International Journal of Information Management 50 (2020) 375–386

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International Journal of Information Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijinfomgt

Operationalisation of soft skill attributes and determining the existing gap in T

novice ICT professionals
⁎
Richa Singh Dubeya, , Vijayshri Tiwarib
a
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Deoghat, Jalwa, Prayagraj, 211015, Uttar Pradesh, India
b
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Information Technology, Deoghat, Jhalwa, Prayagraj, 211015, Uttar Pradesh, India

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The manuscript presents an analysis of the perceived importance and existing gap of soft skills for new entrants
Information and communications technology in the information technology sector. It also examines the effect of various backgrounds on the perception of soft
Employability skills. Empirical examinations are carried out through independent t-test, and MANOVA indicates substantial
Competency dissimilarity in the perception of students and practitioners. While examining the effect of the background,
Attributes
practitioners responded to a similarity in the perceived importance of soft skills, irrespective of gender, man-
Soft skills gap
agement level and experience. Though students showed similarity in the preparedness of soft skills regardless of
the gender or medium of education up to class 12th but demonstrated substantial differences due to institute
during graduation. Hence findings indicate the importance of academic institutions for the development of soft
skills. The outcome also depicts that academia should take necessary action to amend the method of imparting
skills for enhancing employability in students. Further, the study also sublimes essential soft skill attributes.

1. Introduction
Over the last few decades, globalisation and the advent of ICT have
changed social, political, economic, organisational and cultural struc-
tures across the globe (Aswani, Kar, Ilavarasan, & Dwivedi, 2018; Chen
& Dwivedi, 2007; Edmunds & Morris, 2000; Hossain, Dwivedi, Chan,
Standing, & Olanrewaju, 2018; Dwivedi & Kapoor, 2015; Rathore,
Ilavarasan, & Dwivedi, 2016; Shiau, Dwivedi, & Lai, 2018). It is note-
worthy that globalisation and ICT act in synergy; ICT helped address
the complexity of business processes brought about by globalisation
while globalization supported the proliferation of ICT. With time, the
adoption of ICT became inevitable due to the need of organizations to
enhance effectiveness and competitiveness (Bailey & Stefaniak, 1999;
Mishra & Misra, 2010; Mathur Jain & Khurana, 2013; Trkman, 2010).
The growth of ICT has made the sector a lucrative investment option
not only for big businesses, but also new entrants and start-ups.
Through digitalization, ICT facilitated exceptional economic growth
across the globe. Over time, not only the industry but ICT spread itself
to almost every domain like education, health, infrastructure, social,
political etc. (Aswani, Kar, & Ilavarasan, 2018; Ismagilova, Hughes,
Dwivedi, & Raman, 2019; Mukherjee, Ilavarasan, & Kar, 2019). Apart
from developed countries, some developing countries like India un-
derstood its importance and equipped themselves with ICT educated
workforce and became a technology giant (Joseph, Kar, & Ilavarasan,
2017).
For India, the ICT sector prooved to be a better bet for economic
growth (Arora, Arunachalam, Asundi, & Fernandes, 2001; Bhatnagar &
Madon, 1997; Blom & Saeki, 2011; D’Costa, 2003). It is a significant
facilitator of employment for a large number of technical graduates.
Like any other service-based industry, the success or failure of ICT or-
ganisations chiefly depends on its human capital which requires careful
handling in an unstable environment (Dubey, Tewari, & Pandiya, 2017;
Dwivedi & Dwivedi, 2008). For the ICT sector, adroit professionals are
the most vital asset and their employability is the chief predictor of
their success (Chen & Huang, 2007; McKeen & Smith, 1996; Niederman,
Brancheau, & Wetherbe, 1991). ICT comprises the field of computer
sciences, computer engineering, software engineering, information
technology, and information system. While the first three fields majorly
deal with software development, information technology and in-
formation system (IT/IS) closely operates with business processes and
use of hardware and software as an aid for the organisations
(Shackelford et al., 2006; Topi et al., 2010; Rabayah & Sartawi, 2008).
Although a large number of students complete their graduation every
year, there remains a scarcity of professionals with relevant skills
(Gupta & Pandit, 2010). Several studies have identified the various
skills required for ICT professionals and classified them as technical and
non-technical skills. Technical skills consist of competencies related to
the technical aspects of the job. These skills are reflected as a threshold

