Employer Voices, Employer Demands, and Implications for Public Skills Development Policy

Villasenor, Paula; Cunningham, Wendy

Employer Voices, Employer Demands, and Implications for Public Skills Development Policy

Autores

Villasenor, Paula

Cunningham, Wendy

Editor

World Bank, Washington, DC

Descripción

Educators believe that they are adequately preparing youth for the labor market while employers lament the lack of skills. A possible source of the mismatch in perceptions is that employers and educators have different understandings of the types of skills valued in the labor market. This paper uses economics and psychology literature to define four skills sets: socio-emotional, higher-order cognitive, basic cognitive, and technical skills. The paper reviews the literature that quantitatively measures employer skill demand, as reported in preference surveys. A sample of 28 studies reveals remarkable consistency across the world in the skills demanded by employers. Although employers value all skill sets, there is a greater demand for socio-emotional and higher-order cognitive skills than for basic cognitive or technical skills. These results are robust across economy size and level of development, sector, export-orientation, and occupations. Employers perceive that the greatest skills gaps are in socio-emotional and technical skills. These findings suggest the need to re-conceptualize education and training systems. Taking into consideration the developmental process to acquire the skills identified by employers, this implies the need to recognize that (a) the job-skills development process necessarily begins at birth and continues throughout the life cycle so skills policy should, as well; (b) schools play a relevant, but limited, role in skills development and the role of parents, mentors, and the work place must be defined and enhanced; and (c) the skills most demanded by employers -- higher-order cognitive and socio-emotional skills -- are largely taught (the former) or refined in secondary school, which argues for a general education until these skills are formed.

Palabras clave

ABSTRACT THINKING, ACADEMIC KNOWLEDGE, ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE, ACHIEVEMENT TESTS, ADOLESCENCE, ADULT LITERACY, ADULTS, ATTENTION, BASIC LITERACY, BASIC NUMERACY, BASIC SKILLS, BELIEFS, CAREERS, CBI, CHILD DEVELOPMENT, CLASSROOM, COGNITION, COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT, COGNITIVE SKILLS, COGNITIVE TEST, COGNITIVE TESTS, COMMUNICATION SKILLS, COMPETENCE, COMPETENCIES, COMPUTER LITERACY, COMPUTER SKILLS, CONTROL GROUPS, COUNTRY STUDIES, CREATIVITY, CRITICAL THINKING, CURRICULUM, DECISION MAKING, DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY, DISADVANTAGED CHILDREN, EARLY CHILDHOOD, EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT, EARLY STIMULATION, EDUCATED WORKERS, EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT, EDUCATION LEVEL, EDUCATION POLICY, EDUCATION PROVIDERS, EDUCATION QUALITY, EDUCATION SECTOR, EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT, EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS, EDUCATORS, EMOTIONAL DEVELOPMENT, EMPATHY, ENTREPRENEURSHIP, ETHICS, GENDER, GENERAL EDUCATION, GIRLS, GRADE LEVELS, HIGH SCHOOL, HIGHER EDUCATION, HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS, HUMAN DEVELOPMENT, INFORMATION PROCESSING, INSTRUCTION, INTELLIGENCE, JOB TRAINING, LANGUAGE SKILLS, LEADERSHIP, LEARNING, LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES, LEARNING PROCESSES, LEVELS OF EDUCATION, LIFE SKILLS, LITERACY, LITERACY SURVEY, LOW LEVELS OF EDUCATION, LOWER LEVELS OF EDUCATION, MATHEMATICS, MEMORY, MENTORS, MOTIVATION, NUMERACY, NUTRITION, OCCUPATIONAL CHOICE, OCCUPATIONS, ORAL COMMUNICATION, PAPERS, PARENTAL GUIDANCE, PEDAGOGICAL METHODS, PEDAGOGY, PERCEPTION, PERSONALITY, PERSONALITY TRAITS, PHYSICS, PLAYING, PRIMARY SCHOOL, PROBLEM SOLVING, PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS, PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS, PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE, PROFICIENCY, RATES OF RETURN, READING, REASONING, RETURNS TO EDUCATION, SCHOOL CLUBS, SCHOOL COMPLETION, SCHOOL CURRICULUM, SCHOOL DROPOUTS, SCHOOL GRADUATES, SCHOOL PROGRAM, SCHOOLING, SCHOOLS, SECONDARY EDUCATION, SECONDARY SCHOOL, SKILL ACQUISITION, SKILL DEVELOPMENT, SKILL PREFERENCES, SKILLED WORKERS, SKILLS ACQUISITION, SKILLS DEVELOPMENT, SKILLS FOR EMPLOYMENT, SOCIAL PROCESSES, SOCIAL SKILLS, SPORTS, STUDENT ASSESSMENT, TEACHING, TEACHING METHODS, TECHNICAL TRAINING, TERTIARY EDUCATION, TEST SCORES, TRAINING PROGRAMS, VOCATIONAL SCHOOL, VOCATIONAL SKILLS, WORK EXPERIENCE, YOUNG CHILDREN, YOUTH