available to enrich ...
Technical, Non-Technical, or Both? A Scoping Review of Skills in
This scoping review aimed to identify published literature on the use of both technical and non-technical learning objectives in SBST and investigate how the entities are related. Additionally, this scoping study reviewed the literature with the aim of mapping how publications on technical and non-technical skills within SBST have changed over ...
How to Write a Literature Review
Step 1 - Search for relevant literature. Step 2 - Evaluate and select sources. Step 3 - Identify themes, debates, and gaps. Step 4 - Outline your literature review's structure. Step 5 - Write your literature review. Free lecture slides.
Critical Soft Skills to Achieve Success in the Workplace
soft skills are competencies that can help an individual better meet the needs of a particular job and help an individual advance in his or her career (Cobo, 2013; Robles, 2012; Zhang, 2012). Data derived from the literature review also indicated that soft skills are important for labor market outcomes (ATD, 2012).
Expanded Yet Restricted: A Mini Review of the Soft Skills Literature
Soft skill curricula have been considered these days and developed not only for graduates and as on-the-job training programs but also for students across all levels of education. However, different people mean different things when referring to soft skills. This review presents evidence to suggest that the use of the term "soft skills" has ...