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: rs134@iiita.ac.in (R. Singh Dubey), vijayshri@iiita.ac.in (V. Tiwari).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2019.09.006
Received 28 May 2019; Received in revised form 24 September 2019; Accepted 24 September 2019
Available online 03 October 2019
0268-4012/ © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
R. Singh Dubey and V. Tiwari
that separates desirable professionals from undesirable ones and is
subjective to the intelligence quotient of a person (Litecky, Arnett, &
Prabhakar, 2004). In addition to technical skills, non-technical skills are
necessary for survival and growth. Non-technical skills are less precise
and generally referred to as soft skills, organisational skills, or people
skills (Cash, Yoong, & Huff, 2004; Gallagher, Kaiser, Simon, Beath, &
Goles, 2010; Litecky et al., 2004; Young, 1996). Soft skills are affected
by emotional quotient and influence how an individual manages be-
havioural tasks. As professionals work in close collaboration with sev-
eral stakeholders, non-technical skills assume great significance along
with technical skills (Yen, Lee, & Koh, 2001).
Many studies have been conducted on soft skills required for ICT
professionals. In fact, several authors have given priority to non-tech-
nical skills over technical skills In fact, many authors prioritize non-
technical skills over technical skills, this importance of non-technical
skills increases with increased complexity of projects (Agrawal & Thite,
2006; Hazzan & Har-Shai, 2013). While studies have indicated skill-
gaps in relation to both technical and non-technical skills (Ashenhurst,
1972; Lee & Lee, 2006; Trauth, Farwell, & Lee, 1993), the gap has been
found to be wider for non-technical or soft skills (Benamati, Ozdemir, &
Smith, 2010; Colomo-Palacios, Casado-Lumbreras, Soto-Acosta, GarcíA-
PeñAlvo, & Tovar-Caro, 2013; Lee, Koh, Yen, & Tang, 2002). The gap
between desired and possessed soft skills inspired our research on the
soft skill gap in the ICT sector.
The primary objective of our study is three-fold. First, this study
attempts to identify the significant attributes and factors for the de-
velopment of soft skill in ICT professionals. Second, the study intends to
detect the perceived-expectancy gap in soft skills that exists between
ICT practitioners and students. Finally, this study aims to find out the
factors that influence the perceived-expectancy gap in soft skills.
Although this study is important for all five computing streams, but due
to close collaboration with business organizations, the importance of
soft skills in the IS and IT fields increases even further. To address the
objectives, we performed a survey-based empirical work.
The paper is structured as follows: The next section explains em-
ployability theories and the theory adopted to explain the perceived
expectancy of skills and its effect on performance and employability.
Section 3 reviews relevant literature on employability, soft skills and
soft skill gap. Section 4 explains the research methods adopted. Section
5 displays the results of data analysis. Section 6 presents discussion
related to the key elements of the study, including theoretical and
practical implications. The last section provides conclusion with future
scope and limitations of the study.
2. Literature review
2.1. Employability
Employability is one’s ability to gain initial employment, maintain
that employment, and get new employment when needed (Lee et al.,
2002; Yorke & Knight, 2004). It has to do with an individual’s cap-
abilities, knowledge and skill and enables a person to find a job that
provides satisfaction (Finch, Hamilton, Baldwin, & Zehner, 2013).
Employability acts as a facilitator for both individuals as well as orga-
nisations (Van der Heijden, de Lange, Demerouti, & Van der Heijde,
2009). Employability is explained by three key outlooks - individuals,
organisations, and government and educational institutions. Profes-
sionals, seek to develop employability for career advancement. Orga-
nizations or employers, who are direct beneficiaries of skills exploita-
tion (Wye & Lim, 2009), seek employable candidates to best match their
need and available resources, Government and educational institutions
are also willing to maximize overall employment. Employability is vast
as a concept that is affected by the demand and supply of employment
as well as the workforce (Hillage & Pollard, 1998; McQuaid & Lindsay,
2005; Nilsson, 2010; Thijssen, Van der Heijden, & Rocco, 2008). Dif-
ficult comprehension of employability may be due to the fact as it
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International Journal of Information Management 50 (2020) 375–386
works as a highly dynamic approach that changes constantly and is
tricky to measure. As discussed earlier many authors have described the
various facets of employment where soft skills such as personal skills,
emotional-intelligence, and self-confidence are crucial components.
2.2. Employability and soft skills
Employability is enhanced by the right blend of soft skills, hard
skills and personal attributes. ICT being a service sector, the importance
of soft skills increases therein, and studies state that the lack of soft
skills in graduates is a primary challenge for the sector (Nguyen, 1998;
Schulz, 2008). Soft skills are non-academic skills that prove to be useful
throughout the employment and are an important forecaster of em-
ployability. Although soft skills cannot be equated with employability,
such skills are crucial to obtaining and remaining in employment
throughout the hierarchy (Rosenberg, Heimler, & Morote, 2012). Like
employability, soft skill is also a vast and interchangeable concept; soft
skills have also been called people skills, employability skills, emotional
skills etc. (Lavy & Yadin, 2013; Pinkowska, Lent, & Keretho, 2011). Soft
skills encompass a wide range of attributes, and many of them are vital
for ICT professionals.
Numerous authors have pointed out the discrepancies between de-
sired and possessed levels of soft skills in ICT professionals, and the lack
of such skills in ICT graduates. (Colomo-Palacios et al., 2013; Lee et al.,
2002; Rosenberg et al., 2012, 1993; Yen et al., 2001). The divergence
between soft skill preparation at the academic level and industry re-
quirements has been referred to as an "expectation gap" (Trauth et al.,
1993). While skills impede overall career development of any profes-
sional, such deficiencies on the other hand impede new and innovative
product development in the organization and the ability to compete
with competitors (Jackson & Chapman, 2012). At the macro level, this
drawback also creates obstacles in the development of the entire sector.
For any professional, skill gap hampers overall career development.
Existing literature states that graduates have considerable deficiencies
in self-motivation and higher-order thinking skills such as problem-
solving and critical thinking. The high discrepancy indicates that un-
derstanding regarding the importance of different skills is not consistent
among IS / IT practitioners and academics.
Many authors consider academia as the main cause of this in-
sufficiency as academics rate soft skills lower than what IS practitioners
do (Gallivan, Truex, & Kvasny, 2004; Lee et al., 2002; Lethbridge, 2000;
Nangia & Pramanik, 2011; Trauth et al., 1993). According to the au-
thors, academia considers technical skills to be more important than
soft skills and is reluctant to extend these skills to students, creating a
soft skill gap. On the other hand, educational institutions accuse the
industry of not giving accurate information about the skills required.
Furthermore, the skills mentioned as desirable by employers in job
advertisements are quite different from the skills required during the
selection process. Todd, McKeen, and Gallupe (1995), has described the
difference between the desired skills mentioned in advertisements and
decisive skills at the time of the selection process as the recruitment
gap. Recruitment gap misleads both academics and graduates about
desired skills (Todd et al., 1995). Thus, to improve the growth trajec-
tory of ICT sector, addressing the skill gap is very important.
3. Theoretical background and hypotheses development
3.1. Employability theories
While the goal of the study is to examine soft skills critical to em-
ployment, it is essential to understand the concept of employability to
recognize why soft skills are essential to employability. Yorke and
Knight (2004) defined employability as a multidimensional and com-
plex concept. Simplifying the concept, they stated that employability
was a synergistic combination of personal qualities, various skills and
subject knowledge. They proposed the USEM model of employability on
R. Singh Dubey and V. Tiwari
the basis of capabilities. USEM is an acronym for understanding (sub-
ject), skills (generic and subject-specific), efficacy (personal qualities
including self-theories) and metacognition (including reflection). The
model states the interconnection among all the components where
personal quality influences the rest of the three components which are
mutually supportive of each other. The importance of generic skills for
employability is also reinforced by the career edge model (Pool &
Sewell, 2007). The mnemonic career edge describes five essential and
mutually overlapping components, namely career development
learning, life and work experience, subject knowledge and skills, gen-
eric skills and emotional intelligence. Reflection through these experi-
ences results in the development of self-efficacy, self-esteem and self-
confidence which leads to enhancement of employability. Two com-
ponents of the low tier - generic skills and emotional intelligence - and
all the three upper-tier components (career development learning, life
and work experience, subject knowledge and skills) of this model form
part of soft skills. These theories state the importance of soft skills
(personal attributes and generic skills) to the development of employ-
ability. Hence, any gap in soft skills affects employability of individuals.
3.2. Vroom’s expectancy theory
Vroom’s expectancy theory states that individuals tend to exhibit
behaviour according to the outcome of a particular task. It is the belief
that a particular effort (behaviour) will result in the attainment of the
desired goal (Vroom, 1964). Expectancy is more about the personal
