Brennan et al.
, Cogent Education (2023), 10: 2171621
https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2023.2171621
Received: 31 August 2022
Accepted: 19 January 2023
*Corresponding author: Attracta
Brennan, School of Computer
Science, University of Galway,
Galway, Ireland
E-mail: attracta.brennan@universityof­
galway.ie
Reviewing editor:
SERAFINA Pastore, Education,
Psychology, Communication,
Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo
Moro, Italy
Additional information is available at
the end of the article
CURRICULUM & TEACHING STUDIES | RESEARCH ARTICLE
How COVID-19 impacted soft skills development:
The views of software engineering students
Attracta Brennan1*, Mary Dempsey2, John McAvoy3, Majella O’Dea1, Sharon O’Leary1 and
Margaret Prendergast4
Abstract: Since a pandemic was declared in 2020, Irish higher education institu­
tions transitioned from on-campus to online delivery. This disruption created chal­
lenges to students’ acquisition of hard and soft skills. With greater employee
mobility, there is an increased emphasis on soft skills development, especially those
skills that enhance employability, i.e., creativity, leadership, communication, inno­
vation, teamwork, adaptability, resilience, time management, organization, self
motivation, ability to work under pressure, critical thinking and problem solving and
organizational ability. The purpose of this study was to understand the effects of
COVID-19 on fears for the future and on soft skills development. In this study, 111
Software Engineering university students were surveyed. The results show heigh­
tened fears for the future with regard to job opportunities, the loss of time and the
lack of control. While females reported to being more fearful, they also reported
enhanced empathy and strengthened resilience. Postgraduate students were less
fearful about the future compared to undergraduate students whilst also reporting
better time management and organization skills. This study showed that despite
disruptions to education, the Software Engineering students self-reported
enhancements to resilience, empathy, time management and organizational skills,
with the greatest impact on resilience and time management.
Subjects: Software Engineering & Systems Development; Further & Higher Education;
Higher Education Management
Keywords: COVID-19; soft skills; software engineering students; empathy; resilience; time
and organization management
1. Introduction
On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic [WHO, 2020,
Cucinotta & Vanelli, 2020]. In an effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, governments around
the world closed schools, colleges, non-essential services and childcare centres in addition to
advising those who could work from home to do so (Doyle, 2020; Lades et al., 2020). More than
180 countries worldwide were ‘wrenched” from face-to-face learning to online delivery, affecting
greater than 150 billion learners across multiple educational levels (Sasere & Makhasane, 2020;
Shahzad et al., 2021). To deal with the enforced closures, most higher education institutes (HEIs)
underwent a “major paradigm shift” as they rapidly transitioned from face-to-face/blended learn­
ing to 100% online learning (p. 1; Parker et al., 2021). Using a combination of video streaming and
virtual classrooms for synchronous and asynchronous delivery (Gonzalez et al., 2020), this rapid
transition to online learning forced many HEIs to re-strategize (Shiohira & Keevy, 2020) and drove
many academics into “unfamiliar terrain” as they made efforts to adapt their content to
© 2023 The Author(s). This open access article is distributed under a Creative Commons
Attribution (CC-BY) 4.0 license.
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accommodate remote learning (p. 196; García-Morales et al., 2021). The move to 100% online
negatively affected soft skills development (Kamysbayeva et al., 2021).

