Study Skills for Higher Education: Skills for Professional Growth

This report explores seven key skills crucial for students in higher education: time management, problem-solving, effective communication, creativity, teamwork, leadership, and research skills. It highlights the importance of each skill in enhancing academic performance, building confidence, fostering personal growth, and preparing students for future professional careers. The report emphasizes how these skills contribute to goal orientation, prioritization, stress reduction, improved focus, social skills, and a sense of responsibility, ultimately making students well-rounded and successful individuals. Desklib provides resources and solved assignments to help students develop these essential skills.

Study Skills for Higher
Education

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Seven Skills.................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
Students studying in higher education learn several skills and abilities which help them in
their personal and professional lives. These skills include effective communication, time
management, critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, adaptability and many more (Assiter,
2017). These skills assist them in becoming better person and provide them opportunity for their
self-development. The following report discuss the seven skills which students learn during their
higher education along with their importance.
MAIN BODY
Seven Skills
For pursuing higher education an individual needs certain skills so that they could
complete their study effectively and efficiently. There are seven major skills which every
individual must possess in order to remain active and accomplish their desired studies smoothly.
These skills are explained below with their importance:
Time Management
This skill is very essential for students to have in their personality as it allows them to
complete their desired goals in certain time period. It helps in prioritising their work assignment
and assist them in focusing more in their studies without wasting any time (Romero, Lepage and
Lille, 2017). This skills is important for students for many reasons some of which are mentioned
below:
Goal Orientation: Time management skills in an individual assist them in making
themselves focused towards their goals. These skills assist them in setting their long-term and
short-term goals which they could achieve in certain time period. For instance, the short-term
goal might include completing their assignment every day on time so that they could enjoy other
activities such as music, dance, etc. The long-term goals could be getting job at their desired
position in reputed company after finishing their education.
Prioritisation: These skills of an individual help them accomplish what they desire in
specific time period as they categorised their tasks according to their importance. Managing and
setting their priorities every day, week, month or year assist students in achieving their targets
more easily. These priorities aid them in dividing their work properly and get adequate time for
doing other important chores.
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Problem solving skills
This skill within an individual helps them in dealing with uncertainties and difficult
situations that come in their journey. This skill in students is essential to develop that they learn
from studies as it assist them in coping with every situations. It improves their academic
performance and enhance their confidence. The importance of these skills in life of students are
mentioned below:
Increase confidence: Problem solving skills help students in dealing with every hard
situations that they face in their studies and make them understand that life is all about
uncertainties. By facing situations during their academics such as problem in assignment or
conflict between two or more students assist them in finding suitable solutions for them (Nisbet
and Shucksmith, 2017). This helps in building their confidence and make them feel satisfied.
Improve Performance: The problem solving skills help students in putting their more
efforts for finding solution to any difficult situation. This assist them in improving their
productivity and they perform better in academics.
Effective Communication
Communication skills are key for building any interpersonal relationships or presenting
point of views in front of other people. Students in their academics learn effective
communication which includes both verbal and non-verbal. The importance these skills have in
lives of students are:
Teach them conversation skills: Effective communication assist them in developing
their conversation skills which helps them in representing their personality effectively in front of
others (Sahli and Benaissi, 2018). It helps them in understanding how to behave and what to say
at a particular place and time.
Formal writing: The non-verbal communication skills helps them in enhancing their
academic writing which could assist them in future while working at some corporate companies.
Creativity
Students while pursuing their higher education develop creativity and innovative thinking
within themselves (Asonitou and Hassall, 2019). They encounter with new situations and are
assigned new tasks every day which assist them in developing their creative thinking. The
importance of this skills is mentioned below: .
Reduce anxiety
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Creative skills assist students in reducing their stress and anxiety as it provides them
