The Integration of Soft Skills at Tertiary Level in Morocco: Engineering Undergraduate Students’ Perspectives

The current study aimed at investigating the state of the art related to the integration of soft skills at tertiary level by trying to find out the reasons for which soft skills should be integrated at this instructional level, the top five soft skills undergraduate engineering students consider important for employability, and some of the challenges instructors might face in their endeavour to incorporate soft skills into their courses. A structured questionnaire that includes four parts was randomly administered to 40 engineering graduate students enrolling at the Faculty of Sciences and Techniques of Errachidia, University of Moulay Ismail in Meknes. The findings revealed that almost all the participants think that soft skills are important because they are critical for career advancement, they are important for getting a better job, and they are highly sought by employers. As for their views about soft skills, most of them claimed that effective communication, creative problem-solving, time and stress management, team/work spirit, and analytical and critical thinking are the top five skills they consider important for employability. As far as some of the challenges instructors might face while trying to incorporate soft skills into their courses, they contended that limited time to cover the syllabus, students’ attitude in the classroom, and large number of students in the classroom are the major ones.