Developing soft skills for management through virtual internships
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.29393/RAN9-11DHXC30011Keywords:
COVID-19, soft skills, management skills, online education, pre-experiment, post-pandemic, internshipAbstract
Purpose: The objective of this research is to statistically contrast the initial level of students’ soft skills against the subsequent level after having completed a virtual internship. These online internships took place during the period of social distancing by COVID-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology: The methodology consisted of a pre-experimental pretest/post-test design with a single treatment group.
Findings: achievement orientation, planning and organization, stress management, decision-making, problem-solving and emotional intelligence skills increased significantly after completing the online internship. Practical Implications: the findings lend themselves useful to guide higher education institutions in updating their curricula to meet the demands of the labour market in terms of soft skills in the so-called new post-pandemic reality.
Originality/value: We provide evidence that virtual internships can have positive returns in terms of soft skills training. Previous studies were limited to recommending that internships be implemented on face-to-face mode.
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Copyright (c) 2023 Xavier Sánchez-Pérez, Manuel Soto Pérez, Carlos López-Hernández
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.