opportunity to explore their capabilities. It helps them in creating innovative and new ideas
which keep them busy and minimize the possibility of stress (Kezar and Holcombe, 2017).
Improve focus
Creative skills aid students in improving their focus and enhance their concentration on
particular subject. It helps them in accomplishing their desired tasks with proper dedication and
concentration.
Team work skills
As students during their higher education work in groups which helps them in
understanding how essential it is to develop team work spirit within themselves (Pugsley, 2018).
This completing of certain tasks with the help of each other helps them in developing their
teamwork spirit. The importance of teamwork skills in the lives of students are mentioned below
with explanation:
Teach them social skills: Teamwork skills assist students in understanding how to listen
other people carefully and how they must behave in front of others. It is important as it make
them active listener and develop effective communication skills in them. They start respecting
opinions of others and being to value their opinions.
Helps in future success: By learning and developing these skills, students improve their
behaviour which could help them in their career (Smith, 2020). Employers prefer to hire those
individuals who could bring positivity in their environment and could represent their ability to
work as an effective team member.
Leadership skills
Students while studying in higher education learns to mentor teams and organise their
projects effectively. The leadership skills helps them in motivating others and providing right
direction to people around them. These skills are important to have in students as it helps them
many ways out of which some are discussed below:
Build sense of responsibility: Leadership skills assist people in becoming a responsible
person and taking accountability of their actions. It also helps them taking responsibility of
whole team and providing correct guidance which could assist them in accomplishing their
desired goals effectively.
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Develop motivation skills: Leadership skills helps students in seeking opportunities by
which they could influence other and boost their moral to improve their productivity. It helps in
developing ability to inspire others through effective communication and builds strong
relationship with team mates (Lu and et. al., 2021).
Research skills
Students while pursuing their high education have to research on various topic in order to
complete their assignment which further assist them in developing their research skills
(Vinichenko, Melnichuk and Makushkin, 2020). These skills helps them in developing their
understanding towards several topics and enhance their knowledge. The importance of research
skills are provided below with some explanation:
Build Knowledge: Research skills help students in developing their informative and
knowledge ability which could helps them in their future. They could represent these knowledge
of their in front of their professional mentors that might assist them in improving their image.
Analyse problems: These skills are important as they help students in identifying root
cause of any issues related to work or conflicts. It also helps them in finding suitable solutions
for particular problems.
CONCLUSION
From the above discussion it has been evaluated that it is very vital for students to pay
attention while pursuing their higher education as it will help them improving their personality
and make them confident in life. There are various skills and capabilities which students learn
during their studies that assist them in developing themselves and make them a better person. It
has been observed that these skills also help them in their future professional career by
improving their performance.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Asonitou, S. and Hassall, T., 2019. Which skills and competences to develop in accountants in a
country in crisis?. The International Journal of Management Education, 17(3),
p.100308.
Assiter, A., 2017. Transferable skills in higher education. Routledge.
Kezar, A.J. and Holcombe, E.M., 2017. Shared leadership in higher education. Washington, DC:
American Council on Education.
Lu, K. and et. al., 2021. Examining the key influencing factors on college students’ higher-order
thinking skills in the smart classroom environment. International Journal of
Educational Technology in Higher Education, 18(1), pp.1-13.
Nisbet, J. and Shucksmith, J., 2017. Learning strategies. Routledge.
Pugsley, L., 2018. The university challenge: Higher education markets and social stratification.
Routledge.
Romero, M., Lepage, A. and Lille, B., 2017. Computational thinking development through
creative programming in higher education. International Journal of Educational
Technology in Higher Education, 14(1), pp.1-15.
Sahli, N. and Benaissi, F.B., 2018. Integrating massive open online courses in teaching research
and writing skills. International Journal of Social Sciences & Educational Studies, 5(2),
p.231.
Smith, D.G., 2020. Diversity's promise for higher education: Making it work. JHU Press.
Vinichenko, M., Melnichuk, A. and Makushkin, S., 2020, May. The development of soft skills
among students during a business game. In 6th International Conference on Higher
Education Advances (HEAd'20) (No. 30-05-2020, pp. 309-316). Editorial Universitat
Politècnica de València.
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