----

##  Employability Skills: An Update. ERIC Digest No. 220.                        

What skills do employers want? How do these skills match those that             youth and adults are developing through their school and work                   experiences? How can education and training programs prepare                    individuals to enter a rapidly changing workplace? These and other              questions are examined in this Digest that explores skills currently            needed for employment. 
Since 1986 the authors of no fewer than six            ERIC Digests and one Trends and Issues Alert have sifted through an             increasingly prolific literature base to investigate the evolving               topic of employability skills. The dual challenges of competing in a            world market and rapid technological advancements have necessitated             a redesign of the workplace into an innovative work environment                 known as the high-performance workplace. This environment requires a            behavior and orientation toward work that go beyond step-by-step                task performance. It expects workers at all levels to solve                     problems, create ways to improve the methods they use, and engage               effectively with their coworkers (Bailey 1997; Packer                           1998). 
Knowledge workers who demonstrate this highly skilled,                 adaptive blend of technical and human relations ability are                     recognized by employers as their primary competitive edge.                      Job-specific technical skills in a given field are no longer                    sufficient as employers scramble to fill an increasing number of                interdependent jobs (Askov and Gordon 1999; Murnane and Levy 1996).             Many U.S. and international authors point out the importance of                 continuously developing skills beyond those required for a specific             job, and they identify employability skills that enable individuals             to prove their value to an organization as the key to job survival.             The volume of major studies undertaken in the past 2 decades to                 identify and describe employability skills underscores their                    criticality. (For a listing of some of these authors, organizations,            and studies, see the references.) 
There are many definitions of               the phrase employability skills. The following updated definition is            representative of a synthesis of definitions as they have evolved               over time: 
Employability skills are transferable core skill groups            that represent essential functional and enabling knowledge, skills,             and attitudes required by the 21st century workplace. They are                  necessary for career success at all levels of employment and for all            levels of education. 
Two national studies--one by ASTD, the                   American Society for Training and Development (Carnevale, Gainer,               and Meltzer 1990) and one by the Secretary's Commission on Achieving            Necessary Skills (SCANS 1991)--are foundational works in identifying            employability skills, often used as benchmarks or beginning points              for other international, national, state, regional, and local                   studies. ASTD emphasized 16 skill groups across all job                         families: (1) Basic Competency Skills--reading, writing,                        computation; (2) Communication Skills--speaking, listening; (3)                 Adaptability Skills problem solving, thinking creatively; (4)                   Developmental Skills--self-esteem, motivation and goal-setting,                 career planning; (5) Group Effectiveness Skills--interpersonal                  skills, teamwork, negotiation; and (6) Influencing                              Skills--understanding organizational culture, sharing                           leadership. 
The U.S. Department of Labor, which supported the ASTD            study through a grant, then established the Secretary's Commission              on Achieving Necessary Skills. The commission's task was to                     investigate not only what is required in the workplace of today and             tomorrow, but to determine the extent to which high school students             are able to meet the requirements (O'Neil et al. 1997). The findings            highlight 36 skills, including the ability to use 5 competencies                efficiently (resources, interpersonal skills, information, systems,             and technology) based on a 3-part foundation of basic skills,                   thinking skills, and personal qualities. IMPLICATIONS FOR                     LEARNINGSCANS' mission was to define the necessary functional               and enabling skills that society must provide to every child by the             age of 16 (SCANS 1991). SCANS staff conducted studies of cognitive              science research literature related to the importance of learning in            context, met with cognitive scientists, and subsequently advocated              the teaching of skills within the functional context of the                     workplace. This represented what the commission termed the most                 radical change in educational content since the beginning of the                20th century (ibid.). By late 1998 education's challenge was still              not being met (Packer 1998). Arnold Packer, former executive                    director of SCANS and current chairman of the Johns Hopkins                     University SCANS/2000 Center, identified three misconceptions about             SCANS: 
1. The assumption that SCANS relates primarily to                      entry-level employment, when the competencies are needed at all                 rungs of the career ladder and all levels of education. 
2.                    Thinking that SCANS refers only to "soft skills" such as teamwork               and interpersonal skills, when they are only one of five broad                  competency groups including using technology skills or interpreting             information skills. 
3.  The most controversial misconception that             SCANS appears to conflict with rigorous academic work, when the                 skills are needed as far as the Ph.D. level of the education                    continuum (Packer 1998). Part of this misconception may have to do              with the term "employability skills" itself. Perhaps "career success            skills" would more aptly capture the five SCANS competencies' broad             scope in the problem-solving domains (Packer 2000). 
Despite the               misconceptions, recent studies in Nevada and Canada have been                   successful in validating, updating, and regionalizing generic                   employability skills and competencies over time ("Employability                 Skills Toolkit" 2000; Richens 1999). 
