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STEM students: Arts improved our soft skills
Lauren Barack
June 19, 2019
Dive Brief:
Six students recently spoke during the AWS Public Sector Summit in
Washington, D.C., about how arts education and the soft skills it
helped them develop are key to their success in the fields they’re
pursuing in college, EdSurge reports.
One student, who studied network security at Bowie State University in
Maryland, also acted in plays, which he said helped boost his ability
to communicate with others.
Another noted that humanities courses, most importantly ethics, are key
to those looking to enter tech fields so they can ground themselves in
understanding how their inventions, research and discoveries will play
a role in the world.
Dive Insight:
The push for more science, technology, engineering and mathematics
(STEM) skills in students led somewhat to arts education being
downplayed in curriculum. Employers, however, have started speaking up,
noting that soft skills, such as knowing how to communicate
effectively, were missing in some applicants and just as necessary as
technical knowledge.
Chief academic officers and administrators are often building
curriculum from mandates put in place by state policymakers. But as
EdSurge’s story noted, college students studying in tech fields have
attributed their success to soft skills, as well, which educators agree
are crucial. A 2018 Gallup survey found that 4,000 parents, teachers,
principals and other education leaders believe soft skills are as
important as academic abilities.
Educators, however, shouldn’t have to choose between emphasizing STEM
learning at the expense of developing soft skills in students. Some
groups, such as the nonprofit Project Lead the Way, which works with
students as early a preschool and continues through high school, assess
children on both the subject material they’re learning, as well as
skills they’ll need when they leave school and enter the workforce.
STEM classes do teach social tools in many cases. Students have to be
adept at project-based learning, know how to work with others,
collaborate, handle setbacks and share their knowledge when they
succeed to support their peers. Ensuring all technical and soft skill
bases are covered is possible, no matter the subject, though finding
ties to the arts can ultimately help fill that need more efficiently.
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