Soft Skills Training Program Based on Serious Games

Dolores Lucía Sutil-Martín and F. Javier Otamendi
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Dolores Lucía Sutil-Martín: Brain Reasearch Labortary, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28933 Madrid, Spain
F. Javier Otamendi: Brain Reasearch Labortary, Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, 28933 Madrid, Spain

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 15, 1-23

Abstract: In the 21st century, to be successful at the workplace and to get their first job, potential employees must have both “soft skills” (“know how to be”) and “hard skills” (“know how to do”). The proposed Soft Skills Training Program (SSTP) combines multiple serious games to train future employees in four key soft skills that are most demanded by companies: intrapersonal, interpersonal, personal social responsibility, and organizational sustainability. These four MacroSoftSkills are subdivided into eight MesoSoftSkills and 21 MicroSoftSkills to establish a complete multilevel structure. The development of soft skills is measured before and after the training using five appraisal questionnaires and tests. The pilot project, aimed at young university and vocational training students, lasted 9 weeks and proved to be effective since the proposed aggregate indicators of soft skills development increased in value, with the results being different across soft skill, gender, and educational center. The contents and length of some of the training sessions should, however, be adjusted to further develop and improve the program.

Keywords: soft skills; serious games; gamestorming; sustainability; training; appraisal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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