Studies show that the enforced isolation from peers and friends, and the imposed absence from
college socializing and its associated support services due to COVID-19, resulted in a greater sense
of isolation for students coupled with heightened anxiety, higher levels of depression and wor­
sened mental health issues (Cao et al., 2020; Hamza et al., 2021; Son et al., 2020; Tahara et al.,
2021). Students experienced increased boredom (Son et al., 2020), suicide ideation (Kaparounaki et
al., 2020) and loneliness (Killgore et al., 2020), in addition to a reduced sense of well-being (Evans
et al., 2021). Meanwhile, a study by (Ali et al., 2021) suggests that the break down in college life
routine caused, for some students, a sense of time dilation that resulted in a lack of engagement.
Students were further challenged with a decrease in the quality of their sleep (Zhang et al., 2020),
which has been shown to negatively impact learning, academic performance and both mental and
physical health (Almojali et al., 2017; Feng et al., 2014; Jalali et al., 2020). Across all levels of
society, the screen time increased significantly during COVID-19 (Sultana et al., 2021). Although
the social lives of younger people are typically rooted in the digital world (Twenge, 2017), they
generally tend to choose face-to-face third-level programmes based on the enhanced learning
experiences and social benefits offered by such programmes and extracurricular activities; all of
which contribute to the development of their graduate attributes (Jaggars, 2014).

Graduate attributes within the context of Software Engineering refer to the hard skills (i.e.
technical skills in software processes, methodologies and tools (Matturro et al., 2019)) and soft
skills (i.e. communication, teamwork, organization, time management, critical thinking and pro­
blem solving skills, interpersonal skills, empathy, etc.) that enhance employability (Cinque, 2016;
Dempsey et al., 2009; Tang, 2019; Tseng et al., 2019). While it is not in the remit of HEIs to
guarantee employability, it is their responsibility to provide learning experiences which facilitate
the development of hard and soft skills (Brennan & Dempsey, 2018; Malik & Ahmad, 2020; Minocha
et al., 2017; Barros & Bittencourt, 2018) contends that the use of active learning strategies
supports the development of soft skills. Other opportunities for soft skills development include;
feedback (for self reflection purposes and to help with critical thinking; Brown et al., 2017), team
projects (for interpersonal, collaboration, communication and problem solving skills; Vogler et al.,
2018), study skills and time management workshops (for supporting students in taking better
control, being more capable of dealing with problems and being more organized), attending
lectures (for time management and organizational skills; Beard et al., 2008) and extra-curricular
activities such as team sports (for time management, teamwork and socio-emotional skills; Arat,
2014; Cinque, 2016). The physical attendance at an HEI and the ensuing interactions with peers
(both educationally and socially) also help to develop social awareness and can enhance inter­
cultural skills (Martínez Lirola,). While the acquisition of relevant hard and soft skills addresses
societal needs and market demands (Kanwar & Carr, 2020), the sudden transition to online
delivery and the overall disruptions to college life and corresponding support services negatively
impacted the learning experience and drastically interrupted opportunities for soft skills develop­
ment (Cardoso-Espinosa et al., 2021).

Although research to date has mostly focused on the negative psychological and social effects
of COVID-19 on students, there is a paucity of research on the impact of COVID-19 on soft skills.
Given that software development has been and continues to be one of the most impactful and
growing professions over the last number of decades, the acquisition of soft skills is especially
critical in order to prepare Software Engineering graduates to adeptly deal with uncertain circum­
stances, a changed industrial landscape and a community which is typically characterized by a
diverse workforce (Capretz & Ahmed, 2010). In this study, 111 third-level Software Engineering
students in the final year of their undergraduate and postgraduate programmes provide insights
into their worldview regarding fears for the future after living through 2 years of COVID-19 and the
impact of COVID-19 on their soft skills development, i.e. resilience, empathy, organization, and
time management.

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2. Soft skills for software engineering students

