Everything but Programming; Investigating Academics’ Perceptions of Embedded Soft Skills in Computer Science Undergraduate Education

Abstract

Student employability is a key goal of a computer science undergraduate education. A soft skills gap has previously been reported between employer requirements and the skills graduates offer, suggesting that educators are inadequately preparing students for their future careers. It is important to identify the links between educators and the materials they claim to teach as it offers insight into how non-technical aspects of software engineering are promoted. We report on two studies where we first explore the staff perceptions of embedded soft skills in five computer science undergraduate courses, before identifying soft skill presence in curricula across eight UK universities. A multi-site interview with educators identified core skills of critical thinking, communication, and teamwork being included in curricula for student employability. Staff believe students experience a temporal delay between being introduced to skills and actually valuing them. In the second study, we mined publicly-available course and module information, and then analysed non-technical skill references. Soft skills are commonly found in proximity to other soft skills, suggesting they are taught or assessed together. Software engineering was seen to be closely linked to teamwork and communication, emphasising it is taught as a social enterprise. Taking these two studies together, educators show a close alignment to curricula, and the skills valued by higher education institutions reflect the skills valued in software engineering industries, suggesting the skill gap is the result of student misconceptions.