Differentiated Impact of University Training Time According to Secondary Education Institution on the Development of Social Skills Impacto diferenciado del tiempo de formación universitaria según institución de educación media en el desarrollo de habilidades sociales

Abstract

Efficient professional performance requires the development of specific competencies in conjunction with social skills. Evidence indicates that there would be differences (individual and contextual) in the development of social skills, suggesting that they would remain stable over time. The aim of the present study was to make a comparison of social skills according to sex, educational institution of origin and yearsof university formation in 289 students of a public university of the center-south of Chile. The results indicate that there are no differences in social skills between men and women, but that these are greater among those who come from private subsidizedinstitutions than those from public institutions, as well as among those who are in the last year of their training than those who are in the first year. As these gaps widen with the passage through the university, they become an imperative for universityimprovement, in order to generate a later egalitarian development among students.