In today’s discussions on adult education and active labor policies, so-called “soft skills” have emerged as a crucial factor for employability. More than the mere mastery of technical skills, the contemporary labor market demands adaptability, critical thinking, emotional awareness, communication abilities, and stress management. This is especially true in reintegration pathways for adults facing social vulnerability, such as those with incarceration histories.
Heckman and Kautz (2012) demonstrated that soft skills—particularly perseverance, self-discipline, and the ability to cooperate—are predictors of professional integration at least as much as, if not more than, traditional cognitive abilities. However, these skills are neither innate nor automatically acquired. They require intentional, situated educational work capable of stimulating awareness and transformation. In re-educational contexts, developing soft skills means creating spaces where individuals can rediscover their capacity to choose, respond, cooperate, and learn autonomously.
Bandura (2001), through the concept of self-efficacy, highlights how the belief in one’s ability to influence life events is a critical factor in activating behavior. This belief is built through meaningful experiences, realistic feedback, and opportunities for gradual success. Training programs centered on soft skills must therefore rely on active, reflective, and contextualized practices in which adults are not passive recipients of content but active protagonists in an exploratory process.
Among the most relevant competencies in re-educational settings are emotional self-regulation, assertive communication, conflict resolution, error management, collaboration, and adaptability to change. These skills not only facilitate access to employment but also underpin effective social and relational inclusion. As Sen (1999) argues, employability should not be measured solely in economic terms, but as capability: the real possibility of choosing and realizing a life project.
Educating for soft skills must take into account individuals’ biographies, internalized blocks, and environmental barriers. Many learners have experienced failure, exclusion, and institutional distrust. The educator is thus called to create a training environment that is both demanding and welcoming, capable of offering proportional challenges and sustained support. Trust, recognition, and the opportunity to experiment with new relational modes are fundamental ingredients for developing transversal skills.
The OECD (2015) has emphasized that soft skills are learnable and trainable, but require active methodologies, cycles of reflection, cooperative activities, and safe contexts. In prison, for instance, training projects based on symbolic activities, strategic games, simulations, or group practices can provide fertile ground for developing awareness, responsibility, communication, and adaptability. Here, the educational work operates on a principle of coherence between form and content: soft skills are not “explained,” they are lived.
Ultimately, educating for soft skills is not only functional to employability. It is also a way of reinforcing self-concept, reactivating the ability to plan, relate, and navigate everyday life with greater confidence. In re-educational pathways, this means addressing dimensions that are often silenced: self-esteem, trust, openness to others. Educating for flexibility, cooperation, and emotional regulation is, in the end, a deep act of care—for the person and for their future freedom.
References
- Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1), 1–26. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.1
- Heckman, J. J., & Kautz, T. (2012). Hard evidence on soft skills. Labour Economics, 19(4), 451–464. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2012.05.014
- OECD (2015). Skills for Social Progress: The Power of Social and Emotional Skills. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264226159-en
- Sen, A. (1999). Development as Freedom. Oxford University Press.
Authored by: SKILL UP
