Minding Our Workforce: The Role of Noncognitive Skills in Career Success
American Enterprise Institute
May 18, 2021
About the Compilation
Our economy increasingly needs people with strong “humane” skills and the capacity to relate well to others, including coworkers, clients, and customers. Inadequate preparation in this domain of so-called noncognitive or soft skills impairs innovation, communication, and business performance. That is why employers highlight the demand for these skills when they talk about what is missing in the workforce.
The chapters in this volume are from leading experts in research and practice in noncognitive skills, covering topics such as brain function, labor market data, and promising strategies for incorporating the development of such skills in human services and job training. In short, the authors tell us where these attributes originate, why they are important, and how we can get more of them.
Introduction
In my 2018 American Enterprise Institute report “STEM Without Fruit: How Noncognitive Skills Improve Workforce Outcomes,” I argued that a serious imbalance has developed between US education and training priorities and the American economy’s actual needs and demands.1 Data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics show that STEM-related occupations amount to a small portion of the total US workforce and are likely to remain comparatively small as a share of the total economy and that the occupations with the highest demand and economic returns actually require high levels of noncognitive skills. For better or worse, the vast majority of Americans are and will continue to work in fields unrelated to STEM, and as automation continues to take over routinized work, those with strong “people-facing,” noncognitive skills are best positioned to take advantage of emerging work opportunities and fulfilling careers.
This volume lays a foundation for understanding the theoretical basis of the importance of noncognitive skills and the need for greater policymaker attention to them. Because of the difficulties involved in defining and teaching these skills, they often become a “we know them when we see them” phenomena, vital but often vague, and essential to success but hard to convert into policies and curricula. Overcoming this challenge is worth our attention and best thought, reflection, and effort, even if the effort does not translate quickly into specific actionable recommendations.
Notes
1. Brent Orrell, “STEM Without Fruit: How Noncognitive Skills Improve Workforce Outcomes,” American Enterprise Institute, November 14, 2018, https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/stem-without-fruit-how-noncognitive-skills-improveworkforce-outcomes/.