Assessing 21st-Century Soft Skills Capacity Building Needs and Preferences among Academic Staff in Universities in North-Central Nigeria

Abstract

The study assessed the capacity-building needs and preferences for 21st-century soft skills among Academic Staff in Universities in North-Central Nigeria. Four (4) research objectives and four (4) corresponding research questions were formulated to guide the study. The study employed a concurrent mixed-methods research design. The population for this study comprised all the University Lecturers in North-Central State of Nigeria and participant consist of One Hundred and Twenty-Four (124) University lecturers in North-Central, Nigeria consisting of ten (10) Graduate Assistant, thirty (30) Assistant Lecturer, twenty-five (25) Lecturer II, three (3) Lecturer I, twenty (27) Senior Lecturer, twelve (12) Associate Professor and nine (9) Professors.  Ninety-four (94) are male and thirty (30) are female lecturers. The participants were selected using accidental sampling techniques. A questionnaire titled “Soft Skills Capacity Building Needs and Preferences among Academic Staff in Universities”, Observation Schedule, and Interview Protocol were used to collect data. The instruments were validated by experts. The reliability of the questionnaire was established using internal consistency reliability, and the index was found to be 0.850, calculated using the Cronbach Alpha formula. Mean and SD were used to analyse the quantitative data using SPSS version 27.0, while thematic analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data. The findings revealed that capacity-building initiatives are widely regarded as important and necessary, with a fairly consistent perception across the sample. Overall, the findings demonstrate a consistent pattern of high demand for capacity training across all competency domains. The findings also demonstrate a broad and consistent demand for soft skills development, particularly in areas related to critical thinking, innovation, professionalism, and inclusive practices. The findings from the interview revealed that participants emphasised the need for university curricula to reflect current industry demands and reduce the mismatch between graduate skills and labour market expectations.