![]() ![]() On the other hand, remaining drug-free, honesty, and punctuality are behaviors that are not necessarily linked with cognitive skills. Certainly, math, reading, and writing abilities are relevant to learning a range of occupational skills. ( 2011) have argued, the term “non-cognitive skills” is not appropriate for summarizing personality and other non-academic skills since cognitive skills influence and are influenced by aspects of personality they point out that “…few aspects of behavior are devoid of cognition.” Easy distinctions elude academic and non-academic skills as well. However, new data sources and innovative techniques have begun to shed light on the importance of non-academic skills, especially for at-risk youth. Often, non-academic skills were considered as part of a residual impact not captured by school attainment or measured test scores. Until recently, information on the non-academic skills of a large sample of workers was not readily available and was certainly less common than data on educational attainment and tests of academic skills. While cognitive skills in reading and math up to some level are generally prerequisites for good jobs, a growing body of evidence suggests that non-academic skills are at least as powerful determinants of earnings. The relative earnings gains for women are linked in significant ways to occupational shifts that involve rising demand for cognitive skills (Bacolod and Blum 2010). ![]() ![]() Evidence shows higher math scores are positively correlated with higher earnings (Tyler 2004). The need for a nontrivial level of cognitive skills extends to at-risk groups of workers, including high school dropouts. The sharp rise in the wages of college graduates relative to high school graduates indicates that employers will pay an increasingly high premium to employ workers with higher level academic skills. In a 2009 column, Thomas Friedman approvingly quotes a former business executive, who argues, “Our education failure is the largest contributing factor to the decline of the American worker’s global competitiveness, particularly at the middle and bottom ranges.”Įconomists have generated a body of evidence showing that cognitive skills are increasingly important in achieving high earnings. Today, commentators, researchers, and policymakers continue to decry the state of American education. In 1983, the famous “A Nation at Risk” report cited declines and low levels in student achievement relative to other countries in terms of math and verbal tests, functional illiteracy, weak high order skills, and the need for remedial math courses in public colleges, businesses, and the military (National Commission on Excellence in Education 1983). ![]() education and training system have been a major source of concern for decades. ![]()
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