choices of the individual. Here, expectancy is the belief about the extent
of efforts that will lead to desired performance. Instrumentality is the
perception of employees about the rewards they anticipate due to
performance. Instrumentality is affected by a clear understanding of
performance and rewards, level of confidence in authorities and
transparency of processes. Valance refers to the emotional orientation
and affinity of a person towards the outcome.
Thus, desired outcomes are conscious choices of the individual
among available alternatives that vary from extrinsic to intrinsic.
Vroom suggested a positive relationship between people’s behaviour at
work and their goal. He stated that individual efforts influenced em-
ployee performance which depends on factors such as resources, per-
sonality, skills, knowledge, experience, ability and various employment
conditions.
For this study, goal or outcome is employability, achieved through
the desired level of performance and efforts are the soft skills exhibited
by the employee. Practitioners have a particular perception regarding
the amount of effort exerted by new entrants that leads to performance
that is an instrumentality for the desired outcome or employability.
Outcome or employability includes: ability to get a job (according to an
individual’s capacity), remaining in the job, growing in the system, and
capability of reemployment. Similarly, prospective professionals or
students also have a certain level of perceived expectancy regarding the
level of soft skills that could support their performance for better em-
ployability and enhancing their worth. Any discrepancy between the
perceived expectancy of practitioners and potential employees may
lead to a decreased probability of longing level of employability. Fig. 1
explains the theoretical framework for the study.
3.3. Hypotheses development
Although extant literature has theorised the standing of soft skills in
the ICT sector and also established the discrepancies that lie between
academia and industry regarding the perception towards soft skill at-
tributes, no known study articulates the difference or consistency that
could lie within between practitioners and graduates. With this study,
we have tried to fill the above mentioned research gaps by determining
the discrepancies that lie between academics and industry regarding
the perception of soft skill gaps, and examining causes of the same.
Hypotheses were constructed with the aid of research objectives and
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International Journal of Information Management 50 (2020) 375–386
current literature review. Through these hypotheses, we want to get a
clear picture of the soft skills required for the ICT sector and deficiency
of those skills in novice ICT practitioners. Literature has highlighted the
importance of soft skills in the ICT sector. As mentioned earlier, soft
skills positively impact employment, so graduates seeking employment
in the future must equip themselves with these skills. Prior studies have
shown differences between students' preparedness and industry ex-
pectation regarding these skills. But the gap was seen between the
preparation of the students and the expectation of the industry re-
garding the soft skills. Hence, the study proposed the following hy-
pothesis:
H1. Significant perceived expectancy gap is present between students
and practitioners regarding various soft skills attributes.
Soft skills have different subsets or factors that are formed by the
combination of several traits. Individuals having a particular factor
show certain characteristics in their personality, such as leadership,
interpersonal skills, team skills etc. Variation in attributes also affects
the difference in perceptions of students and practitioners towards level
of desired expertise and soft skills. Ample studies have shown a lack of
leadership, interpersonal skills, etc. Thus, this study proposes:
H2. There is a perceived expectancy gap between students and
practitioners regarding various factors of soft skills.
There are conflicting opinions among practitioners with respect to
difference in perception towards soft skills due to gender. Some authors
consider it to be the reason for the above mentioned difference
(McMurtrey, Downey, Zeltmann, & Friedman, 2008) while others
contradict this relationship (Gallivan, 2004). These disagreements en-
couraged us to scrutinize the effect of gender on the perception of
practitioners. It is thus hypothesized:
H3. Perceived importance of soft skills required for novice professionals
differs with gender of practitioners.
There are limited studies discussing the effect of management level
on perception towards desired soft skills. Few studies discuss how level
of management affects perception about desired soft skills in novice ICT
professionals. Some articles state that inequality in the rating of soft
skill factors arises due to the level of management (McMurtrey et al.,
2008; Zaharim, Ahmad, Yusoff, Omar, & Basri, 2012). Thus our next
hypothesis is:
H4. Perceived expectancy of the importance of soft skill factors
required for novice professionals is statistically affected by
management level of practitioners.
Some authors have studied the effect of experience of professionals
on perception of desired soft skills factors (McMurtrey et al., 2008;
Zaharim et al., 2012). Taking the statement forward, we developed the
following hypothesis:
H5. Perceived importance of soft skills desired in novice professionals
differs with experience amongst practitioner.
Studies indicate that gender of students affects perception towards
desired soft skill attributes. While some empirical evidence supports the
effect of gender (Beyer & Bowden, 1997; Jamali, Sidani, & Abu-Zaki,
2008; Lerouge, Newton, & Blanton, 2005), a few other authors reject
the relationship (Chinn & Vandegrift, 2007; Hopkins & Bilimoria,
2008). The above contradictions prompted us to offer the following
hypothesis:
H6. Perceived importance of soft skill factors does not vary statistically
with gender amongst IT students.
English is the most used language in the ICT sector; it globally
dominates other languages (Devadason, Subramaniam, & Daniel, 2010;
Gurcharan & Shar, 2016; Hanapiah, 2004; Husain, Mustapha, Malik, &
Mokhtar, 2014). In non-English speaking countries, authors have
R. Singh Dubey and V. Tiwari
Fig. 1. Perceived Expectancy of Soft skill for gaining employability, based on Vroom’s expectancy theory (Vroom, 1964).
considered poor English language skills as a main reason for low em-
ployability. Proficiency in English language also boosts the confidence
of the person and is instrumental in the development of other soft skills
attributes such as presentation (Shakir, 2009), dealing with cultural
diversity, etc. Therefore, it is posited:
H7. Perceived importance of soft skill factors differs with medium of
education in class 12th among ICT students.
Authors confirmed that HEI (Higher Education Institutes) are re-
sponsible for the development of technical and non-technical skills in
graduates (Abas-Mastura, Imam, & Osman, 2013; Eigelaar, 2012;
Pillutla & Alladi, 2013; Wye & Lim, 2009). Many studies have suggested
that the difference in the level of efficiency among students is due to the
type of institution (Ilavarasan, 2007). Considering the statements
above, the study puts forth the hypothesis:
H8. Perceived importance of soft skill factors varies statistically due to
the type of institute where students pursue their graduation.
4. Research methodology
4.1. Sample selection
We included two samples for the study - IT/CS students pursuing
their graduation, and ICT practitioners. The reason for taking these two
groups into the study was that they are direct beneficiaries of em-
ployment; the first group is of employers who provide employment and
the second is the students as recipients. Since the technical institutes
and IT organizations in India are very large in number and display great
diversity, it was very difficult to include all of them in the study, thus,
the study included professionals from the top-five IT companies of
India, and students from centrally funded technical institutions (CFTIs)
run by the central government in different parts of India. Feedback
received from them would also be helpful in the standardization of soft
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International Journal of Information Management 50 (2020) 375–386
skills. For the practitioners’ sample, we included professionals from
India’s top five IT companies (by turnover). We sent 600 questionnaires
to professionals through email or hard copy. After rejecting 12 re-
sponses, 269 usable responses were retained from the practitioners'
group. For the students' group, we targeted IT and computer science
seventh-semester students from 12 CFTI's (Centrally Funded Technical
Institutes) of India. Out of 353 responses, we get 329 valid responses
after discarding 33 incomplete responses. Participation in the study was
voluntary, and participants were assured confidentiality of their re-
sponses.
4.2. The research variables/Soft skill attributes
For extracting soft skill attributes to be included in the second part
of the questionnaires, qualitative approach was adopted. We performed
a literature review of 324 articles on soft skills in ICT sector. Out of
these, 67 papers were found appropriate for the identification of soft
skill attributes, and the remaining 257 articles were used for the other
part of the study. From the 67 works of literature, we identified 71
attributes. Finally, fifty-three attributes were identified as vital after
removal of analogies from seventy-one attributes. These 53 soft skill
attributes were variable for part 2 of the questionnaire. List of all 53
attributes is presented in Table 1.
4.3. Instrument development
Two survey questionnaires were developed to collect data for the
study. One for the students’ group and the other for the practitioners’
group. Both questionnaires contained two parts. Part one of the ques-
tionnaire consisted of demographic questions. As there were different
types of demographic queries, this part has different questions for both
groups. For students’, demographic questions were about their gender,
type of board in class 12th, medium of education up to class 12th
(English or regional language), and questions related to occupation and
R. Singh Dubey and V. Tiwari International Journal of Information Management 50 (2020) 375–386

