EWS: The Big Picture | Origin: ACCSC110
This is a general discussion forum for the following learning topic:
Preparing for ACCSC's Essential Workforce Skills Programmatic Certification -->EWS: The Big Picture
Post what you've learned about this topic and how you intend to apply it. Feel free to post questions and comments too.
I found the statement "A Carnegie Foundation study said 85% of a person’s job success comes from soft skills and only 15% from technical knowledge and skills." as an important takeaway. I can see our faculty members and Career Service personnel using the quote to help students understand why soft skills lessons are included in the technical courses.
Lots of students have a hard time seeing the skills they’re building through their studies or linking those skills to what they're learning. I think schools should focus more on helping students make these connections and become more aware of the strengths they’re developing.
Everything can learned and we can be able to improve in every aspect. Essential workforce skills has to be specific and realistic.
Applying EWS shall be challenging in many ways. For example, incorporating value and the understanding that concrete skills are different from ambiguous skills as they relate to a workforce environment. The known and the unknown is the key to this interpretation and use.
Defining essential workforce skills in a way that is actionable versus something more ambiguous is a concept I had not considered. I have a difficult time getting my students to see the value in developing these skills, as the lesson pointed out, students often see non-technical skills as "fluff." Moving forward, I think we will revisit how we define esstential workforce skills and work to incorporate self-reflection activities more intentionally throughout our programs.
Employers are just as concerned with soft skills as they are with the technical and academic skills of future employees.
The importance of essential workforce skills cannot be understated. It is import to differentiate between skills which are concrete and skills that are ambiguous. The real life scenarios were awesome, and most of these scenarios can be used as examples within a classroom setting: (a) to get feedback from the students, and (b) if any of these scenarios fit into your career path, use it as an example to heighten your awareness.
Showing students the difference between ambiguous and concrete skills, teaching them how to incorporate the skills, and explaining the relevancy and value will be beneifical to their growth. Not only for the students, but for any instructor as well as it can shape how they present their real world experiences.
This module was very informative and provided an overview of the importance of Essential Workforce Skills in the future career endeavors of a student. Although students may be learning occupation-specific skills and academic competency in the classroom, it is of increased importance that they also learn soft skills that will be useful in the workplace. It is taught as part of this module that research about soft skills has been present since the 1900s, showing that developing soft skills is an ever-present need in the job market. In addition, I learned about the different skills present in the matrix, which are well-defined, specific, and have a behavioral aspect, which in turn allows them to be perceived as something that can be learned and improved upon as opposed to a trait that is inherited or fixed.
This module provided knowledge on the importance of soft skills to succeed at a personal and professional level, in addition to the achievement of academic success through the mastery of techniques and skills related to teamwork, self-management, stress management, application of critical thinking, oral and written communication, learning management, decision making and others that provide capabilities to face situations in any work and personal environment. The examples provided during the development of the course allow its application in real life experiences. In summary, the most important competencies and skills for work, in addition to technical skills, are the soft skills, in this case those related to personal, instrumental and systemic skills.
This quote from the course hits the nail on the head -- "Real-world examples of skill application directly related to programmatic fields of study can help students recognize how essential workforce skills improve work performance, boost career success, and enable them to transition and advance their careers throughout their life." This is a driving force behind ACCSC's effort to transform abstract "soft skills" into concrete and defined concepts for students to better grasp, recognize, and put into practice. I am so excited to launch this certification project because I truly believe that a commitment to EWS can be a significant differentiating factor for enhancing opportunity and student success in the workforce.
The topic of EWS is an ongoing challenge to incorporate with our students. As we mature into a computer-centric culture we have to develop new and established methods to train our students to have better soft skills. The main topics I see as a concern are how to deal with conflict resolution, social media, how to prioritize, and body language recognition.
Today's workforce faces a serious problem with inadequate soft skills, which is also one of the many causes of subpar organizational performance and employee turnover. Much focus is needed on the essential abilities necessary to enable students to have long-lasting successful careers. This is an area academics and academic support personnel can hone in on.
EWS has been lacking in the workforce for years. Being able to define EWS and bring it to the forefront will make it just as important as the technical skills learned. EWS should be discussed with students not only in the classrooms and career services departments, but also within the general campus setting.
I think the difference between concrete and ambiguous skills is something that is very important to understand. Being able to differentiate which category a lot of these buzz words fall under is important in understanding the differences.
I have really enjoyed the learning thus far. So much so that I have used some of the knowledge in my customer service class. The graphic with the percentages of employers' complaints about soft skills really opened my eyes to how the lack thereof is much more far reaching than the local issues we complain about. Globally, soft skills are at a deficit. I am glad this training is reminding me that we have to explicitly teach soft skills, in the same way we explicitly teach hard skills, because we cannot assume that all students know.
I have battled for years to define soft skills as well. Like other skills, some are inherent in individuals and some are not. Some can be taught, and some cannot. As we learn and reflect on how to incorporate these lessons in our teachings we must remember to, at a minimum discuss the importance of soft skill with every class.
Remembering that self-reflection helps us lock down what we've learned & thinking about how to make regular time for it so we can grow in our careers. Little things (non-technical skills/EWS) lead to big things!
Comment on Cynthia Zuno's post: I also thought the habitual self-reflection was very important. Without that, the rest of this kind of falls by the wayside. In my experience, the people who go the furthest in a given organization are the people who are constantly reflecting on and correcting their own behaviors.
