I can't agree more with you Gregory with stressing the skill of persistence. Many times when a research is conducted and the findings are put together as an article and sent for review, some of the comments that are received "sound" devastating even after a rejection. However, through this I encourage my mentees to regroup (by taking the comments that were received) and rework the article and send to another journal. Sometimes after two or three attempts, a good journal finally accepts it and provide a relatively better reviews which are worked on and resubmitted. Thus, in this process, they learn how to be patient with situations, step back and re-strategize and they learn how to be resilient and not give up easily.

I have observed that undergrad students may have limited appreciation and willingness to try to work even welcome peers who have diverse abilities and differences. Especially those who might show symptoms of learning disabilities but more often Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and students on the Auitism Spectrum.. I hate using labels, neurodiversity needs to be discussed, and students needs to be provided with opportunities to ask questions and understand these differences as we model inclusiveness for them.

Metacognitive skills, being aware of the process as they go through their journey, and effective communication skills, and advocacy.

Thanks for posing such a thought provoking question..

My students do qualitative research and the 'soft' skills that I push are listening and focus. They need to focus on what their participants are saying and not get caught up trying to figure them out until sufficient data has been gathered. Do not allow yourself to flip to experiences you have had that are similar. Focus on the participant's story. Students need to learn the art of blocking every voice but the speaker's and asking questions beyond their interview questions only for clarification. Interviews are not a conversation, they are listening to someone else's story. I would say that this also applies, with slight variation, to those doing numerical research. Focus on your calculations, clarify as need to be sure they are correct, then let the numbers tell the story.

Gregory, firstly, it is important to recognise that in teaching and encouraging the next generation of researchers to take the mantle to higher heights, it is critical to highlight that, sometimes, the investigative process can take time, can be energy sapping, can be messy and the investigator has to acknowledge and sometimes address the politics, the emotions and the sentiments that could be involved with participants/informants. Likewise, surfacing things like being empathetic yet rigorous in finding out about the problem(s), developing political awareness and an ability to address awkward moments when they arise and having a knack for finding out about and reporting the real experiences can be life transforming and knowledge generating. Interesting...