Table 1 students were studying in NITs, followed by IITs and IIIT. On stratifying
Soft skill Development attributes. the data by class 12th board, most of the respondent belongs to Central
Source: Literature Review by authors Board of Secondary Education, next to them lies various State boards
S No. Attributes S No. Attributes and least number of them belong to the Indian School Certificate. Most
of the respondents had English as a medium of instruction in class 12.
1. Verbal Communication 28. Learning Ability
2. Problem-solving 29. Work Under Pressure
5. Results
3. Customer Orientation 30. Attention for Details
4. Listening Skills 31. Entrepreneurship
5. Innovative 32. Diligent 5.1. Operationalisation of factors
6. Self-Motivated 33. Stress Management
7. Writing Skills 34. Disciplined
Factor analysis was performed to fulfil the first objective, i.e.,
8. Punctuality 35. Respect for Others
9. Work Ethics/Honesty 36. Proactivity
identifying significant factors in soft skill development of ICT profes-
10 Adaptability/ Flexibility 37. Result Oriented sionals; we examined practitioners’ data through principal component
11. Decision Making 38. Charismatic Personality factor analysis with varimax as orthogonal rotation. For attaining sta-
12. Critical Thinking 39. Helping Others bility in the structure, we adhered to two rules: (1) loadings less than
13. Negotiation or Persuade 40. Inquisitiveness
.45; and (2) loadings of more than .45 on two or more scale factors. The
14. Work Independently 41. Willingness to Share Knowledge
15. Understand cultural 42. Etiquette attributes that fell under aforesaid categories are excluded. We removed
diversity nine attributes/variables by repeated valuation and elimination. With
16. Conflict Management 43. Face Challenges the remaining 44 variables, a stable set was generated with six factors -
17. Presentation Skills 44. Self Esteem
personal skill, leadership skill, interpersonal skill, team skill, en-
18. Professionalism 45. Ability to Accept Feedback Politely
19. Creativity 46. Capacity to Express
terprising skill, and organisational skill.
20. Sociability 47. Locating Information Personal skills, a key soft skill factor, is reflected in every action of a
21. Ability to Give Feedback 48. Cope Setback/Learn from Mistake person. It not only has a direct effect on the person's performance, but
22. Responsible 49. Non-Verbal Communication also assists in the development of other soft skill factors. The first factor
23. Ability to Apply Knowledge 50. Perfection
- personal skill - affects other non-skill components of employment as
24. Empathetic 51. Evaluation of Result
25. Confidence 52. Asking for Assistance When different people react differently to the same situation according to
Required their personality. The second factor – leadership - is a specialty that an
26. Ability to Motivate Others 53. Tackling Unpleasant Situation organisation wants from a particular person. Such professionals are self-
27. Multitasking motivated and inspire others for the accomplishment of tasks. The
importance of leadership characteristics increases with hierarchy. This
factor is the chief predictor of the professional development of an in-
education of parents. For professionals, demographic questions were
dividual along with the well-being of organisations. Interpersonal skill
about their gender, age, marital status, experience, years of service in
(the third factor) refers to a person's disposition towards others, and
the current organisation, nature of the job, level of management, au-
how he/she interacts in a social setting. It is one of the most sought-
thority in the selection process. The second part of the questionnaire
after skills and helps novice professionals in smooth acclimatization to
was identical for both the groups. In this part, respondents were asked
the work environment. Interpersonal skills catalyze overall team per-
to evaluate and rate the significance of soft skills attributes according to
formance and help manage conflicts. The fourth factor - team skill - is
their perception. Ratings for soft skill traits were to be given on a five-
valued highly in professions where tasks are usually assigned in teams,
point Likert type scale.
like the IT industry. It is the ability to pursue opportunities and solve
problems while working with people from various backgrounds and
4.4. Reliability and validity of the data functionality for the achievement of a common goal. This skill en-
courages a person to follow group norms through attributes like respect
For internal validity, we performed a pilot study. The questionnaire and self-discipline. The collection of people creates a powerful force,
administered for validity test was the same as the main study. Two making teamwork an important factor. The fifth factor - organizational
samples were taken for each group of teachers, students and practi- skills - enables a person to perform efficiently and effectively. With
tioners. We asked the subjects to give feedback on any ambiguity or better organisational skills, a person can prioritize things and accord-
difficulty in the questionnaire, and modified it accordingly. During the ingly accomplish various tasks. People with better organisational skills
process, we ensured that the questions were interpreted in the way are also good at documentation and multitasking. The last factor - en-
intended. After completing the procedure, a reliability test was per- terprising skill - adds resourcefulness and independent working capa-
formed. Reliability is reported in terms of Cronbach α that ranges be- city in professionals. It is also about gaining advantage through use of
tween 0–1 and the construct is considered to be reliable for α > 0.7. information. Enterprising skill enables a person to think out of the box
For the pilot, we took 20 subjects from each group of practitioners and and generate innovative ideas.
students. Cronbach α for the practitioners’ group was 0.954, for stu- These six factors explained 56.37 per cent of the variance in data.
dents’ group, it was 0.904. Thus, for both the groups, the survey in- Six factors, with their related attributes, factor loading and value of
strument achieved reliably, and hence was ready to be used for the Cronbach’s alpha, are displayed in Table 2. The Cronbach’s alpha value
main study. of more than 0.7 for all the six factors confirmed the reliability of the
factors (Cronbach, 1951; George & Mallery, 2003). Further analysis was
4.5. Demographic characteristics of the data done with the forty-four characteristics and six factors. Results of factor
analysis fulfil the first objective, i.e., identification of significant attri-
The practitioners’ sample comprised 269 employees. Male re- butes and factors vital to the development of soft skills in ICT profes-
spondents were more in number. Majority of respondents were between sionals.
26–36 years of age. Most respondents possessed less than five years of
experience, followed by professionals having 11–15 years and 15 years 5.2. Examining the perceived expectancy gap in soft skill attributes and
of experience. Thus, entry-level professionals were more in number factors
than middle level professionals. Professionals at higher levels were least
in number. The students’ sample also had more male respondents; Independent t-test was performed on each of the 44 soft skill

