[UEH EngContest 2024] SOFT SKILLS - An attractive and valuable course for UEH students to advance their journey towards becoming global citizens and contributing to sustainable development

24 Feb, 2025

Soft skills education has been and continues to be an essential element in comprehensive education for students in general and for UEH students in particular. Intelligence and knowledge, combined with a positive attitude, only account for half of our success. It is the soft skills we use in daily life, in specifically our behavior and communication, that determine the other half.

Soft skills equip students with positive habits, allowing them to regulate their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. These skills enable students to make appropriate decisions based on sound reasoning and healthy habits. A student's self-worth is cultivated and enhanced through the development of soft skills.

Moreover, soft skills provide students with the ability to navigate life and work effectively, manage various situations, adjust and control their emotions, and develop effective communication and interpersonal skills. These competencies enable them to resolve conflicts in relationships and express themselves in a positive and healthy manner. Soft skills education fosters the development of global citizens who can think critically and independently. Furthermore, soft skills have been explicitly identified as key competencies in the 21st-century skills framework by the World Economic Forum.

Students Batch 49 of Soft Skills Course at UEH

Alongside its internationalization strategy, the restructuring strategy aimed at transforming UEH into a multidisciplinary and sustainable university (2021 - 2030) marks a significant turning point for UEH. From this point forward, UEH enters a new phase and defines its mission as: “Elevating knowledge, training high-quality human resources, integrating and transferring globally; pioneering innovation, creativity, and community service.”

Students at UEH are guided to become global citizens who act for sustainable development. Through the training of learners with comprehensive skills and high professional qualifications, UEH is committed to educating individuals who are equipped to become a generation of global citizens dedicated to sustainable development.

The soft skills course in the new era at UEH not only equips students with fundamental knowledge about soft skills applicable in academic and professional environments, helping learners master the core soft skills and develop logical thinking for practical application, but also aims to achieve the following three objectives:

To assist students in developing professional, effective, and creative work skills through a flexible and seamless integration of basic knowledge and core skills, ensuring that students can adapt well to learning and working environments immediately after graduation.
To help students cultivate their unique qualities to foster a progressive spirit and a thirst for knowledge, ensuring they adopt a serious attitude and have a clear direction in their studies, work, and personal development.
To facilitate the gradual formation of core competencies in students, enabling them to adapt to the increasingly high demands of society and to overcome challenges in new working environments.

According to the employment report from UEH since 2020, over 90% of alumni believe that the training programs at UEH have equipped them with valuable knowledge applicable in the labor market. Additionally, more than 80% of UEH graduates express satisfaction with the essential soft skills acquired during their studies at the university.

Results from student survey on their satisfaction with soft skills course from 2018-2023 (Likert: 1 to 7)

In summary, the soft skills course has made a significant contribution to UEH's training strategy and has played a vital role in the success of learners on their journey to becoming global citizens and pursuing sustainable development. It will continue to serve as an engaging and enriching experience for students across various disciplines at the university.

As stated by Prof. Dr. Nguyễn Đông Phong, Chairman of the UEH University Council and the individual directly overseeing the integration of the Soft Skills course into the official curriculum since 2016: “UEH not only stands for the University of Economics Ho Chi Minh City but also represents Unbounded Creativity, Empowered Futures, and Holistic Values.”

News and photos: Faculty of International Business - Marketing, CELG Office