Purpose The purpose is to examine engineering students’ perceptions of soft skills, focussing on the gap between their self-perceived acquisition and the importance attributed to these skills by employers. Particular attention is given to leadership, innovation, ethical and social responsibility, and adaptability as key skills. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on a cross-sectional survey of 344 first-year engineering students (70 females; M age = 18) from two Spanish universities. A newly validated instrument (HABEI) measured perceived importance, self-reported acquisition and employer relevance of nine core soft skills. Findings Results reveal a consistent gap between the value students attribute to soft skills and their self-perceived acquisition. Ethical and social responsibility, in particular, is undervalued despite being recognised as highly relevant by employers. Research limitations/implications The study is limited to first-year engineering students in Spain and relies on self-report measures, which may introduce bias. Future research could include longitudinal designs and cross-cultural comparisons. Practical implications The findings highlight the need to integrate soft skills training, especially in ethical and social domains, more explicitly into engineering curricula. Universities should design learning experiences that bridge the gap between academic formation and workplace expectations. Originality/value It provides empirical evidence using a novel instrument, offering both conceptual and practical contributions to understanding and addressing the soft skills gap in engineering education.
Reig-Aleixandre et al. (Fri,) studied this question.