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Fostering creativity and communicative soft skills through leisure activities in management studies

Mercedes Mareque (Department of Financial Economics and Accountancy, University of Vigo, Ourense, Spain)
Elena de Prada Creo (Department of English, French and German, University of Vigo, Ourense, Spain)
Maria Beatriz Gonzalez-Sanchez (Department of Financial Economics and Accountancy, University of Vigo, Ourense, Spain)

Education + Training

ISSN: 0040-0912

Article publication date: 11 January 2019

Issue publication date: 11 February 2019

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to gain insight into the way leisure activities and soft skills relate to creativity in higher education. It determines which activities have a positive impact on the student body’s overall education. Previous research evidences the relationship between specific leisure activities and creativity performance in several scenarios. Our work applies a broad range of these leisure activities to find results within our own specific student population.

Design/methodology/approach

The methodology is based on a survey of 303 Spanish students in Business Administration and Tourism. The study uses two instruments to measure the creativity of students, the Runco Ideational Behavior Scale (RIBS) and a three-dimensional construct that measures divergent thinking (originality, fluency and flexibility).

Findings

The results reveal that the average for creativity is higher for those students participating in some of the activities proposed. A positive correlation was also observed between the number of leisure activities and the creativity measures analysed. This confirms that students participating in more leisure activities display higher levels of creativity. Finally, the results display that the vast majority of students are involved in some type of activity, but two of the interpersonal skills that companies appreciate the most (reading and writing) are performed by very few students. This is especially the case of writing.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the pedagogical strategies that can be used in universities to motivate practising leisure activities as a mean of fostering creativity. It is important to note that the involvement of students in leisure activities can benefit from their integration into the labour market.

Keywords

Citation

Mareque, M., de Prada Creo, E. and Gonzalez-Sanchez, M.B. (2019), "Fostering creativity and communicative soft skills through leisure activities in management studies", Education + Training, Vol. 61 No. 1, pp. 94-107. https://doi.org/10.1108/ET-07-2018-0149

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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