THE FORGOTTEN HALF                       REVISITED (Halperin 1998) revealed that a majority of high school               students leave school without a solid base of academic and SCANS                skills that will enable them to succeed in postsecondary                        occupational or academic education. Employability skills have not               traditionally been "directly taught" in schools (Grubb et al. 1992;             Halperin 1998). Teaching and learning these skills are not only                 consistent with the emerging needs of a world economy in a                      high-performance work environment. Teaching and learning                        employability skills contribute to optimal learning because such a              workplace is characterized by five principles that correspond to                five principles of effective learning (Bailey 1997, pp. 39-40): 
1.            Tasks and jobs are integrated through broad job definitions or                  cross-functional teams. (Knowledge and curriculum are integrated:               head and hand, knowing and doing.) 
2. Workers are given more                  initiative and take more responsibility. (Learning is active or                 engaged, a process of discovery rather than a dissemination of                  information.) 
3. Employees solve problems in nonroutine                       situations. (Deeper understanding is encouraged. This allows                    responses to stimuli the learner has not already encountered.) 
4.             There is an emphasis on continuous improvement. (New approaches to              learning focus on thought processes that generate learning rather               than the "right answer" and provide multiple opportunities for                  collaborative learning.) 
5. Workers are expected to understand                their functions within the context of the broader purposes of the               organization. (New strategies are grounded in solid research that               calls for learning in context.) EDUCATIONAL                                   RESPONSESContextual integration of employability skills into                curriculum has been a slow process, but recent trends are                       encouraging. The North Central Association on Schools has initiated             an optional Transitions Endorsement credentialing model to address              one section of its four-part mission: "Provides standards and                   evaluation services for schools that ensure successful schooling                transitions for its students" (www.nca.asu.edu/transitions/). The               Transitions Endorsement provides professional development for                   administrators and teachers to document the performance of every                elementary and secondary student in five areas of curricular                    integration: reading, writing, mathematics, science, employability              skills, and career awareness and exploration. A total of 142 pilot              schools in 13 states of a 19-state region are working toward                    developing individual student rubrics for instructor evaluation of              progress in each of the 5 areas. The ultimate goal of credentialing             is assuring students, parents/guardians, and the community that                 students are prepared with the knowledge and skills to be successful            as they move from school to school and to their chosen career. 
In             a similar vein, the Conference Board of Canada revised an earlier               list of essential competencies (McLaughlin 1995) and named them                 Employability Skills 2000+. An interactive Internet version of an               Employability Skills Toolkit has been released on the SchoolNet                 website in September 2000 (www.schoolnet.ca/EmployabilitySkills/).              This toolkit will also be released in a series of CD-ROMs targeted              for different age groups-K-12, postsecondary, and adult                         learners ("Employability Skills Toolkit" 2000). 
The Johns Hopkins             University SCANS/2000 Center is currently implementing a Career                 Transcript System that uses SCANS research as its foundation in four            areas: high school students, community college learners (associate              degree/technical institutions), entry-level workers, and incumbent              workers in union training programs. A diagnostic assessment of                  individuals' employability skills establishes a baseline at entry; a            second assessment is task based, using observed behavior in the                 workplace or in the classroom. These results are entered into an                online Career Transcript, and an individual development plan for                each student is created to close gaps between current and desired               skill levels (Siberts 2000). 
O*NET, the Occupational Information              Network (www.onetcenter.org), is the Department of Labor's                      comprehensive database of worker attributes and job characteristics.            Its database, which is the replacement for the Dictionary of                    Occupational Titles, contains information about employability skills            for each job title. Because O*NET data and structure also link                  related occupational, educational, and labor market information                 databases to the system, it may be used to align educational and job            training curriculum with current workplace needs (Occupational                  Information Network 2000). 
In higher education, Alverno College in            Wisconsin and nine universities in the United Kingdom have formed               the Ability Based Curriculum                                                    Network (www.brookes.ac.uk/services/ocsd/abc int.html). Essential               abilities are integrated, developmental, and transferable (Alverno              College Faculty 1994). Although learning takes place within a                   context, what is learned about the underlying ability is                        transferable to other situations or roles the student                           encounters (Brown 1999). 
Considerably more research is needed on              creating and assessing curriculum that integrates the learning of               employability skills contextually. Valid and reliable links must be             forged between such curriculum and improved learner                             performance/competency attainment. Equally important, open and                  free-flowing systems of communication between research outcomes,                educational institutions, employers, and communities must be                    consciously and carefully crafted. REFERENCESAlverno College              Faculty. STUDENT ASSESSMENT-AS-LEARNING AT ALVERNO COLLEGE. 3D ED.              Milwaukee, WI: Alverno College, 1994. 