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Table 2
Factors with the corresponding attribute.
Factor Dimensions Cronbach α Factor Loads Factor Dimensions Cronbach α Factor Loads

Personal skill .931 Ability to persuade/Negotiate .576

Ready to face challenges .721 Effective presentation skills .574
Inquisitiveness .692 Accepting compliment in a polite way .546
Result oriented .641 Giving feedback in a constructive manner .507
Attention to details .639 Ability to tackle unpleasant situation .464
Ability to cope setback .629 Share others feeling empathetically .658
Diligent/Methodic .620
Coping stress .592 Team skills .778
Ability to work under pressure .578 Etiquette .624
Ability to apply knowledge .548 Asking for assistance when required .605
Responsible .539 Learning ability/willingness to learn .534
Customer-oriented .529 Respect for people .509
Professionalism in work .526 Disciplined .475
Proactive .503
Critical thinking ability .460 Enterprising skill .797
Having ethics/honesty in work .455 Being creative .659
Ready to face challenges .721 Entrepreneurship .657
Innovative .654
Leadership skill .850 Able to work independently .527
Self-Motivated .658 Competency in locating vital information .453
Listen actively to others. .640

Notes: Principal Component Factor Analysis with Varimax Rotation. Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of Sampling Adequacy.

attributes extracted after performing EFA on ICT practitioners to de-
termine the difference in perceived expectancy of students and practi-
tioners with respect to desired soft skill attributes in novice ICT pro-
fessionals. Comparing the students’ group [N = 329] and ICT
practitioners [N = 269], three out of forty-four attributes - social net-
work, multitasking, and ability to work under pressure - were found to
have a statistically insignificant difference as depicted in Table 3. The
rest of the 41 skills were found to have a statistically significant P value,
indicating that respondents did not have a similar outlook towards soft
skill attributes. Independent t-test only tells us the significance or in-
significance of differences among groups and does not explain the
magnitude of differences (Cohen, 1992).
Thus, to investigate the magnitude of differences among various
attributes, the standardised measure of effect (Cohen’s d) was ex-
amined. The value of Cohen’s d enables us to interpret the criticality of
the variance of various attributes by effect size (Cohen, 1992). Value of
Cohen’s d was maximum for proactive, whereas it came out minimum
for pleasing personality. Independent t-test results supported hypothesis
H1, confirming the perceived expectancy gap between students and
practitioners for various soft skills attributes.
The formula for Cohen’s d
M1 − M2
d=
SDpooled
Where M1is mean of group 1, M2 is mean of group 2; SD pooled is pooled
standard deviations for the two groups. The formula for SD pooled is:
2
SD12 − SD2
SDpooled =
2
The SD12 and SD22 are the standard deviations for group 1 and
group 2 respectively.
The independent t-test for factors revealed that the differences were
significant with all the factors - personal skills, leadership skills, inter-
personal skills, team skills, enterprising, and organisational skill. Value
of Cohen’s d was maximum for personality and least for enterprising
skill. Table 4 depicts the results of the independent t-test for factors.
Independent t-test results support H2, establishing the perceived ex-
pectancy gap for various soft skills factors.
5.3. Effect of backgrounds on the importance of soft skills factors
To analyse the impact of various backgrounds on the development
of soft skills, we performed a MANOVA test.
5.3.1. Effect of gender, experience and level of management of the
practitioners on perceived importance of soft skill factor
Box’s test of equality of covariance tests the assumption of homo-
geneity of covariance across groups with criteria of p < .001. For
gender, management level and experience, insignificant Box M value
qualify the assumption of covariance matrices between the groups to be
equal. Unequal group size of practitioners based on gender, manage-
ment level and experience, indicated the violation of the assumption of
the equal cell, hence we opted to measure the most robust Pillai’s trace
for inferring MANOVA results. One-way MANOVA results showed non-
significant difference in perceived importance of soft skill factors for
every tested category, i.e. gender, management level, and experience.
Results of MANOVA are depicted in Table 5. These three Manova re-
sults reject hypotheses H3, H4, and H5.
5.3.2. Effect of gender, medium of education and type of institute on
perceived importance of soft skill factors amongst graduates
While testing the assumption of homogeneity of covariance for
gender, medium of education and institutes, P value less than .001 in-
dicated non-significance of the Box M value, meeting the assumption of
equal covariance matrix between groups.
For all the categories, i.e., gender, medium of education, and in-
stitute, there is a violation of the MANOVA assumption of equal cell
size. Hence, we opted for robust Pillai’s Trace for inferring MANOVA
results. The results of one-way MANOVA shown in Table 6 indicate that
the difference in the perceived importance of soft skill factor was non-
significant due to gender and medium of education in class 12th, but
significant due to institutions where students pursued their technical
studies. The results of MANOVA for the effect of gender and medium of
education on soft skills reject hypotheses H6 and H7 but support hy-
pothesis H8.
5.3.2.1. Post-hoc test for type of institute as an independent variable. As
MANOVA results for type of institute were found to be significant, the
researchers decided to extend the analysis further by conducting a
series of ANOVAs, which is similar to conducting an individual ANOVA.
Before performing ANOVA, Levene’s test of homogeneity of variance

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Table 3
Independent-test for soft skill attributes.
Soft skill Attributes Levene's Test for Equality of Variances t-test for Equality of Means