Today’s increasingly interconnected world has served to accelerate employee mobility and oppor­
tunity (Derven, 2014), and place a greater emphasis on soft skills development (Naamati Schneider
et al., 2020). UNESCO defines soft skills as a term which is “used to indicate a set of intangible
personal qualities, traits, attributes, habits and attitudes that can be used in many different types
of jobs . . . Examples of soft skills include: empathy, leadership, sense of responsibility, integrity,
self-esteem, self-management, motivation, flexibility, sociability, time management and making
decisions” (U. I. B. o. Education, n d). Soft skills are also integral to Sustainable Development Goal
(SDG) 4.4: Relevant Skills for Decent Work (UNESCO, n d). While soft skills can be learned from
experience and on the job training, there are increasing expectations from businesses and accred­
itation bodies that HEIs will include learning experiences that reinforce student employability
through the development of hard and soft skills (Arat, 2014; Brennan & Dempsey, 2018; Malik &
Ahmad, 2020). However, disruptions to HEIs during COVID-19 created challenges to the traditional
manner of acquiring such skills, particularly the development of soft skills, which also play a
significant role in personality development (Malik & Ahmad, 2020). Typically, when content is to
be delivered online, learning activities are designed to support the development and transfer of
soft skills (Tseng et al., 2019). However, the sudden closure of HEIs forced many institutions to
“evolve toward online teaching in record time, implementing and adapting the technological
resources available and involving professors and researchers who lack innate technological capa­
cities for online teaching” (p. 196; García-Morales et al., 2021). Interestingly, notwithstanding the
promise of online learning, it is generally perceived negatively by students (Akpınar, 2021).

The soft skills which enhance employability and prepare Software Engineering students for a
volatile job market typically include; creativity, leadership, communication, innovation, teamwork,
adaptability, resilience, time management, organization, self motivation, ability to work under
pressure, critical thinking and problem solving and organizational ability (Cinque, 2016; Hidayati
et al., 2020; Shabir & Sharma, 2019). Software engineering continues to be one of the most
impactful and growing professions (Capretz & Ahmed, 2010). The development of soft skills in
this domain is especially critical as Software Engineering is by its very nature labour and knowl­
edge intensive, characterized by a diverse workforce where project teamwork and effective com­
munication are integral to successful software project success (Altiner & Ayhan, 2018). In a COVID-
19 re-shaped global economy, many businesses have had to rapidly re-define themselves and
adapt to an uncertain landscape (Li, 2021). In order to survive in this volatile job market, it is
evermore important that Software Engineering graduates possess both the hard and soft skills as
demanded by industry (Arat, 2014; Malik & Ahmad, 2020; Cinque, 2016) contends that a lack of
skills (both hard and soft) can cause major problems for businesses. Meanwhile, Konak and
Kulturel-Konak (2019) argue that the lack of essential soft skills in Software Engineering teams is
a key reason for the failure of IT-related projects.

3. Methods
Given the paucity of research on the impact of COVID-19 on soft skills, the research question for
this study is; “What is the impact of COVID-19 on soft skills for Software Engineering students?” A
Phenomenological research approach was followed as it “seeks to understand experiences and in
particular the meaning people make from those experiences” (p. 379; Letourneau, 2015).
Consequently, this study explored the personal views of undergraduate and postgraduate
Software Engineering students regarding their fears for the future due to COVID-19 and their
self-reporting of the impact of COVID-19 on their soft skills development, i.e. resilience, empathy,
organization, and time management. To that end, an online survey was designed. In order to
validate the initial survey and ensure that the survey questions aligned with the research question,
the survey was tested with a representative group of final year and post graduate Software
Engineering students. The revised survey comprised four sections: general respondent information,
perceived fears for the future, impact on resilience and impact on the soft skills of empathy, and
time management and organisational skills. The survey questions were coded in either an open
question format or on a five-point Likert scale, with 1 being strongly disagree and 5 being strongly

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agree. On average, the online instrument took 10–15 minutes to complete. Quantitative data were
analysed using IBM SPSS V 26 with the statistical significance being set at p < 0.05. Qualitative data
analysis was carried out primarily at the level of semantic themes. However, where relevant, the
authors delved deeper and examined the responses at the latent level. Thematic analysis at the
semantic level is defined as an examination of ” . . . the explicit or surface meanings of the data” (p.
84; Maguire & Delahunt, 2017). Meanwhile, thematic analysis at the latent level is defined as the
point at which one starts “to identify or examine the underlying ideas, assumptions, and con­
ceptualizations—and ideologies” (p. 84; Maguire & Delahunt, 2017).

