Effect of soft skills development during industrial attachment on holistic TVET certificate graduates in Kampala Metropolitan, Uganda
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51867/asarev.3.1.24Keywords:
Holistic Graduate Outcomes, Industrial Attachment, Soft Skills Development, TVET Certificate Graduates, UgandaAbstract
Soft skills are increasingly recognized as critical determinants of employability for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) graduates, yet evidence on how industrial attachment contributes to their development in Uganda remains limited. This study examined the effect of soft skills development during industrial attachment on holistic TVET certificate graduates in Kampala Metropolitan, Uganda. A convergent parallel mixed-methods design was employed, collecting quantitative data from 375 graduates using structured questionnaires and qualitative data from 10 key informants through interviews. The findings revealed that industrial attachment significantly improved communication skills, teamwork, problem-solving, time management, feedback reception, communication adaptability, patience, emotional control, and conflict resolution. Teamwork and problem-solving showed the highest affirmative responses, while conflict resolution showed the lowest. Correlation analysis revealed a strong positive relationship between soft skills development and holistic graduate outcomes (r=0.694, p<0.001), with regression analysis showing that soft skills development explains 48.2% of the variance in holistic graduate outcomes (R²=0.482), the highest explanatory power among all predictors. Qualitative findings confirmed that teamwork is developed because technical tasks cannot be completed alone, problem-solving is enhanced through real workplace challenges, and conflict resolution depends on whether conflicts occur during attachment. The study concludes that industrial attachment is highly effective for soft skills development, with teamwork and problem-solving being nearly universal outcomes. It recommends integrating structured soft skills training into TVET curricula, mandating supervisor training on feedback provision, and incorporating conflict resolution scenario training into pre-attachment preparation.
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