Askov, E. N., and Gordon, E.            E.  "The Brave New World of Workforce Education." NEW DIRECTIONS FOR            ADULT AND CONTINUING EDUCATION no. 83 (Fall 1999): 59-68. 
Bailey,             T. "Changes in the Nature of Work: Implications for Skills and                  Assessment." In WORKFORCE READINESS: COMPETENCIES AND ASSESSMENT,               edited by H. F. O'Neil, Jr. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates,            1997. 
Brown, C. "Examples of Essential Abilities." Victoria, BC:              Centre for Curriculum, Transfer and Technology,                                 1999. (www.ctt.bc.ca/lo/IDEA/symposium99/Abmodels.html) 
Carnevale,            A. P.; Gainer, L. J.; and Meltzer, A. S. WORKPLACE BASICS: THE                  ESSENTIAL SKILLS EMPLOYERS WANT. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,                    1990. 
"Employability Skills Toolkit for the Self-Managing                     Learner." Ottawa, Ontario: Conference Board of Canada, 2000. (www2.             conferenceboard.ca/nbec/toolkit.htm) 
Grubb, W. N.; Dickinson, T.;             Giordano, L.; and Kaplan, G. BETWIXT AND BETWEEN: EDUCATION, SKILLS,            AND EMPLOYMENT IN SUB-BACCALAUREATE LABOR MARKETS. Berkeley:                    National Center for Research in Vocational Education, University of             California, 1992. (ED 353 412) 
Halperin, S., ed. THE FORGOTTEN                HALF REVISITED. Washington, DC: American Youth Policy Forum,                    1998. (ED 425 275) 
McLaughlin, M. A. EMPLOYABILITY SKILLS PROFILE:            WHAT ARE EMPLOYERS LOOKING FOR? Greensboro: ERIC Clearinghouse on               Counseling and Student Services, University of North Carolina,                  1995. (ED 399 484) 
Murnane, R. J., and Levy, F. TEACHING THE NEW              BASIC SKILLS, PRINCIPLES FOR EDUCATING CHILDREN TO THRIVE IN A                  CHANGING ECONOMY. New York: Free Press, 1996. 
Occupational                    Information Network. "What Is O*NET?"                                           2000. (www.onetcenter.org/overview/index.html) 
O'Neil, H. F., Jr.;            Allred, K.; and Baker, E. L. "Review of Workforce Readiness                     Theoretical Frameworks." In WORKFORCE READINESS: COMPETENCIES AND               ASSESSMENT, edited by H. F. O'Neil, Jr. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum            Associates, 1997. 
Packer, A. "The End of Routine Work and the Need            for a Career Transcript." Paper presented at the Hudson Institute's             Workforce 2020 Conference, Indianapolis, Indiana, October                       1998. 
Packer, A. Chairman, Johns Hopkins University SCANS/2000                Center. Personal Electronic Mail Correspondence, October                        2000. 
Richens, G. "Perceptions of Southern Nevada Employers                   Regarding the Importance of SCANS Workplace Basic Skills." Ph.D.                diss., University of Nevada-Las Vegas, 1999. 
Secretary's                      Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills. WHAT WORK REQUIRES OF                 SCHOOLS: A SCANS REPORT FOR AMERICA 2000. Washington, DC: U.S.                  Department of Labor, 1991. (ED 332 054) 
Siberts, M. Project                   Manager, Career Transcript System. Personal Electronic Mail                     Correspondence, March 2000. 
----- 
This project has been funded              at least in part with Federal funds from the U.S. Department of                 Education under Contract No. ED-99-CO-0013. The content of this                 publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of               the U.S. Department of Education nor does mention of trade names,               commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S.             Government. Digests may be freely reproduced and are available at               http://ericacve.org/fulltext.asp.                                            **Title:** Employability Skills: An Update. ERIC Digest No. 220.                        **Document Type:** Information Analyses---ERIC Information Analysis Products (IAPs) (071); Information Analyses---ERIC Digests (Selected) in Full Text (073); **Available From:** For full text: http://www.ericacve.org/fulltext.asp.                         **Descriptors:** Adult Education, Change Strategies, Competency Based Education,                  Curriculum Development,  Education Work Relationship, Educational              Change, Educational Cooperation, Educational Improvement,                        Educational Needs, Educational Research, Educational Trends,                   Employer Attitudes, Employment Potential,  Employment                           Qualifications, Foreign Countries, Information Networks, Integrated             Curriculum,  Job Skills, Needs Assessment, Partnerships in                      Education, Postsecondary Education, Program Development,                        Relevance (Education), Secondary Education, Trend Analysis,                      Vocational Education                                                        **Identifiers:** American Society for Training and Development, Canada, ERIC Digests,            Secretarys Comm on Achieving Necessary Skills, United Kingdom,                  United States                                                                
###
[Return to ERIC Digest Search Page]