4. Results

4.1. Characteristics of the survey respondents

A breakdown of the survey respondents’ demographics is presented in Table 1. As can be seen, the
majority of the sample comprised male participants (78.3%, n = 111) with most respondents aged
between 20 and 25 years old (66.67%, n = 111). Due to the nature of the programmes, the
undergraduate and Higher Diploma Software Engineering students have been more affected by
the disruption to their learning experience and access to support services compared to the Masters
students. The latter have more experience with online delivery.

4.2. Fears for the future

With regard to fears of the future, 45% (n = 111) of the respondents agreed that after living through 2
years of COVID-19, they are increasingly fearful of the future, while 28.8% are not. The results of the
Chi-squared Test of Association showed that there was no significant relationship between gender and
fears for the future (x2(df = 8, n = 111) = 5.785, p = .671). The Shapiro–Wilk test was first used to test for
normality. As the p value (<.001) was less than the alpha value of .05, the null hypothesis that the data
was normal was rejected at 5% significance, and we conclude that the data was non-normal. As the
nonparametric equivalent of the two sample t-test, the Mann Whitney test revealed that fears for the
future were slightly higher in females (MD = 4.00, n = 23) than males (MD = 3.00, n = 86), z = −.173, p
= .862. Whilst there was no statistical significance in fears for the future based on undergraduate or
postgraduate status (p = 0.06812) or between masters and higher diploma students (p = .208) such
fears were slightly greater in undergraduate students (MD = 4.00, n = 35) compared to postgraduate
students (MD = 3.00, n = 76), z = 1.82. All of the respondents aged >26 years showed that their

Table 1 Respondents’ demographics

Undergraduate Postgraduate (PG)
(UG)
Age (final year) Higher diploma Masters
Female 20–25 4 (100%) 5 (55.6%) 2 (20%)
26–30 0 1 (11.1%) 4 (40%)
31–35 0 1 (11.1%) 3 (30%)
36–40 0 1 (11.1%) 0
41–45 0 0 1 (10%)
46+ 0 1 (11.1%) 0
Male 20–25 31 (100%) 27 (67.5%) 4 (25%)
26–30 0 9 (22.5%) 5 (31.25%)
31–35 0 3 (7.5%) 5 (31.25%)
36–40 0 1 (2.5%) 1 (6.25%)
41–45 0 0 0
46+ 0 0 1 (6.25%)
Prefer not to say 20–25 0 1 (100%) 0

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Figure 1. Thematic analysis of

“Fears for the future”

increased fears for the future were primarily related to job opportunities and unemployment. In
general, the issues of which students were most fearful included; uncertainty, fears over loss of
time, worries that the pandemic will never end, mental health problems, greater awareness of health
risks, greater fears of the general unknown, worries about contracting COVID-19 and passing it on to
family members, loss of the illusion of control, loss of job opportunities, increased anxiety about a post-
pandemic world, fear for family members, fear of future pandemics, a lack of confidence in society and
its leaders to deal with comparable risks and issues and a fear regarding the limitation of freedoms
(Figure 1).

4.3. Resilience
Resilience has been defined as “the ability to bounce back or recover from stress, to adapt to
stressful circumstances, to not become ill despite significant adversity, and to function above the
norm in spite of stress or adversity” (p. 194; Smith et al., 2008). Despite living through lockdowns,
imposed isolation, a closure of social activities and a heightened fear for the future, etc., 48.7% of
respondents (n = 111) reported greater resilience as a result of living through COVID-19 compared
to 9.9% who reported a lack of resilience skills development (Figure 2).

While there was no statistically significant difference between undergraduate and postgraduate
students (p = 0.702) or between higher diploma and masters students (p = .372), a Mann Whitney
test revealed that resilience scores were significantly higher in females (MD = 4.00, n = 23) than
males (MD = 3.00, n = 87), z = −2.995, p = .003, with a moderate effect r = .285. A Kruskal–Wallis
test showed that although resilience scores were not significantly different between the six age
groups, those aged 20–25 years (MD = 3.00, n = 74) and those aged 30–35 years (MD = 3.00, n = 12)
indicated that they felt they had become less resilient because of COVID-19 than those aged 26–
30 years (MD = 4.00, n = 19), 36–40 years (MD = 4.00, n = 3), 41–45 years (MD = 4.00, n = 1) and 46
+ years (MD = 4.00, n = 2), p = .421. Where they were provided, the reasons for a greater sense of
strengthened resilience skills were thematically analysed with their frequency of occurrence
captured (Figure 3).

