A Global Bibliometric Analysis of Soft Skills in Higher Education (1922–2023): Trends, Gaps and Regional Perspectives

This bibliometric study provides a comprehensive analysis of the evolution and current state of research on soft skills in higher education from 1922 to 2023. Using the Scopus database, 3,517 documents were systematically analyzed through VOSviewer and RStudio to identify trends, influential authors and institutions, emerging topics, and international collaboration networks. The findings reveal a significant increase in publications after 2007, with English dominating as the main publication language. Latin American contributions remain limited, with Ecuador showing emerging participation led by institutions such as ESPOL and UPS-Cuenca. Two dominant research clusters were identified: one focused on employability in the digital age, and the other on socio-emotional development in university students. This study highlights the need for linguistic inclusion and the integration of soft skills into university curricula, especially in non-English-speaking and developing countries. The main limitation lies in the exclusive use of the Scopus database. The results are intended to inform educational policy, curriculum design, and institutional strategies for improving graduate employability and academic success.