Considering the fact that during the last decades in society the perceived importance
of soft skills has increased significantly, it is of high importance for everyone to
acquire adequate skills beyond academic or technical knowledge. This is not
particularly difficult. Once a shortcoming in a certain area of soft skills has been
identified at oneself, there are numerous ways of rectifying such a deficiency.
Educators have a special responsibility regarding soft skills, because during
students’ School and University time they have major impact on the development
of their students’ soft skills. Besides raising awareness regarding the importance of
soft skills and encouraging students to improve their skills, lecturers should actively
practice soft skills with their students. A very effective and efficient way of doing
this is to include soft skills training into the teaching of hard skills. As a positive
side effect the lessons will become more attractive, which in turn will increase the
success rate of learners.
Soft skills fulfil an important role in shaping an individual’s personality by
complementing his/her hard skills. However, over-emphasising it to such an extent
should not taint the importance of soft skills, that hard skills, i.e. expert knowledge
in certain fields, are demoted to secondary importance.