Humanistic Skills are Integral to a Career-Ready Curriculum

A new survey from Gallup and the Lumina Foundation reveals that 75% of employers prefer candidates with college degrees, even when a degree is not identified as a requirement for the position. This survey also noted that employers like to recruit individuals who can manage their time, collaborate within and across teams, and solve problems effectively.

Employers value soft and transferable skills.

• Data from employer surveys by the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) in 2023 found “a strong correlation between the outcomes of a liberal education and the knowledge and skills employers view as essential for success in entry-level jobs and for advancement in their companies.”
• The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025 notes that changes in technology, policies, climate, and other systemic factors call for employees who have social, interpersonal, and cognitive skills in addition to technical literacy.
• LinkedIn’s 2024 Global Talent Trends survey points out that employers look for “transferable skills that allow candidates to move nimbly across roles.”
• A recent white paper – The Career Readiness Imperative in Gateway Courses – noted that “Automation increases the demand for uniquely human skills that software cannot replicate.”

Yet only 54% of employers see these skills in college graduates. The Gallup and the Lumina Foundation survey reveal that there is a significant gap between employer expecations and the skills demonstrated by many graduates.

What can we do to address this gap?

Start early and embed career competencies into the curriculum.

• Writing, communication, and presentation skills can be woven into gateway courses. Typically taken during the first year, these courses provide opportunities to connect course content with practical and real-world cases that improve motivation and engagement.
• Enhanced student engagement also reduces DFW rates, which tend to be higher in gateway courses.
• While students desire internships, many internships remain upaid, which precludes many students, especially those from low-income families from participating. Embedding career competencies in the curriculum helps ensure all students have access to career-relevant skill development.

Intentionally connect academic learning with career readiness.

• “Crosswalk” academic and career-ready activities throughout the curriculum in an intentional manner with faculty input.
• Hiring individual career coaches for every student is impractical. Anything that is not mandatory for students also suffers from low participation. The white paper points to a ‘lever not fully engaged … where every student is already participating – the classroom.’
• Incorporating career-related activities throughout the curriculum is effective, and can be done with faculty input and rigor.
• In a 2024 Inside Higher Ed survey, 40 percent of students reported wanting professors to help connect classroom learning to real-world problems.
• Team projects and collaborative problem-solving can be woven into the course assessment rubric.
• Helping faculty and students communicate the ‘crosswalk’ in a consistent manner helps industry appreciate the skills embedded in the curriculum. This further enhances the students’ likelihood of employment.
• The language used in the learning goals matters. Students saying “I do critical thinking” during an interview is less effective than explaining how their coursework required them to analyze problmes and develop solutions.
• Make career-ready curricula part of the academic culture. Faculty should be tuned into industry needs. Connecting them to what industry wants must be an ongoing exercise, not a temporary fix.

Humanistic skills matter in the workplace. The classroom and the curriculum are ideal places to develop these skills. Faculty engagement, oversight, and training can make this process intentional and productive for all – students, faculty, employers, and society.

Go Jags!

Latha Ramchand
Chancellor