Figure 2. Impact on Resilience

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Figure 3. Thematic analysis of

justification for increased
resilience

Spearman’s rank order correlation was computed to assess the relationship between resilience
and fears for the future. There was a non-significant very small negative relationship between
resilience and fears for the future (r(109) = .133, p = .163) and a non-significant very small positive
relationship between resilience and a greater sense of empathy (r(109) = .0827, p = .388).

4.4. Soft skills acquisition

The soft skills scales comprised three items (α = .77344). The Cronbach’s alpha of .77344 indicates
acceptable internal validity and consistency in the responses relating to how COVID-19 impacted
on the soft skills development of empathy, time management and organizational skills.

The common thread in the multiplicity of definitions for empathy is the ability to understand
another person’s perspective (Cuff et al., 2016). 28.2% of respondents (n = 111) self-reported heigh­
tened empathy resulting from having lived through COVID-19, while 28% self-reported lower feelings
of empathy and 43.8% reported no change (Figure 4). A Mann Whitney test revealed a statistically
significant higher self-reporting of heightened empathy skills for females (MD = 3.00, n = 23) com­
pared to males (MD = 3.00, n = 87), z = −2.99, p = .003, with a weak effect, r = .28. There was no
statistical significance in the self-reported empathy scores between undergraduate and postgraduate
students (p = .246, z = −1.159) or between higher diploma and masters students (p = .564).

45.1% of the respondents (of which 26% were females and 72% were males) agreed that 2 years
since the beginning of COVID-19, their time management skills have increased significantly. A Mann
Whitney test revealed a statistically significant higher self-reporting of better time management skills
for postgraduate students (MD = 4.00, n = 76) compared to undergraduate students (MD = 2.00, n = 35),
z = −3.56, p = .000, with a moderate effect, r = .33. Although there was no statistical significance in the
difference of the higher diploma and masters students’ self-reported time management skills, the
higher diploma students self-reported slightly more improved time management skills
(MD = 4.0 n = 50) compared to the masters students (MD = 3.5, n = 26), p = .760. While proportionally
more females than males self-reported better time management skills (47.8% vs 41.3%), there was no
statistical significance in the difference between their self-reported time management skills (p = .697).

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Figure 4. Thematic analysis of

justification for increased
resilience

41.1% of the respondents self-reported better organization skills despite the disruptions to
educational delivery over the last 2 years, while 29.7% indicated worsening organization skills. A
Mann Whitney test revealed a statistically significant higher self-reporting of better organization
skills for postgraduate students (MD = 3.00, n = 76) compared to undergraduate students
(MD = 2.00, n = 35), z = −3.512, p = .000, with a moderate effect, r = .333. Although there was
no statistical significance in the difference of the higher diploma and masters postgraduate
students’ self-reported organization skills, the masters students self-reported slightly more
improved organization skills (MD = 3.5 n = 26) compared to the higher diploma students
(MD = 3.0, n = 50), p = .764. Proportionally more females than males self-reported better organiza­
tion skills (56.5%, n = 23 vs 36.7%, n = 87). However, this was not statistically significant (p = .282).

The results of the Spearman’s rank order correlation to assess the relationship between organisation
and time management indicated that there was a significant large positive relationship between
organisation and time management (r(109) = .779, p < .001), a significant small positive relationship
between time management and empathy (r(109) = .272, p = .004) and a non-significant very small
negative relationship between fears for the future and empathy (r(109) = .116, p = .227).

