The Importance of Building Soft Skills in Vocational Training for Youth with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: Evidence from the Impact Project

Abstract

Background: Research has identified employment as a social inclusion priority for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and has emphasized person-centered vocational training as a predictor of future employment. The Impact Project is a summer program offered by project partners in British Columbia, Canada, that provides youth with IDD vocational training to improve their employment experiences in preparation for future employment. Objective: This study explicates the importance of soft skills in vocational training identified by youth and their parents/carers regarding attained employment experiences during the Impact Project (2020–2022). Methods: This study evaluates qualitative data from youth and their parents/carers who reflected on their vocational training and attained employment experiences. Results: Qualitative findings highlight the significance of soft skills, namely confidence, social capital, and job readiness in the youth's employment experiences and outcomes. Youth and parent/carer observations about these soft skills add insight to understanding positive employment outcomes from the Impact Project. Conclusion: Qualitative data from the Impact Project (2020–2022) illuminate how soft skills contributed to the youth's employment experiences. These findings contextualize quantitative employment outcomes and can guide vocational training programs for youth with IDD in preparation for future employment. © The Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).

Keywords

Author Keywords

youth employment community-engaged research intellectual and developmental disabilities person-centered

Index Keywords

Employment female human male adolescent Article Vocational education controlled study Social inclusion intellectual impairment community living developmental disorder major clinical study personal appearance program evaluation qualitative analysis social capital time management

Author Affiliations

University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, BC, Canada

School of Health and Exercise Sciences, University of British Columbia Okanagan, Kelowna, BC, Canada

Funding & Acknowledgements

Grant: F19-02171

Funding text 1: The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This project was funded by the British Columbia Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction in a partnership between the BC Employment Network and the Canadian Institute for Inclusion and Citizenship (F19-02171). The authors acknowledge that their work is situated within the traditional, ancestral, unceded, and continued lands of the Syilx Okanagan Nation and their peoples. The authors extend their sincere appreciation to the youth, their parents and caregivers, as well as the many individuals and collaborating partners from community-based organizations whose commitment and contributions made the Impact Project's summer employment training program possible.; Funding text 2: The authors disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This project was funded by the British Columbia Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction in a partnership between the BC Employment Network and the Canadian Institute for Inclusion and Citizenship (F19-02171).

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The Importance of Building Soft Skills in Vocational Training for Youth with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: Evidence from the Impact Project

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