Assessment and Development of Soft Skills for Workplace Internships in Vocational Education and Training: A Systematic Literature Review

The transformation of the world of work, driven by economic and social change, technological advances, digitalization, and new working environments, has highlighted the importance of soft skills in vocational education and training (VET). In this context, workplace internships constitute a key setting for their development and assessment. This systematic review analyzes the recent literature on transferable skills in VET and their relationship with work-based learning environments. Following PRISMA guidelines, searches were conducted in the Web of Science and Scopus databases. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, 26 studies were selected from 1114 records. Findings reveal international consensus regarding the importance of communication, teamwork, problem-solving, and socio-emotional skills for labor market integration. However, a gap persists between workplace demands and training practices. Although active methodologies and integrated learning models show promising results, important limitations remain regarding competency assessment, school-company coordination, and teacher preparation. The review also identifies research gaps, particularly the scarcity of longitudinal studies and validated instruments for assessing transferable skills in authentic VET contexts. Finally, the findings highlight the need for integrated school-company collaboration models that support more consistent assessment and professional development among students.