5. Discussion
Intensified fears for loved ones, anxiety about future pandemics and a heightened awareness of
health risks are understandable, given that the need to socially distance, quarantine and/or
radically alter one’s lifestyle in response to epidemics and/or pandemics acerbates existing and/
or creates new stressors (Son et al., 2020). Almost half of the respondents in this study agreed that
COVID-19 heightened their fears for the future, with females tending to have a slightly greater fear
regarding the future compared to their male counterparts. This is in line with the literature, which
suggests that females are more likely to be affected by stress-related incidents and indeed are
more than twice as likely to develop mood and anxiety disorders than males (Fallon et al., 2020).
The study also showed that undergraduate students reported more heightened fear of the future
compared to their postgraduate counterparts. This is not surprising as some of the masters
students tend to be working already so they are less likely to be fearful of job opportunities and
unemployment. As to be expected, most fears converged on the loss of the illusion of control,
uncertainty and reduced employment prospects in a volatile job market, characterized by the

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closure of predominantly small businesses either temporarily or permanently (CSO, 2020; Tang et
al., 2021; Zhai & Yue, 2022) and the implementation by some companies of indefinite hiring
embargos (Donthu & Gustafsson, 2020). The students’ fears are well ground as some of those
businesses which have survived successive closures and re-openings typically do so, at a lower
yield and level of productivity (Galindo-Martín et al., 2021).

A study by (Crane et al., 2022) suggests elevated levels of “business death” for American SMEs
during COVID-19 compared to previous non-COVID-19 years. Paradoxically, COVID-19 has also
resulted in an “explosion” of entrepreneurially driven start-ups (Haltiwanger, 2021) and unparal­
leled growth in sectors such as online entertainment, online communication and online shopping
(Donthu & Gustafsson, 2020). The former reflects the historical trend that recessions and pan­
demics lead to increased innovation and entrepreneurship (Garcia et al., 2021). Nonetheless, the
overall global economic downturn has resulted in higher levels of unemployment and a corre­
spondingly more competitive job market (Mok et al., 2021). Graduates entering the labour market
with the requisite hard and soft skills will clearly be at an advantage compared to their lesser
skilled counterparts. While HEIs have a responsibility to contribute to economic growth and the
knowledge that underpins a competitive economy (Chankseliani et al., 2021), they are also
required to provide the necessary learning environment to develop their students, socially, person­
ally and intellectually. Part of their remit, therefore, is to produce graduates who are equipped with
the necessary hard and soft skills to function in that economy (Brennan & Dempsey, 2018; Malik &
Ahmad, 2020; Minocha et al., 2017). Within a HEI setting, students are provided with academic and
extracurricular opportunities to develop these hard and soft skills, the latter being recognized to be
as important as the former (Cinque, 2016; Tang, 2019).

A study Gruzdev et al. (2018) regarding the skills sought by businesses indicated that the most
desired soft skills included: interpersonal and teamwork skills, time management, communication
in both oral and written form and critical analysis and problem solving skills. While the rapid
transition to online delivery forced many HEIs to quickly turn around standard content for online
delivery, there was insufficient time and in some cases experience for many academics, to design
and integrate learning activities to support the development and transfer of soft skills (García-
Morales et al., 2021). As a result, some soft skills were under developed.

Nonetheless, despite 2 years of disruptions to their learning experience and a general lack of
opportunities for soft skills development, this study shows that the Software Engineering
students self-reported enhanced resilience. Although (Chen et al., 2022) found low levels of
resilience and ability to cope in third-level students during COVID-19, our study showed that on
the whole, the Software Engineering students indicated stronger feelings of resilience, mainly
due to “having lived through it so far”. This dovetails with the suggestion that “resilience is not
personal and innate characteristics, but it is a process revealed as a result of interaction of
several factors in case of one’s experiences in difficulty” (p. 1263; Erdogan et al., 2015). In line
with the findings from (Zhang et al., 2020), our study showed that females tended to be more
resilient than males with no significant difference reported between undergraduate and post­
graduate students. 69.5% (n = 23) of female respondents indicated a greater sense of resi­
lience compared to 42.5% (n = 87) of male respondents. The findings are contrary to a Turkish
study, but further analysis may be required to compare studies using a cultural lens (Erdogan
et al., 2015). Nevertheless, 48.7% of our study’s respondents self-reported stronger resilience
after having lived through COVID-19. This is promising as resilience in the “face of” stressful
conditions can positively impact psychosocial health and wellbeing whilst also being an
“important personal resource” (p. 2; Dijkstra & Homan, 2016).

