Lecturers’ Perception on the Extent of Development of Soft Skills among Education Students in Private Universities in Western Kenya

Abstract

Currently, Kenya is recording an increase in the number of private universities offering various bachelor’s degree programs including education. This suggests that there is a high number of education graduates released into a very competitive job market. In response, private universities adopted soft skills required by employers in order to provide graduates with an edge over their counterparts. Soft skills evidently offer better employability in the job market. The present study was conducted in four targeted Western Kenya private sponsored universities offering education program in Kenya. The target population of the study was education lecturers in school of education. Concurrent mixed-methods research design was employed. Data was acquired using closed ended questionnaire and analysis was done descriptively. Findings revealed that lecturers strongly agreed that they developed communicative skills and ethics and professionalism during teaching and learning activities. It was recommended that lecturers in schools of education in private universities continue emphasizing on implementation of soft skills among education students during teaching and learning process as this is vital to their employability.