| 来源类型 | Report
|
| 规范类型 | 报告
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| Teaching soft skills in workforce programs: Findings from WorkAdvance providers |
| Kelsey Schaberg
|
| 发表日期 | 2019-09-23
|
| 出版年 | 2019
|
| 语种 | 英语
|
| 摘要 | Key Points
Soft skills have been valued in the workplace for decades, and recent research suggests that soft skills are important for academic and economic success. Yet there is no consensus around how to define these skills or what term to use for them, and little rigorous evidence is available on how best to teach these skills in the context of workforce programs.
WorkAdvance offers training to low-income adults in both technical and soft skills. WorkAdvance providers offered soft skills instruction as part of their career readiness training. The providers all had the same goal—to equip participants with the skills they needed to succeed in the workplace—but varied in how the providers approached and implemented soft skills training.
One main finding from the WorkAdvance evaluation’s implementation analysis was that soft skills taught in career readiness training were as important to participants and employers as the technical skills taught in occupational skills training. Yet, many participants who lost their jobs did so due to issues around soft skills. This suggests some participants could have benefited from additional soft skill instruction and that there is still room to improve how soft skills are taught within workforce programs.
Introduction
Skills have long been associated with productivity and economic well-being. A large body of evidence shows the value of academic and technical skills in the workplace. And in recent years, soft skills—skills that make for an effective employee, such as time management and communication—have also become increasingly valued in the workplace. Employers often include these skills in job postings, and many employers report that they value soft skills as much or even more than hard skills in job applicants.1
Yet at the same time, many employers report difficulty finding job applicants who already possess soft skills.2 And limited research is available on the most effective strategies to teach these skills, particularly in the workforce development field.
WorkAdvance is a sector-focused workforce development model that calls for providing education and employment-related skills to help participants enter and advance in the labor market. The model was implemented by four providers, and the programs were evaluated using a randomized controlled trial design. The programs offered participants training in technical skills, as part of occupational skills training, and soft skills, as part of career readiness services. The evaluation’s findings showed positive economic effects in some sites through a three-year follow-up period.3
This report will first give an overview of what soft skills are and why they are important in today’s workforce. Then it will discuss how the WorkAdvance providers implemented soft skills training and highlight a few best practices for soft skills instruction that WorkAdvance providers identified.
Read the full report.
Notes |
| 主题 | Education
; Poverty Studies
|
| 标签 | low-income
; US workforce
|
| URL | https://www.aei.org/research-products/report/teaching-soft-skills-in-workforce-programs-findings-from-workadvance-providers/
|
| 来源智库 | American Enterprise Institute (United States)
|
| 资源类型 | 智库出版物
|
| 条目标识符 | http://119.78.100.153/handle/2XGU8XDN/206726
|
推荐引用方式
GB/T 7714 |
Kelsey Schaberg. Teaching soft skills in workforce programs: Findings from WorkAdvance providers. 2019.
|
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文件名：
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Teaching-soft-skills-in-workforce-programs.pdf
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格式：
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Adobe PDF
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除非特别说明，本系统中所有内容都受版权保护，并保留所有权利。