Equal variances F Sig. t df p Cohen's d

Proactive Not Assumed 6.37 0.01 −13.90 594.47 0.00* 1.14

Having good Social network Assumed 0.03 0.87 0.13 596.00 0.90 0.01
Having good writing skills Assumed 0.35 0.56 −7.72 596.00 0.00* 0.64
Multitasking Not Assumed 14.91 0.00 −1.87 592.26 0.06 0.16
Problem solving aptitude Assumed 2.56 0.11 −8.69 596.00 0.00* 0.72
Coping stress Not Assumed 14.24 0.00 −2.42 591.89 0.02* 0.21
Ability to take decisions Assumed 0.72 0.40 −4.20 596.00 0.00* 0.35
Listen actively to others Not Assumed 30.44 0.00 −10.90 592.61 0.00* 0.88
Good command on verbal communication Not Assumed 15.98 0.00 −9.79 591.60 0.00* 0.81
Flexibility while working with others Not Assumed 7.25 0.01 −6.12 581.67 0.00* 0.51
Self-Motivated Not Assumed 28.40 0.00 −8.24 594.00 0.00* 0.66
Ability to apply knowledge Not Assumed 11.94 0.00 −8.18 595.12 0.00* 0.67
Punctuality/time management Not Assumed 42.42 0.00 −10.30 587.98 0.00* 0.84
Effective non-verbal communication skills Assumed 1.84 0.18 −6.44 596.00 0.00* 0.54
Cultural awareness Assumed 2.94 0.09 −4.89 596.00 0.00* 0.41
Learning ability/willingness to learn Not Assumed 32.90 0.00 −11.20 589.11 0.00* 0.91
Share others feeling empathetically Assumed 3.55 0.06 −3.56 596.00 0.00* 0.30
Having ethics/honesty in working Not Assumed 28.71 0.00 −5.75 595.71 0.00* 0.47
Ability to tackle an unpleasant situation Not Assumed 13.32 0.00 −4.52 586.48 0.00* 0.37
Customer oriented Not Assumed 3.89 0.05 −12.20 590.19 0.00* 1.00
Result Oriented Not Assumed 5.35 0.02 −6.57 578.13 0.00* 0.54
Diligent/Methodic Assumed 2.05 0.15 −6.68 596.00 0.00* 0.55
Inquisitiveness Not Assumed 4.72 0.03 −8.42 586.20 0.00* 0.70
Ability to cope setback Assumed 1.38 0.24 −4.04 596.00 0.00* 0.34
Giving feedback in a constructive manner Not Assumed 3.89 0.05 −4.61 586.91 0.00* 0.36
Attention to details Not Assumed 19.26 0.00 −7.90 593.81 0.00* 0.65
Ready to face challenges Assumed 3.15 0.08 −2.68 596.00 0.01* 0.21
Ability to work under pressure Not Assumed 10.41 0.00 −1.67 591.54 0.10 0.13
Effective presentation skills Assumed 0.17 0.68 −5.35 596.00 0.00* 0.44
Ability to persuade/Negotiate Not Assumed 5.64 0.02 −3.80 590.59 0.00* 0.32
Asking for assistance when required Not Assumed 12.76 0.00 −6.95 595.01 0.00* 0.57
Respect for people Not Assumed 22.19 0.00 −4.68 595.25 0.00* 0.38
Pleasing /Charismatic Personality Assumed 0.26 0.61 −2.12 596.00 0.04* 0.17
Professionalism in work Not Assumed 8.29 0.00 −6.80 590.51 0.00* 0.52
Disciplined Not Assumed 31.74 0.00 −7.43 595.85 0.00* 0.60
Etiquette Not Assumed 9.81 0.00 −4.49 591.74 0.00* 0.37
Critical thinking ability Not Assumed 7.76 0.01 −7.54 570.57 0.00* 0.63
Innovative Not Assumed 14.69 0.00 −7.98 592.51 0.00* 0.65
Accepting compliment in polite way Not Assumed 8.74 0.00 −5.11 592.50 0.00* 0.43
Able to work independently Assumed 3.65 0.06 −3.88 596.00 0.00* 0.32
Responsible Not Assumed 12.02 0.00 −5.01 593.13 0.00* 0.41
Entrepreneurship Not Assumed 7.05 0.01 −4.44 595.85 0.00* 0.36
Being creative Assumed 3.57 0.06 −4.49 596.00 0.00* 0.37
Competency in locating vital information Assumed 0.24 0.63 −4.55 596.00 0.00* 0.38

Note. * = Independent t-test was statistically significant (p < 0.05).

assumption for all the six dependent variables was performed. The significant MANOVA results. Table 7 shows that all the six ANOVAs
outcomes of the Levene’s F test were statistically insignificant were statically significant where the effect size (partial η2) of the
(P > .05) and therefore, satisfied the assumption. A series of ANOVA variable ranged from the lowest .020 (enterprising skill) to the highest
for all the dependent variables was performed as a follow-up of .070 (personal skill)

Table 4
Independent-test for soft skill factors.
Factors Group M SD SEM t DF P Cohan’s d

Personal Skill Professionals 4.04 .63 .039 10.63 503.87 .000* 0.98
Students 3.53 .50 .028
Leadership Skill Professionals 4.16 .61 .037 12.03 596 .000* 0.88
Students 3.58 .56 .031
Interpersonal Skill Professionals 3.65 .65 .039 6.39 533.70 .000* 0.85
Students 3.33 .56 .031
Organisational Skill Professionals 3.66 .64 .039 7.74 596 .000* 0.64
Students 3.25 .66 .036
Team Skill Professionals 3.96 .62 .038 10.37 596 .000* 0.60
Students 3.42 .63 .035
Enterprising Skill Professionals 3.82 .70 .043 7.33 596 .000* 0.53
Students 3.42 .64 .035

Note. * = Independent t-test was statistically significant (p < 0.05).

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Table 5 Table 8
Results of one-way MANOVA for practitioners. Mean difference in Soft skill between the institutes.
Box’s test of equality MANOVA tests Soft Skill Factors IITs vs IIITs IITs vs NITs IIITs vs. NITs Mean d

Effect Box’s M Sig. Pillai’s Trace F statistics Sig. Personal 0.21* 0.31* 0.10 0.20
Leadership 0.03 0.20* 0.17 0.13
Gender 45.688 .002 .029 1.295 .260 Interpersonal 0.13 0.23* 0.10 0.15
Management level 70.002 .029 .034 .757 .696 Team 0.04 0.28* 0.24* 0.19
Experience 110.17 .001 .077 1.151 .297 Enterprising skill 0.06 0.20* 0.14 0.13
Organisational skill 0.10 0.24* 0.13 0.16
*P < 0.001.
Note. * =Post-hoc comparisons were statistically significant (p < 0.05) based
Table 6 on Fisher’s LSD test.
Results of one-way MANOVA for students.
including students as one group was the fact that their acquired com-
Effect Box’s test of equality MANOVA tests
petency would be carried forward when they become novice profes-
Box’s M Sig. Pillai’s F statistics Sig. sionals. While determining the difference in perception between the
Trace two groups for 41 properties out of 44, the t-test showed that the dif-
ference existed between the two groups for all six factors named above.
Gender 21.331 .481 .037 2.043 .060
Mean scores indicated that leadership was the most important factor by
Medium of education 27.711 .184 .012 .654 .687
Institute 52.232 .176 .097 2.727 .001* both groups, which is in consonance with earlier studies (Keil, Lee, &
Deng, 2013; Topi et al., 2010). Enterprising skill was considered the
* P < 0.001. third most important factor by both the groups. Interpersonal skills,
which has been considered the most important feature in some earlier
Finally, a series of Fisher’s LSD post-hoc analysis was carried out to studies (Aasheim, Li, Shropshire, & Kadlec, 2011; Watson, Young,
scrutinise the difference in perceived expectancy of required soft skill Miranda, Robichaux, & Seerley, 1990), was far behind other factors in
factors by students studying in different types of institutes. Table 8 the results we obtained and was ranked last by importance. As far as
shows the mean difference of soft skill factors among the institute. team skill and personal traits are concerned, the study confirms their
For all the factors, there was a significant difference between IIT and importance in line with previous studies (Bailey & Stefaniak, 1999;
NITs, where IIT students perceived all these factors with greater im- Woodward, Sendall, & Ceccucci, 2010). The value of Cohen’s d revealed
portance than NIT students. Between IITs and IIITs, only one factor that the maximum visible difference was for personal skill followed by
(Personal skill) showed a significant difference in the rating of its per- leadership skills, interpersonal skills, organisational skills, team skills,
ceived importance. Between IIIT and NITs, there was a difference of and enterprising skills.
opinion for team skill only. The result showed an interesting trend - in Our next objective was to explore the impact of various back-
all the cases, the mean score of IIT group was highest, followed by IIIT grounds of respondents on soft skills perception. We studied the effect
and NITs. The lowest mean score was with NIT. of different backgrounds of both groups on 6 factors of soft skills.
Through the MANOVA test, we tested the effect of gender, management
6. Discussion level and experience on perception towards soft skills. The obtained
results showed no effect of any of the above backgrounds on perception
The first objective of this study was to identify the soft skill attri- towards soft skills. Our results are in contrast with prior studies sug-
butes and factors required for newly selected IT professionals. To this gesting differences in soft skills due to gender (Jamali et al., 2008;
end, we first performed a literature review and generated a list of de- McMurtrey et al., 2008), experience (Jamali et al., 2008; McMurtrey
sirable qualities mentioned by authors. Thus, we listed total 53 attri- et al., 2008) or level of management (Wu, Chen, & Chang, 2007). The
butes. Through factor analysis, we got 44 vital attributes out of 53 study is in line with earlier studies which stated that experience and
traits, clustered into six factors - personal skill, leadership skill, inter- gender do not affect the importance of soft skills (Al-Gahtani, Hubona,
personal skill, organizational skill, team skill, and enterprising skill. & Wang, 2007; Hopkins & Bilimoria, 2008).
Enterprising skill has not been cited in literature related to the ICT For students' data also, we applied the MANOVA test to find out the
sector, though it has been mentioned in studies from other fields effect of their background on 6 factors of soft skill. Results indicated
(Broad, 2007; Dalyan, 2004; Swanson, 1993; Turner, 2002). that although there was no difference in students' perception of soft
To serve the second purpose of the research, i.e., determine the soft skills due to gender and medium of instruction, institutions were a
skill gap, we carried out an independent t-test on the responses received determinant of the diversity of soft skills (Lethbridge, 2000; Roberts,
from students and practitioners. Hitherto, literature has either men- 2000; de Grandbois, 2013; Cimatti, 2016). On getting significant
tioned existing differences between teachers and professionals, or in- MANOVA test results for institutes, we conducted the Post hoc test
experienced and experienced professionals. The main reason for among the institutes in which the highest mean for soft skill perception

