Does Soft Skills Training Affect Youth Employment? Evidences from Turkey

Year 2025, Volume: 22 Issue: 1, 64 - 77

Demet Özocaklı , Saliha Emre Deveci , Lejla I. Leric , Nerman Ljevo

https://doi.org/10.26466/opusjsr.1579898

Abstract

In today’s fast-paced, ever-changing labor market, soft skills are in high demand, especially for new graduates. This study examined the impact of soft skills training on youth employment. As the first sample, the quantitative research method was conducted by applying a questionnaire to the students of Gaziantep University Vocational School of Social Sciences in Turkey. As the second sample, a qualitative research method was conducted by selecting HR Managers homogeneously according to the statistical regional classification throughout Turkey and conducting interviews focusing on the soft skills of new graduates. Based on the results of our analysis, 14 required soft skills were identified. In cooperation with European Union countries, a training curriculum was designed using these 14 soft skills. Participants of the training program were randomly divided into control and experimental groups. The experimental group was only included in the soft skills training program. The employment rates of both groups were compared after nine months of follow-up. The findings showed that soft skills training resulted in higher employment rates.. The findings show that soft-skills training resulted in higher employment rates. Based on our findings, we propose that universities design and apply soft-skills curricula for young undergraduate and vocational school students to increase youth employment. Moreover, soft skills development must be considered when designing and conducting training programs for workers in public institutions and companies.

Keywords

Soft Skills Training, Youth Employment, Experimental Research Method, Qualitative Research Method, Quantitative Research Method

Ethical Statement

Dosyalara eklenmiştir.

Supporting Institution

European Commission

Project Number

2022-1-TR01-KA220-YOU-000087078

Thanks

Bu kısım için proje ekibine teşekkür edilmiş ve makalede yer verilmiştir.

İnce Beceri Eğitimi Genç İstihdamını Etkiler mi? Türkiye’den Kanıtlar

Abstract

Günümüzün hızlı tempolu ve sürekli değişen işgücü piyasasında, özellikle yeni mezunlar için sosyal beceriler yüksek talep görmektedir. Bu çalışma, sosyal beceri eğitiminin genç istihdamı üzerindeki etkisini incelemiştir. İlk örneklem olarak, Türkiye'deki Gaziantep Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Meslek Yüksekokulu öğrencilerine anket uygulanarak nicel araştırma metodu yürütülmüştür. İkinci örneklem olarak, Türkiye genelinde istatistiki bölge sınıflandırmasına göre homojen bir şekilde İK Yöneticileri seçilerek yeni mezunların sosyal becerilerine odaklanan görüşmelerle nitel araştırma metodu yürütülmüştür. Analiz sonuçlarımıza dayanarak, gerekli görülen 14 sosyal beceri belirlenmiştir. Avrupa Birliği ülkeleriyle işbirliği içinde, bu 14 sosyal beceriyi kullanarak bir eğitim müfredatı tasarlanmıştır. Eğitim programına katılanlar rastgele kontrol ve deney gruplarına ayrılmıştır. Deney grubu sadece yumuşak beceri eğitim programına dahil edilmiştir. Her iki grubun istihdam oranları dokuz ay boyunca takip edildikten sonra karşılaştırılmıştır. Bulgular, yumuşak beceri eğitiminin daha yüksek istihdam oranlarıyla sonuçlandığını göstermiştir. Bulgularımıza dayanarak, üniversitelerin genç istihdamını artırmak için genç lisans ve meslek okulu öğrencileri için yumuşak beceri müfredatı tasarlamalarını ve uygulamalarını öneriyoruz. Ayrıca, kamu kurumları ve şirketlerdeki çalışanlar için eğitim programları tasarlanırken ve yürütülürken yumuşak becerilerin geliştirilmesi göz önünde bulundurulmalıdır.

Keywords

İnce beceri eğitimi, genç istihdamı, deneysel araştırma yöntemi, nitel araştırma yöntemi, nicel araştırma yöntemi