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Within the context of Software Engineering, resilience is an important human capacity, espe­
cially given the high proportion of software development projects that can be terminated before
they reach completion (Todt et al., 2018), in addition to the fluidity of user requirement changes
(Schmidt et al.,).

Although 43.8% of the study’s respondents reported no change to their empathy skills, more
than 28% of respondents reported heightened empathy from having lived through COVID-19. As
one of the critical components of emotional intelligence (Ioannidou & Konstantikaki, 2008),
empathy is fundamental to effective leadership, collaboration and creativity (Skinner &
Spurgeon, 2005; Young, 2015). Furthermore, empathy is a critical skill for Software Engineering
graduates, given the increasingly diverse nature of software development project teams and the
need to liaise with stakeholders (Altiner & Ayhan, 2018).

Nearly 50% of respondents reported enhanced time management skills, with postgraduate stu­
dents reporting better time management skills compared to undergraduate students. Meanwhile,
more than 40% of the respondents reported better organizational skills. The masters students
reported slightly higher organization skills compared to the higher diploma students. This was to be
expected as this particular masters programme is a very structured course with weekly deliverables.
Hence, in a sense, organization is almost controlled for the student. Typically, HEIs provide workshops
on time management and study skills, but the availability of these resources was temporarily dis­
rupted until facilitators and students were up and running remotely. Time management and organiza­
tional ability are important skills linked to enhanced academic (Tus, 2020) and job performance (Ping &
Xiaochun, 2018). Good time management “involves skills in goal setting, setting priorities, planning
and organizing skills and minimizing time wasting” (p. 1480; Nayak, 2019). Our study showed a
significantly larger positive relationship between organization and time management skills.

In summary, while the Software Engineering students surveyed in this study generally have
acerbated fears for the future, the act of surviving COVID-19 and coping with the rapid transition to
online delivery has heightened empathy, strengthened resilience and improved time management
and organization skills. The development of these skills will enable Software Engineering students
to adapt and be more flexible along with being more empathetic and resilient.

6. Limitations
This study has several limitations. Firstly, while the sample size of 111 was small, it included both
Software Engineering undergraduate students in the final year of their programme and postgrad­
uate students. We acknowledge that this study population is not representative of third-level
students in general. Furthermore, given the nature of CS, there were substantially more male
respondents than female respondents (78.4% versus 20.7%). Secondly, it would have been pre­
ferable to test the respondents’ baseline levels of resilience and empathy prior to COVID-19.
Furthermore, while students reported their views regarding feelings of resilience, a more formal
instrument such as the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS; Smith et al., 2008) would have provided a
deeper understanding of the characteristics (e.g., optimism, coping style, social support, etc.)
which underpin and impact on resilience.

Another limitation is the number of soft skills which were examined. Future studies could
analyze the impact of COVID-19 on a more comprehensive list of soft skills. Finally, while studies
show that students with mental health challenges typically have lower life satisfaction, a lower
health status and higher COVID-19 anxiety (Tahara et al., 2021), further limitations to this study
are the lack of identification of the state of the students’ mental health prior to completing the
study’s survey and the need for a deeper understanding of the qualitative data through semi-
structured interviews.

