Identifying and developing desirable soft skills for public service

Abstract

One of the key goals of any academic program is to ensure that skills taught in the classroom apply to post-graduate employment. Failure to do so can impact an academic department’s recruitment and retention efforts, strain relations with alumni and damage the institution’s reputation. Using interviews conducted during a faculty externship at a high-performing municipal government, this paper identifies soft skills employers expect students to have when entering the public-sector workforce, and offers suggestions for how to best prepare students for public-sector employment in light of these findings.

Street-Level Pedagogy: Fostering and Communicating Social Equity Through Course Syllabi

“…Reflexively examining and learning from this communication method is one more tactic in the effort to incorporate social equity in our curriculum and in our future public service leaders. Moreover, course syllabi are primary artifacts examined by accreditation and, therefore, need to be assessed as official communications for how faculty are meeting accreditation standards by calling for social equity values such as diversity, equity, and inclusion as well as keeping up with changing professional norms (Kinsella & Waite, 2021; Kuenzi et al, 2020).…”

How to implement project-based quantitative classroom projects while supporting curricular design: A case study from a quantitative methods course in a public affairs program

“…One student summarized their experience, reflecting the comments of most participants when they stated: "For me, I think they were met, I got a lot of hands on-first-hand experience with the data and so that was great, and I think also I feel a lot more prepared for working in a larger group, kind of understanding ways to organize the group, [which are] important things to remember next year when managing different relationships [during capstone] and then also potential ways to keep people accountable and meeting their goals as an individual [...]." Additionally, participants believe there is value in allowing students to collaborate with a big group of people; it gives them the opportunity to develop leadership skills and allows them to reflect on their role as group members (Kinsella and Waite, 2020;Reinke, 2001).…”

“…Additionally, participants believe there is value in allowing students to collaborate with a big group of people; it gives them the opportunity to develop leadership skills and allows them to reflect on their role as group members (Kinsella and Waite, 2020; Reinke, 2001).…”

“…A study conducted by Kinsella and Waite (2020) found that public managers in the public and nonprofit sectors desire candidates that have decision-making and problem-solving skills, community building and teamwork, and strong oral and written communication skills. Similarly, a survey conducted by NASPAA in 2006 found that city and county managers expect future employees to have decision-making skills, teamwork experience, communication skills and ethics and integrity (Zhang et al, 2012).…”

Soft skills profile of critical thinking ability for culinary arts students in online learning

“…Mastery of soft skills will ensure that one does his or her job with high quality (Sharma & Sharma, 2010). Mastery of hard skills coupled with integrated soft skills enables students to adapt to organizational culture, take the initiative, and contribute to organizational success (Kinsella & Waite, 2021). Critical thinking and problem-solving skills are essential in learning in the 21st century.…”