Critical Thinking as a Predictor of Academic Success

The Fourth Industrial Revolution has transformed virtually all spheres of society, including requirements to the human capital which is becoming the main economic growth driver in the Industry 4.0 era. One of the major requirements is flexibility and adjustability of the human capital. These qualities can be achieved by developing soft skills. The key soft skills demanded by Industry 4.0 include: IT-skills, information processing skills, teamwork and communication skills, metacognitive skills such as self-reflection, metacognition, and critical thinking; as well as the following personality traits: flexibility, adaptability, and ability to learn. Among these, metacognitive skills are of particular importance. Scientific literature indicates that critical thinking is an essential soft skill for the modern personality. Despite this, educational institutions tend to ignore developing cognitive skills in students majoring in engineering. Critical thinking is not merely one of the soft skills, but it could also be a predictor of academic success. In order to verify that a certain level of critical thinking has an influence on academic performance we conducted a survey among Russian and Iranian students. The survey revealed that the students, who assessed their critical thinking as low, tend to have lower grades in the academic subject “English”, whereas those, who deemed their level higher, tend to perform better. The revealed pattern is not country-related and is typical for both the Russians and Iranians. Given the results, it is relevant to inculcate critical thinking in students. The KNRTU’s experience in purposeful development of the soft skills in the engineering students demonstrates that this approach is viable and successful.