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7. Conclusions
Over the past two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple studies have been completed
regarding the psychological, social, environmental and physical effects of remote learning.
During this time period, HEIs have transitioned from traditional delivery to 100% online delivery
to a staggered re-opening with hybrid delivery. Part of the remit of HEIs is to provide both the hard
and soft skills demanded by social needs and market requirements. However, the disruption to HEI
provision and services, and the rapid transition to online delivery without the requisite time to re-
design content appropriately, affected soft skills development in particular. While studies have
focused primarily on the negative impacts of COVID-19 on third-level students, few have looked at
its impact on soft skills acquisition. Soft skills are of particular importance for Software Engineering
students as they transition to a volatile job market and an uncertain industrial landscape. Skills
related to resilience, empathy, communication, teamwork, organization, and adaptability are
fundamental to work and life opportunities.

In this study, 111 Software Engineering university students, 35 of whom were undergraduate
and 76 were postgraduate students, were surveyed. The purpose of this study was to elicit the
personal views of undergraduate and postgraduate Software Engineering students regarding their
fears for the future due to COVID-19 and their self-reporting of the impact of COVID-19 on their
soft skills development, i.e. resilience, empathy, organization, and time management. 45%
(n = 111) of the respondents agreed that after 2 years of COVID-19, they are unsurprisingly
more fearful of the future. Undergraduate students were more fearful than postgraduate students.
All of the respondents aged >26 years showed that their fears for the future were primarily related
to job opportunities and unemployment. Their greatest fears centred around uncertainty, loss of
time and loss of the illusion of control. Students were also afraid of the higher potential for future
pandemics and the lack of confidence in the authorities to handle arising issues. Furthermore, they
reported fears for; mental health problems and other health risks, the general unknown, worries
about contracting COVID-19 and passing it on to family members and the limitation of freedoms.

The positive impacts of living through COVID-19 included a greater sense of resilience, increased
empathy and improved time management and organizational skills. While females reported higher
fears for the future, they also reported greater resilience, enhanced empathy and improved time
management and organizational skills. Although there was no significant difference in empathy
between undergraduate and postgraduate students, the postgraduate students reported better
time management and organization skills. Those students aged between 20 and 35 years reported
reduced resilience in general.

As HEIs return to a form of normality, lessons on the positive and negative impact of COVID-19 can
be learned from 2 years of disrupted education. With the likelihood of future pandemics, HEIs have a
greater responsibility to provide learning opportunities that integrate technology and support soft
skills acquisition (Blau et al., 2020; Dempsey & Brennan, 2017, 2018; Dempsey et al., 2018, 2009, ;
McAvoy et al., 2020; O’Dea et al., 2018; Winter et al., 2013). HEIs need to maintain the advances made
and reduce/eliminate the negatives as much as possible. They need to be more conscious of soft skills
in the re-design of curricula around activities and learning experiences, in order to build on the
potential and ensure greater opportunities for soft skills development. If HEIs build additional soft
skills early in the curriculum, graduates will automatically learn to be more flexible and better able to
adapt to a world where remote working becomes more the norm than the unusual (Morrison-Smith &
Ruiz, 2020), and where virtual spaces become increasingly prevalent in both the educational and the
employment environments (Wong et al., 2019).

Inevitably, pandemics will re-occur. The experience from living through COVID-19 can be drawn
on to better prepare students for many known and unknown pathways into the future.

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https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2023.2171621
Acknowledgements
Thanks to all 111 students who engaged with the survey.
Funding
The authors received no direct funding for this research.
Author details
Attracta Brennan1
E-mail: attracta.brennan@universityofgalway.ie
ORCID ID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1164-9484
Mary Dempsey2
John McAvoy3
Majella O’Dea1
Sharon O’Leary1
Margaret Prendergast4
1
School of Computer Science, University of Galway,
Galway, Ireland.
2
School of Engineering, University of Galway, Galway,
Ireland.
3
Business Information Systems, University College Cork,
Ireland.
4
Department of Nursing, Health Sciences and Integrated
Care, ATU, Ireland.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Citation information
Cite this article as: How COVID-19 impacted soft skills
development: The views of software engineering stu­
dents, Attracta Brennan, Mary Dempsey, John McAvoy,
Majella O’Dea, Sharon O’Leary & Margaret Prendergast,
Cogent Education (2023), 10: 2171621.
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