Abstract
The study examined the impact of soft skills on the employability of business education graduates in South-East, Nigeria. While technical skills are essential for business success, other non-technical skills hold equal importance in the employability factor of an individual. These non-technical skills are called soft skills. It is also seriously realized that the organizational effectiveness and sustainability do not solely depend on 'technical skills' but to a great extent on 'soft skills'. Current literature shows that the soft skills most valued by employers in south-east Nigeria include critical thinking, emotional intelligence, collaboration, problem solving, adaptability, leadership and communication skills. Lately, the possession and development of these soft skills are seen as a potential for the employability of an individual. Employability is defined as a set of achievements, understanding, and personal attributes that enable individuals to gain employment and be successful in their chosen occupations. Literature also showed a significant gap between the soft skills possessed by business education graduates and those required by employers. This disparity contributes to a lack of employment and underemployment among business education graduates. This study therefore recommended that the curriculum of the business education programme in Nigeria be reformed to integrate soft skills development, institutional partnership with industry and practical training opportunities.
Keywords: Soft skills, Employability, Business education, Business education graduates
Publication Date: 2025-07-15