Virtual Reality as an ally in the development of soft skills in Vocational Training

In the current context of digital transformation, automation and constant change in working environments, technical skills are no longer enough to guarantee employability and professional growth. Increasingly, companies value a set of competences that transcend technical knowledge: soft skills.

Although the term came into use in 1972, when the US military realised that performance depended not only on technical skills but also on factors such as leadership, empathy and communication, for decades these skills took a back seat to hard skills. It was not until the arrival of the 4th Industrial Revolution, and more recently with the COVID-19 pandemic, that these skills acquired a new prominence.

Vocational Training cannot remain oblivious to this change. The professional profile of the 21st century must not only master tools, processes or technical languages, but also know how to communicate, collaborate, adapt to change and lead. And this is where Virtual Reality is positioned as a tool of great value.

Soft skills are a set of interpersonal, emotional and cognitive abilities that enable a person to function effectively in different social and professional contexts. They include skills such as problem solving, teamwork, communication, empathy, time management, critical thinking and adaptability.

These competences are not only acquired in the classroom or in the workplace. They are largely developed through experience, reflection and social interaction. However, that does not mean that they cannot be trained. In fact, the key is to provide students with learning environments that simulate real-life situations, where they can practice these skills in meaningful contexts.

Virtual Reality makes it possible to build immersive educational experiences that are safe and adapted to the learning objectives, even when these objectives are far removed from technical skills.

Thanks to VR, vocational training students can experiment, make decisions, make mistakes and reflect on their actions, all within a controlled environment that simulates real-world scenarios. It is an evolution of the famous “learning by doing” towards what some already call “learning by being”: learning from personal experience within a simulation.

Through training simulators in Virtual Reality, students can work on a wide variety of soft skills. These are some of the most important ones:

Participating in immersive scenarios presents students with challenges that they must address autonomously or collaboratively. For example, in an industrial maintenance or customer service simulator, they must analyse the situation, evaluate options and make quick decisions. This type of training prepares students to solve real-life situations confidently and effectively.

VR allows several learners to interact within the same virtual environment, sharing a common goal. This promotes coordination, leadership and fluid communication. Teamwork in virtual environments also promotes conflict management and consensus building, key skills in any work environment.

Simulators that introduce pressure situations, such as fires, accidents or organisational crises, allow students to practice emotional self-regulation and stress management. In this way, they learn to identify their emotions, remain calm and act with clarity, essential qualities in sectors such as healthcare, logistics or customer service.

In many simulators, time limits are introduced to accomplish a task, forcing learners to plan, prioritise and execute actions efficiently. This skill is especially useful in production, logistics or service environments, where productivity is linked to meeting deadlines.

Facing changing virtual contexts— new roles, unexpected tasks or changes in the environment —forces the learner to step out of his or her comfort zone. This practice reinforces adaptability, one of the most valued qualities in a constantly evolving labour market.

Well-designed immersive experiences do not give predefined answers. They force students to analyse information, contrast data and make reasoned decisions. This strengthens their critical thinking and their ability to solve complex problems, two key skills in technical and management professions.

In a virtual environment, the learner assumes an active role and must be accountable for his or her decisions. They are no longer limited to receiving information: they participate in the construction of the experience. This paradigm shift enhances individual responsibility and reinforces the capacity for self-management.

Virtual Reality introduces a playful and experiential dimension to the learning process. This combination enhances intrinsic motivation, task engagement and perceived self-efficacy. In other words, the learner feels more involved, learns with more interest and retains the content better.

The incorporation of Artificial Intelligence in training simulators represents a qualitative leap in the teaching of soft skills. While Virtual Reality allows the recreation of immersive environments where students can practice transversal skills, AI adds a level of personalisation, feedback and adaptability that multiplies the value of the training experience.

One of the main benefits of integrating AI into simulators is its ability to analyse in real time the decisions, behaviours and reactions of each learner. From this data, the system can provide immediate and personalised feedback, detect patterns of improvement and automatically adjust the difficulty or focus of the scenario according to the user’s progress. This allows for more autonomous and effective learning, aligned to the individual needs of each person.

Moreover, thanks to natural language processing, AI can facilitate realistic conversations with virtual characters, simulating job interviews, negotiations or conflict situations that require skills such as empathy, assertive communication or emotional management. These interactions not only help to practice, but also to objectively assess students’ interpersonal skills and build more complete profiles that are better prepared for a changing work environment.

In a world where professions change rapidly and many do not yet exist, Vocational Education and Training today has the opportunity —and the responsibility— to train not only competent technicians, but well-rounded professionals, able to communicate, collaborate, resolve conflicts, adapt and lead.

The best educational approach to achieve this is to prepare students to adapt, learn continuously and work with other people, and Virtual Reality, supported by other technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, is proving to be a strategic tool to achieve these goals.