Table 7
One-Way ANOVA’s with Soft Skill Subscale as Dependent Variable and Type of Institute as Independent Variable.
Factors Levene’s ANOVAs IITs IIITs NITs

F (2,329) P F (2,329) P η2 M SD M SD M SD

Personal 1.27 0.28 12.35 0.00 0.07 3.74 0.47 3.53 0.54 3.43 0.47
Leadership Skill 0.09 0.92 4.68 0.01 0.03 3.69 0.56 3.67 0.53 3.50 0.55
Interpersonal Skill 0.45 0.64 5.21 0.01 0.03 3.48 0.59 3.35 0.58 3.25 0.53
Team Skill 2.08 0.13 7.67 0.00 0.05 3.59 0.68 3.55 0.65 3.31 0.58
Enterprising skill 2.39 0.09 3.40 0.04 0.02 3.55 0.54 3.49 0.71 3.35 0.65
Organisational skill 0.45 0.64 4.27 0.02 0.03 3.40 0.70 3.30 0.60 3.16 0.64

Note. N = 326, η2 =Partial eta squared.

382
R. Singh Dubey and V. Tiwari
was observed by IITs, followed by IIITs and NITs(IITs > IIITs > NITs).
Results reported a significant difference in the mean score between IIT
and NIT groups for all the six factors; maximum difference was with
respect to personal skill, while the difference in perception between
NITS and IIITs was only seen for team skills. Similarly, we saw a dis-
crepancy related to personal skills between IIT and IIIT groups. Results
confirmed that discrepancies in perceptions towards soft skills were
affected by academic institutions.
6.1. Theoretical implications
The study makes at least four contributions to extant body of
knowledge. First, it establishes the significance of soft skills by con-
ducting a comprehensive survey of literature that is consistent with
previous studies that emphasized the importance of soft skills in the ICT
sector (Aasheim et al., 2011; Goles, Hawk, & Kaiser, 2008; González-
Morales, De Antonio, & García, 2011; Matturro, 2013; Merhout,
Havelka, & Hick, 2009; Moreno, Sanchez-Segura, Medina-Dominguez,
& Carvajal, 2012; Pinkowska et al., 2011). The study explored forty-
four vital soft skill attributes clustered in six factors. Second, findings of
the independent t-test indicated the gap between technical graduates
and practitioners for both attributes and factors related to the rating of
required soft skills in novice ICT professionals. The study endorses
previous works of authors that confirm perceived soft skill expectancy
gap among technical graduates and ICT professionals (Abas-Mastura
et al., 2013; Armarego, 2007; Blom & Saeki, 2011; Colomo-Palacios
et al., 2013; Jackson & Chapman, 2012; Radermacher & Walia, 2013;
Sweeney, 2005). The test reported a significantly higher score of
practitioners as compared to students in nearly all soft skill attributes
and factors. These discrepancies do not only lie in the scores, but both
groups ranked these attributes differently (Lee et al., 2002). The in-
dependent t-test shows a significant soft skill gap for all six factors.
Results showed leadership skill as the most important skill.
Third, we have discussed enterprising skills as a new skill set or
factor which has not been cited in literature related to the ICT sector.
Enterprising skill includes features that contribute to entrepreneurial
capabilities through innovation and creativity; professionals with en-
trepreneurial qualities are able to work independently and gather im-
portant information to complete tasks. Fourth, unlike other studies, this
investigation is done to examine the effect of background of re-
spondents on perception towards skill factors. One-way MANOVA de-
monstrated uniformity in the perception of practitioners irrespective of
gender, management level, or experience. For students, the test re-
ported consistency across gender and medium of education, but in-
stitute influenced perception of students towards soft skill factors. LSD
Post hoc test indicated that students from IITs rated all the six factors
more than IIITs and NITs. Discrepancies in scores among institutions
revealed that they play a key role in developing soft skills among stu-
dents. Results indicate academics to focus on the means of its devel-
opment.
6.2. Implications for practice
Empirical examinations specify significant soft skills attributes and
factors that positively impact the employment of novice ICT profes-
sionals. The described features reflect desired traits in new entrants.
The study recommends that these attributes and factors to be taken care
of by all stakeholders such as education, training and development
organisations, students and industries and utilise them in their re-
spective context.
Non-technical or soft skills should preferably be imparted during
undergraduate courses so that such training may help students in de-
veloping necessary attributes at early stages and exhibiting improved
performance right from the beginning of employment (González-
Morales et al., 2011; McMurtrey et al., 2008). The attributes and factors
identified by the study may help to assess students' requirement and
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International Journal of Information Management 50 (2020) 375–386
develop them accordingly. Many institutes have taken such initiatives
and had encouraging results, but in most of the cases, those students
who already posses these traits have benefited as they took advantage
of the opportunity from the institute to make themselves better, but
those who are not so proactive, could not get any benefit. Therefore,
institutions should ensure participation of all students in the skill de-
velopment program. In addition, careful monitoring of the program is
highly recommended. Faculty members should design programs and
activities such that maximum number of students are involved, tasks
are rotated and accountability established among students. Short-term
exchange of students between institutions will broaden their experience
and help them develop into a better professional (Funes, Aguirre, Deeg,
& Hoefnagels, 2018). Fostering conducive environments and cultures
may motivate students to develop their soft skills (Beckman, Coulter,
Khajenoori, & Mead, 1997; Devadason et al., 2010; Jackson, 2010).
ICT itself also plays an important role in improving skills
(Mukherjee et al., 2019). Soft skills of students of technical subjects
may be enhanced through e-learning. Computer and web-based tech-
nologies are very effective in skill development. Through this, students
can learn skills as well as their undergraduate curriculum. The main
advantage of web-based education is that it is continuous, interactive,
collaborative and free of biases (Pollard & Hillage, 2001). Through the
learning management system (LMS) software students can digitally
enhance their soft skills by learning and discussing facts and informa-
tion that are unavailable in their institutions (Tamilmani, Rana,
Prakasam, & Dwivedi, 2019). Similarly, playing computer games also
helps in developing high order thinking skills. Through sports, learning
becomes more active and fun. Learners are highly motivated and de-
velop diverse skills effortlessly. Massively multiplayer online role-
