Building Competencies for Careers
Author(s): Matthew Frizzell, Matthew Braun, Maria Ferguson, Diane Stark Rentner, & Nancy Kober
Published: May 31, 2017

This report draws on information from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Information Network (O*NET) to better understand the value of deeper learning competencies in the labor market. O*NET uses surveys of employees and occupational experts to determine the important characteristics and requirements of more than 900 occupations. CEP researchers and other experts “linked” the knowledge, skills, abilities and work styles required for a diverse sample of 300-plus O*NET occupations to the deeper learning competencies as defined by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The report finds that students will be better prepared for fast-growing jobs if they develop academic mindsets, learn how to communicate effectively, and take an analytical approach to solving problems.

Based on this report, CEP, Alliance for Excellent Education, and Council for a Strong America held a webinar on August 23, 2017. Participants in the webinar discussed the relevance of the key findings of the report as they pertain to increasing career readiness for students across the country. Participants included Maria Ferguson of CEP, General Mike Hall of Wings of Eagles Discovery Center, Sam Whiting of Boeing, and host Jason Amos of Alliance for Excellent Education. View the webinar here.

Download files:

Report (PDF format, 518 KB)

Appendix (PDF format, 740 KB)

Supplemental File (XLSX format, 254 KB)

Press Release (PDF format, 330 KB)

Figure 1. Conceptual map linking deeper learning to O*NET KSAWs (JPG format, 129 KB)

Figure 2. Analysis of KSAWs linked to the deeper learning competency master core academic content (JPG format, 125 KB)

Figure 3. Difference between Bright Outlook and non-Bright Outlook by Job Zones (JPG format, 210 KB)

Table 1. Occupations with the highest and lowest percentage of important KSAWs (JPG format, 129 KB)

Table 2. KSAWs identified as important for the highest and lowest percentage of sampled occupations (JPG format, 135 KB)

Table 3. Percentage of important KSAWs in the O*NET sample linked to deeper learning competencies (JPG format, 115 KB)

Table 4. Percentage of important O*NET KSAWs linked to deeper learning competencies for Bright Outlook and non-Bright Outlook occupations (JPG format, 118 KB)

Table 5. Percentage of important O*NET KSAWs linked to deeper learning competencies by Job Zone (JPG format, 124 KB)

Table 6. Percentage of important O*NET KSAWs linked to deeper learning competencies for Bright Outlook and non-Bright Outlook occupations, by Job Zone (JPG format, 193 KB)

Infographic: Academic Mindsets Are Important for Virtually All Jobs (PDF format, 46.7 KB)

Infographic: Deeper Learning Is Important Across the Workforce (PDF format, 213 KB)

Infographic: Being Able to Think Critically and Solve Complex Problems Is Especially Important for Higher-Level Jobs (PDF format, 56.9 KB)