“Non-Academic” Skills for Incoming Doctoral Students

Hard and soft (“non-academic”) skills are important in academia, including for doctoral students. The proposed research focuses on soft skills and presents findings from qualitative research conducted with doctoral students enrolled in doctoral degree programs at one of the Canadian U15 universities. Current doctoral students were interviewed to learn more about soft skills for incoming doctoral students as they start their academic program. The participants suggested a number of soft skills such as communication, teamwork, motivation, listening, and management of failure and rejection. The study aims to contribute to the growing body of literature on soft skills generally in the context of doctoral students, and particularly, incoming doctoral students and better prepare them as they plan for their new academic journey.