Soft skills surpass smart: An analysis of gender, career success, and domain in higher education

This study examined gender and domain variations in job incomes, university entrance scores, and soft skills, highlighting the mediating role of soft skills in the transition from university entrance scores to job incomes. Drawing on data from the Taiwan Education Panel Survey and Beyond (TEPS-B, N = 5171), the findings of group difference analyses indicate that females exhibited higher and less variable university entrance scores than males. Notably, humanities students, despite lower entrance scores, demonstrated superior soft skills compared to their science counterparts. Employing structural equation modelling, the research revealed soft skills as mediators in the link between university entrance scores and subsequent job incomes, applicable to the entire student cohort and particularly pronounced in humanities students. The implications of this study extend beyond the specific context of Taiwan, advocating for reducing cultural emphasis on exam scores, integrating soft skills in education, and addressing gender and major disparities to enhance higher education and employment.