Soft skills : from university to the work environment : analysis of a survey of graduates in Portugal

Abstract

In knowledge based economy, soft skills format pro-active and entrepreneurial behaviors. Once they provide answers to complex company questions, the academic curriculum should highlight a diversity of skills in graduates to build an open and flexible mind to uncertain and volatile market imperatives. In this article we compare graduates’ opinion on university acquired soft skills and those which are actually applied in organizational context. Results demonstrate a significant difference in perception, which might reveal a structural maladjustment in the interaction between universities and enterprises. A questionnaire was used, designed in a Likert scale, which was handed out to graduates of different universities and different areas of knowledge between March and April 2012.