The importance of soft skills in academic performance and career choices of senior secondary school students in Botswana

Abstract

In today's society where soft skills are imperative for job success the use of performance data provided by standardised tests to sort students to various careers is a major concern. The study examined the relationship between soft skills, academic performance and career interests of senior secondary1 school students. This descriptive correlational study adopted an ex post facto survey research design. The population of the study comprised of25 385 senior secondary school students who completed form 5 in 2013. Convenient sampling technique was used to choose a sample of600 students. A reliable questionnaire (a- 0.96) was used to collect data on soft skills and career interests. Midyear examinations provided data on academic performance. The hypotheses tested were: (1) there is no relationship between possession of selected soft skills and students' academic performance, (2) there is no relationship between the student's career interests and student's academic performance and (3) there is no relationship between the student's career interests and selected soft skills. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the participants on the major variables of the study while correlation and regression analysis were used describe and quantify the relationship between the variables. The study revealed that academic performance way not significantly correlated to soft skills and career interests. Soft skills were significantly correlated to career interests. The study has implications for future curriculum reforms to increase emphasis on soft skills in lite preparation of the youth for a productive post school life.