Purpose – This study examines how soft skills shape problem-solving capability in work-based learning by integrating Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) and the Job Demands–Resources (JD–R) model. It tests whether personal engagement explains how soft skills influence problem-solving and whether these relationships differ by gender. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected via an online survey from 16, 824 participants enrolled in Indonesia's Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka (MBKM) Independent Study Programme (Batch 7, 2024). The model was estimated using PLS-SEM with bootstrapping. Common method bias diagnostics and measurement invariance testing (MICOM) were conducted before gender-based multi-group analysis (permutation MGA). Findings – Soft skills are positively related to personal engagement, and personal engagement is positively related to problem-solving. Bootstrapped mediation results show that engagement partly explains the effect of soft skills on problem-solving, while the direct association between soft skills and problem-solving remains significant. The permutation MGA indicates that gender differences are mainly observed in the relationship between soft skills and engagement, whereas the relationship between engagement and problem-solving, and the direct relationship between soft skills and problem-solving, are broadly similar for male and female participants. As MICOM did not fully support invariance for the soft-skills composite, gender comparisons involving soft skills are interpreted with appropriate caution. Practical implications – Higher education institutions and work-based learning providers should embed soft-skills development through experiential learning, mentoring, and reflective practice to strengthen engagement and applied problem-solving. Employers and Human Resources (HR) teams can reinforce these capabilities through structured feedback, engagement-supportive supervision, and equitable opportunities to practise soft skills in collaborative tasks. Policymakers may use these insights to refine employability-oriented programme standards. Originality/value – The study provides an integrated SCT–JD–R explanation of how soft skills translate into problem-solving through engagement, supported by evidence from a large national work-based learning dataset and gender-based analysis. © 2025 Emerald Publishing Limited
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