playing games (MMORPGs) help in improving collaborative learning
among players (Cimatti, 2016; Yu, 2009). Apart from this, students
learn from failure without adequate risk. The method of e-learning is
highly recommended as it provides the flexibility of time, and there is
no geographical limit.
Industries being the key beneficiary of skills can use the study in a
very significant way. Industry can take the extracted attributes and
factors as a measure of employability and assess job applicants ac-
cordingly. The information given in the study can also be used to de-
velop instruments to select candidates during interviews. The study
could be referred to for designing training and development programs
also. Information provided in the study could also be used in career
planning of employees, and analysing and comparing their compe-
tencies. By the better knowledge of required soft skill attributes, in-
dustries can be in the state of conveying their need to academia about
their requirements, thus developing a better industry-academia part-
nership. Several studies have revealed that institutions identify vital
soft skills through responses from industry representatives during
campus placements. Therefore, industry-institution partnership is one
of the best approaches for soft-skill development among students
(Rainsbury, Hodges, Burchell, & Lay, 2002; Nangia & Pramanik, 2011;
Pour, Griss, & Lutz, 2000; Wickramasinghe & Perera, 2010). Several
measures could jointly be taken to bridge the soft skill gap. Alternatives
like internship and co-op programs that provide real work experience
during their academics are the most recommended and useful way for
achieving the objectives. These programs could be more effective by the
better understanding of the skill needed (Benson, Morgan, & Filippaios,
2014; Devadason et al., 2010; Guilbert, Bernaud, Gouvernet, & Rossier,
2016; Khamisani, Siddiqui, & Bawany, 2006; Ludi & Collofello, 2001;
Nangia & Pramanik, 2011; Napier, Keil, & Tan, 2009; Pour et al., 2000;
Woodward et al., 2010; Yen, Chen, Lee, & Koh, 2003). These programs
not only benefit students, but also the institutions through improved
campus placements due to enhanced soft skills of students. For the in-
dustry also, such involvement would be cost-effective and allow hiring
of new entrants that are more productive and require minimum gui-
dance (Beckman et al., 1997).
Moreover, knowledge of critical skill factors will help practitioners
R. Singh Dubey and V. Tiwari
in making better hiring decisions and selecting the right candidates
(Aken & Michalisin, 2007; Garrido, Sullivan, & Gordon, 2010). A right
hiring decision not only provides productive professionals, but also
improves their retention.
6.3. Limitations and future research
Though the study provides comprehensive results, certain bound-
aries of the study should be acknowledged. The study is perception
based, which may differ from the actual. Further, student samples are
drawn from only centrally funded technical institutes. Practitioner
samples were collected from India’s top five ICT firms by turn over;
requirements and work culture of medium to small firms differ from
such ICT giants, and so do desired soft skills. Thus, a significant lot of
both the groups is left untouched. Moreover, the unevenness of the
sample size between the groups may lower the significance of findings.
These limitations leave much scope for future research. There is sig-
nificant variation in type of higher education as the responses are taken
from only CFTIs, further studies could include other institutions. The
inclusion of medium and small enterprises as well as start-ups could
provide a clearer picture of skills required. The effect of the various
measures taken by academia for the development of soft skills could be
assessed, this would give an idea about the appropriate way for de-
veloping soft skills in IT graduates.
7. Conclusion
Results of empirical analysis suggest that soft skills attributes and
factors are noteworthy dexterity for gaining employment in the field of
ICT, especially in IT and IS. The attributes mentioned in the study re-
flect the essential characteristics of new entrants that can be taken as
reference by the stakeholders such as education, training and devel-
opment organisations, students and industries and can use in their re-
spective context. In addition, the study indicated a notable soft skills
gap between students' preparation and industry requirement. A solution
to this problem is absolutely necessary to increase the employability of
students Although the background of professionals such as gender,
management level or experience and gender of students, the medium of
education up to secondary level was not found to have an impact on
skills but educational institutions emerged as an important component
which influenced the development of soft skills in students. Study ad-
vocates finding and practicing new dimensions of soft skill development
in the institutions by making necessary changes in the curriculum and
ways of imparting education.
Finally, the authors of the manuscript believed in structured map-
ping of soft skill traits through this study. A strong partnership between
academia and industry is the key to bridging the soft skill gap.
Funding
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding
agencies in the public, commercial, or not for profit sectors.
Declaration of Competing Interest
None.
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Richa Singh Dubey is a research scholar in the Department of Management Studies,
Indian Institute of Information Technology, and Allahabad. She has seven years of cor-
porate experience in sales and marketing and two years of teaching experience at the
graduate level. She has done her post-graduation in Life sciences and management with a
human resource as specialisation. Her research is in the area of HRM, regarding the soft
skill gap present in Technical Graduates who are intended to join the ICT industry. Her
area of interest is skill analysis, emotional intelligence, and optimisation of organisational
talent.
Vijayshri Tewari, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Management
Studies, Indian Institute of Information Technology, and Allahabad. Presently she is the
Head of the Department for a year. She has 12 years of teaching experience at the PG
level. She has done Masters in Psychology and HRM. Her career has led her to specialise
increasingly in the management of complex academic deliverables and projects. She has
indulged in the application of modern leadership methods, motivation, and clarity in
communication, strategic HR and personal inter-relations in her research endeavours. Her
research interests are in the area of Work Culture, Leadership, Group Dynamics,
Performance Management, Motivation and Strategic HR.