Project Number

2022-1-TR01-KA220-YOU-000087078

References

• Crawford, P., Dalton, R. (2016). Providing built environment students with the necessary skills for employment: Finding the required soft skills, Curr. Urban Stud. 04 (2016) 97–123. https://doi.org/10.4236/cus.2016.41008.
• Dixon, J., Belnap, C., Albrecht, C., Lee, K. (2010). The importance of soft skills, Corp. Fin. Rev. 14 (2010) 35–38.
• Emanuel, F., Ricchiardi, P., Sanseverino, D., Ghislieri, C. (2021). Make soft skills stronger? An online enhancement platform for higher education, Int. J. Educ. Res. Open. 2 (2021) 100096. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedro.2021.100096.
• Evenson, R. (1999). Soft skills, hard sell techniques, Mak. Educ. Career Connect. 74 (1999) 29–31.
• Fernandes, P.R.S., Jardim, J., Lopes, M.C.S. (2021). The soft skills of special education teachers: Evidence from the literature, Educ. Sci. 11 (2021) 9. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11030125.
• Geffel, M., Park, S. (2016). Hard & Soft Skills Booklet. Jefferson Community College, New York, 192.188.202.54/student-life/documents/Hard_and_Soft_Skills_Booklet.pdf
• Groh, M., Krishnan, N., McKenzie, D., Vishwanath, T. (2016). The impact of soft skills training on female youth employment: Evidence from a randomized experiment in Jordan, IZA J. Labor Develop. 5 (2016) 9. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40175-016-0055-9.
• Groh, M., Krishnan, N., McKenzie, D., Vishwanath, T. (2012). Soft skills or hard cash? The impact of training and wage subsidy programs on female youth employment in Jordan. Impact Evaluation Series, no. IE 62, Policy Research Working Paper number WPS 6141, World Bank Group, 2012. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/654491468271825136/Soft-skills-or-hard-cash-the-impact-of-training-and-wage-subsidy-programs-on-female-youth-employment-in-Jordan.
• Heckman, J.J. and Kautz, T. (2012). Hard evidence on soft skills, Lab. Econ. 19 (2012) 451–464. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2012.05.014.
• Ibourk, A. and Aynaoui, K. El. (2023). Career trajectories of higher education graduates: Impact of soft skills, Economies. 11 (2023) 198. https://doi.org/10.3390/economies11070198.
• International Labour Organization. (2024). World Economic and Social Outlook Trends 2024, https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/dgreports/inst/documents/publication/wcms_908142.pdf.
• James, R.F. and James, M.L. (2004). Teaching career and technical skills in a “mini”, Bus. World, Business Education Forum. 59 (2004) 39–41.
• Klaus, P. (2010). Communication breakdown, Calif. Job J. 28 (2010) 1–9.
• Kolesnik, K., Oliinyk, N., Komarivska, N., Kazmirchuk, N. and Imber, V. (2023). Future-teacher soft skills development in the context of Ukraine’s integration into the European higher education Area, Int. J. Learn. Teach. Educ. Res. 22 (2023) 413–431. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.22.2.23.
• Mansura. N., Kashfia, N. (2018). Soft skills for sustainable employment: Does it really matter?, IJMEI. 4 (2018) 1835–1837. https://doi.org/10.31142/ijmei/v4i7.03.
• Mishra, K. (2014). Employability skills that recruiters demand, IUP J. Soft Skills. 8 (2014) 50–55.
• Moss, P., Tilly, C. (1996). “Soft” skills and race: An investigation of black men’s employment problems, Work Occupations. 23 (1996) 252–276. https://doi.org/10.1177/0730888496023003002.
• Murgor, T.K. (2017). Soft skills preparation as panacea for self-employment for TVET technician graduates in Kenya, Int. J. Vocat. Tech. Educ. Res. 3 (2017) 18–34.
• Nickson, D., Warhurst, C., Commander, J., Hurrell, S.A., and Cullen, A.M. (2012). Soft skills and employability: Evidence from UK retail, Econ. Ind. Democr. 33 (2012) 65–84. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143831X11427589.
• Ramos-Monge, E., Fox, P., Garcia-Piquer, A. (2023). Addressing soft skill gaps in the digital employment market: The case of Spanish students in a technology-based university, Educ. Train. 65 (2023) 923–938. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-04-2023-0165.
• Robles, M.M. (2012). Executive perceptions of the top 10 soft skills needed in today’s workplace, Bus. Commun. Q. 75 (2012) 453–465. https://doi.org/10.1177/1080569912460400.
• Sebastião, L., Tirapicos, F., Payan-Carreira, R., Rebelo, H. (2023). Skill profiles for employability: (Mis)understandings between higher education institutions and employers, Educ. Sci. 13 (2023) 905. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci13090905.
• Sharma, M. (2018). How important are soft skills from the recruiter’s perspective, IUP J. Soft Skills. 3 (2018) 19–28.
• Sheikh, R.A., Abdalkrim, G.M., Shehawy, Y.M. (2023). Assessing the impact of business simulation as a teaching method for developing 21st century future skills, J. Int. Educ. Bus. 16 (2023) 351–370. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIEB-11-2022-0085.
• Singh, A., Jaykumar, P. (2019). On the road to consensus: Key soft skills required for youth employment in the service sector, Worldwide Hosp. Tourism Themes. 11 (2019) 10–24. https://doi.org/10.1108/WHATT-10-2018-0066.
• Sławińska, K., Villani, C.S. (2014). Gaining and strengthening “soft skills” for employment, Sieć Badawcza Łukasiewicz. 3 (2014) 44–53.
• Vasanthakumari, S. (2019). Soft skills and its application in work place, World J. Adv. Res. Rev. 03 (2019) 066–072. https://doi.org/10.30574/wjarr.2019.3.2.0057.
• Ward, V.G., Riddle, D.I. (2014). Weaving soft skills development into everyday employment services in Canada, 2014. http://www.employmentreadiness.info/home.
• Wats, R.K. and Wats, M. (2009). Developing soft skills in students, Int. J. Learn. 15 (2009) 1–10. https://doi.org/10.18848/1447-9494/CGP/v15i12/46032.
• World Bank, (2006). The Preparing Youth for 21st Century Jobs: Entra 21 Across Latin America and the Caribbean, 2006. https://documents.worldbank.org/en/publication/documents-reports/documentdetail/924811468016243951/preparing-youth-for-21st-century-jobs-entra-21-across-latin-america-and-the-caribbean.
• World Economic Forum. (2023). The Future of Jobs Report 2023, 2023. https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2023/digest/.