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Soft Skills Crucial for Academic Success, Study Reveals

Strategic Insights

— 1 min read

Researchers from the Faculty of Education have found a strong association between social, emotional, and behavioral (SEB) skills and academic achievement in students. The study involved 319 undergraduate students from Spain, Italy, and Israel, who showed that academic self-efficacy and self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies significantly mediated the relationships between SEB skills and academic achievement. The findings suggest that fostering socio-emotional skills can have a positive impact on students' academic satisfaction and achievement, leading to greater self-perception and competence.

Key Takeaways:

  • The study tested a comprehensive model that linked five SEB skill domains (self-management, social engagement, cooperation, emotional resilience, and innovation) to academic achievement and satisfaction.
  • Self-report questionnaires were administered to 319 undergraduate students, with a mean age of 22.74 and 255 females, from Spain, Italy, and Israel.
  • The results showed that academic self-efficacy and SRL significantly mediated the relationships between SEB skills and academic achievement, after controlling for sex, age, year of study, and nationality.
  • Academic self-efficacy uniquely mediated the relationship between SEB skills and academic achievement and satisfaction.
  • The study's findings recommend that universities and educators focus on developing SEB skills in students, which can lead to improved academic performance and satisfaction.
  • The research highlights the importance of fostering socio-emotional skills in students, including self-management, social engagement, cooperation, emotional resilience, and innovation.
  • The study's authors, Adi Sharabi, Barbara Carretti, Marisol Cueli, Celestino Rodriguez, and Gerardo Pellegrino, suggest that promoting SEB skills can have a positive impact on students' academic self-perception and competence.

Statistics:

  • 319 undergraduate students participated in the study, with a mean age of 22.74 and 255 females.
  • 255 females made up approximately 79.9% of the participants.
  • The study involved students from Spain (55.4%), Italy (23.9%), and Israel (20.7%).
  • Self-report questionnaires were administered to collect data for the study.
  • The findings showed that academic self-efficacy and SRL strategies significantly mediated the relationships between SEB skills and academic achievement.

Sources:

  • "Undergraduates' achievement and satisfaction: the role of study-related factors and soft skills," published in Frontiers in Psychology, 2025,16.
  • Faculty of Education, Kibbutzim College of Education Technology and the Arts, Tel Aviv, Israel.
  • http://frontiersin.org/psychology
  • http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1653072

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