IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/injoed/v101y2023ics0738059323000998.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effects of game-based soft skills training: A quasi-experiment with Ethiopian garment workers

Author

Listed:
  • Estrellado, Emmanuel
  • Charoensilp, Pimmada
  • Yamada, Shoko

Abstract

Soft skills are an essential determinant of worker productivity. This study investigates the efficacy of a game-based soft skills training program conducted with 501 workers in Ethiopia’s garment sector. The training was based on behavior modeling theory and included two board games and reflection activities to help participants connect and apply soft skills to their work contexts. The study evaluates the training program, pre- and post-training questionnaires, and a statistical analysis, which indicates that the training resulted in significant positive improvements in the work-related soft skills of participants.

Suggested Citation

  • Estrellado, Emmanuel & Charoensilp, Pimmada & Yamada, Shoko, 2023. "The effects of game-based soft skills training: A quasi-experiment with Ethiopian garment workers," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:injoed:v:101:y:2023:i:c:s0738059323000998
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2023.102823
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738059323000998
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2023.102823?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Richard Desjardins & Kjell Rubenson, 2011. "An Analysis of Skill Mismatch Using Direct Measures of Skills," OECD Education Working Papers 63, OECD Publishing.
    2. Lex Borghans & Angela Lee Duckworth & James J. Heckman & Bas ter Weel, 2008. "The Economics and Psychology of Personality Traits," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 43(4).
    3. Heckman, James J. & Kautz, Tim, 2012. "Hard evidence on soft skills," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 451-464.
    4. James J. Heckman & Jora Stixrud & Sergio Urzua, 2006. "The Effects of Cognitive and Noncognitive Abilities on Labor Market Outcomes and Social Behavior," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(3), pages 411-482, July.
    5. Tingting Tong & Haizheng Li & Samuel Greiff, 2019. "Human capital and leadership: the impact of cognitive and noncognitive abilities," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(53), pages 5741-5752, November.
    6. Anders Fredriksson & Gustavo Magalhães de Oliveira, 2019. "Impact evaluation using Difference-in-Differences," RAUSP Management Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 54(4), pages 519-532, September.
    7. Susan Athey & Guido W. Imbens, 2017. "The State of Applied Econometrics: Causality and Policy Evaluation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(2), pages 3-32, Spring.
    8. Dolores Lucía Sutil-Martín & F. Javier Otamendi, 2021. "Soft Skills Training Program Based on Serious Games," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(15), pages 1-23, July.
    9. Balcar Jiří, 2014. "Soft Skills and Their Wage Returns: Overview of Empirical Literature," Review of Economic Perspectives, Sciendo, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, March.
    10. Juan M. Villa, 2016. "diff: Simplifying the estimation of difference-in-differences treatment effects," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 16(1), pages 52-71, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Szabó-Morvai, Ágnes & Kiss, Hubert János, 2022. "Különböznek-e a roma és nem roma diákok nem kognitív képességeikben? [Do Roma and non-Roma students differ in their non-cognitive abilities?]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(11), pages 1433-1456.
    2. Pons Rotger, Gabriel & Rosholm, Michael, 2020. "The Role of Beliefs in Long Sickness Absence: Experimental Evidence from a Psychological Intervention," IZA Discussion Papers 13582, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Pablo Lavado & Nelson Oviedo & Hernán Ruffo, 2016. "Destruction of Cognitive and Noncognitive Skills in Adulthood," Working Papers 16-07, Centro de Investigación, Universidad del Pacífico.
    4. Heckman, James J. & Humphries, John Eric & Veramendi, Gregory & Urzua, Sergio, 2014. "Education, Health and Wages," IZA Discussion Papers 8027, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Wiedner, Jonas & Schaeffer, Merlin, 2020. "Career trajectories into undereducation. Which skills and resources substitute formal education in the intergenerational transmission of advantage?," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 68, pages 1-1.
    6. Ao, Xiang & Chen, Xuan & Zhao, Zhong, 2022. "Is care by grandparents or parents better for children's non-cognitive skills? Evidence on locus of control from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    7. Hahn, Youjin & Islam, Asadul & Patacchini, Eleonora & Zenou, Yves, 2015. "Network Structure and Education Outcomes: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Bangladesh," IZA Discussion Papers 8872, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Ben Weidmann & David J. Deming, 2020. "Team Players: How Social Skills Improve Group Performance," NBER Working Papers 27071, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. C. Simon Fan & Xiangdong Wei & Junsen Zhang, 2017. "Soft Skills, Hard Skills, And The Black/White Wage Gap," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 55(2), pages 1032-1053, April.
    10. Kautz, Tim & Heckman, James J. & Diris, Ron & ter Weel, Bas & Borghans, Lex, 2014. "Fostering and Measuring Skills: Improving Cognitive and Non-Cognitive Skills to Promote Lifetime Success," IZA Discussion Papers 8696, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Deborah Cobb-Clark, 2015. "Locus of control and the labor market," IZA Journal of Labor Economics, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 4(1), pages 1-19, December.
    12. Gavoille, Nicolas & Hazans, Mihails, 2022. "Personality Traits, Remote Work and Productivity," IZA Discussion Papers 15486, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    13. Achyuta Adhvaryu & Namrata Kala & Anant Nyshadham, 2018. "The Skills to Pay the Bills: Returns to On-the-job Soft Skills Training," NBER Working Papers 24313, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Daniela Del Boca & Enrica Maria Martino & Chiara Pronzato, 2022. "Non cognitive skills and childcare attendance," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 1059-1085, December.
    15. Balsa, Ana & Gandelman, Néstor & Roldán, Flavia, 2015. "Peer Effects in the Development of Capabilities in Adolescence," Research Department working papers 820, CAF Development Bank Of Latinamerica.
    16. Laible, Marie-Christine & Anger, Silke & Baumann, Martina, 2020. "Personality Traits and Further Training," IAB-Discussion Paper 202034, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    17. James Heckman & Tim Kautz, 2013. "Fostering and Measuring Skills: Interventions That Improve Character and Cognition," Working Papers 2013-019, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    18. Seemanti Ghosh, 2020. "Can enhancing consciousness of control ideology mitigate the impact of poverty on perseverance?," Working Papers 2020_22, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    19. Guber, Raphael, 2019. "Making it right? Social norms, handwriting and human capital," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 44-57.
    20. Shure, Nikki, 2021. "Non-cognitive peer effects in secondary education," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:injoed:v:101:y:2023:i:c:s0738059323000998. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/international-journal-of-educational-development .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.