White Paper

Who Will Succeed in Tomorrow’s Job Market?

Bridging the Soft Skills Gap for a More Equitable Talent Pipeline

By Eshauna Smith, Daniel Tsin, and Emily Rogers

October 2019 About this Paper

Urban Alliance is a national youth development nonprofit that partners with schools and employers to provide paid internships, professional soft skills training, one-on-one mentoring, and ongoing post-program support to economically-disadvantaged high school students. The goal is to expand young people’s idea of what is possible for their futures and prepare them for lives of economic self-sufficiency. Founded in Washington, DC in 1996, Urban Alliance has since expanded to Baltimore, Chicago, Northern Virginia, and most recently, Detroit. To date, Urban Alliance has placed more than 5,000 students in paid internships and served another 20,000- plus through job skills training.

Urban Alliance has a long track record of improving post-high school outcomes for youth from underserved communities. A six-year study conducted by the Urban Institute found that completing Urban Alliance’s High School Internship Program had a measurable impact on young men attending college, mid-GPA students enrolling in four-year colleges, and students’ development and retention of professional soft skills. 100 percent of Urban Alliance students also graduate from high school, and over 90 percent are accepted to college. A further 80 percent of enrolled alumni continue to a second year in college, and 80 percent of all alumni are connected to a college, career, or career-training pathway one year post-program.

In 2018, Urban Alliance released ‘Job Training Starts Now: Why High School Students Need Youth Employment Opportunities,’ which highlighted challenges and solutions related to preventing youth disconnection from school and work. That white paper touched on the role of soft skills development as part of a larger set of youth workforce development strategies. This second paper takes a deeper look at this critical set of skills and how schools, businesses, and community organizations can work together to ensure that all young people leave high school equipped with a robust set of soft skills that will meet the needs of 21st century employers. The world of work is changing rapidly.

Evidence of this change is everywhere. jobs – but create 133 million jobs, leaving a Automation, artificial intelligence, and other net 58 million new jobs for workers.1 Partly as new technologies are disrupting industries at a result of these changes, the number of jobs a breakneck pace. In the last decade, the ways held in a lifetime has nearly doubled over the society watches movies, commutes, shops, last 20 years according to LinkedIn data,2 and and more have shifted radically, leading not with as many as 375 million workers projected only to the decline of some more traditional to change jobs by 2030, that number is likely jobs, but also the creation of new ones. In the to increase.3 next decade, both automation and artificial intelligence (AI) will have a significant impact on Preparing young people to succeed in an the nature of work and the skills required. The environment where many of the jobs of the World Economic Forum estimates that as soon future don’t yet exist is a challenge for schools, as 2022, automation will displace 75 million businesses, and students alike.

Urban Alliance | Who Will Succeed in Tomorrow’s Job Market? 1 Who Will Succeed in Tomorrow’s Job Market?

Predictions of the trends in skill demand over the next 10 to 15 years indicate that digital skills and advanced technological skills such What are Soft Skills? as programming will be needed for a far larger percentage of jobs than is true today. Just as Soft skills are the uniquely human set of important – though perhaps less expected – is skills that allow for success in school, the the predicted increase in the need for soft workplace, and beyond. Soft skills facilitate skills – the uniquely human skills that allow for various educational, professional, and personal adaptability and success in any workplace. interactions and environments. Depending on the source, soft skills may be referred to as To survive and thrive in a rapidly-changing job social and emotional skills, employability skills, market, workers will need these transferable , or interpersonal skills, but for soft skills – skills that will enable them to the purposes of this paper, “soft skills” refers to succeed regardless of industry or sector and to all the above. effectively move from job to job. Though varied and expansive, soft skill While technical skills continue to change in competencies remain relatively constant among both predictable and unpredictable ways, businesses, human resources professionals, the most elemental human-to-human career advisors, educators, and researchers. skills (e.g. soft skills) will remain constant. The ability to work in teams, effectively While there is some variation, the following 4 5 6 7 communicate, and work collaboratively are commonly appear in lists of core soft skills: essential to any successful company with • Adaptability human employees – and they are skills that • Ability to Accept Constructive Criticism have not yet been automated, and by most •  (Oral Communication/ estimates, will not be any time soon. Those Active Listening/Non-verbal who develop them will find success despite Communication) the uncertain job market. However, access • Conflict Management and exposure to soft skills training and development is not equitably distributed • across all income and demographic groups. • Interpersonal Skills Without deliberate and specific intervention • Problem-Solving from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, • Self-Control/Emotional Self-Management too many young people will be ill-prepared for • Self-Motivation employment opportunities, creating not just a loss of individual human capital and an increase • Teamwork/ in income inequality, but also a surfeit of unfilled • Time Management and Organization jobs impacting businesses’ bottom lines.

Urban Alliance | Who Will Succeed in Tomorrow’s Job Market? 2 The Value of Soft Skills

move toward cross-functional and team-based We now have very hard evidence that you work structures, which will require workers to have to have soft skills in order to succeed. have strong soft skills.12 Further, a 2017 Deloitte – James Heckman, Nobel Prize-winning economist8 Access Economics analysis projected that the number of jobs in soft-skill-intensive occupations will grow at 2.5 times the rate of jobs in other A preponderance of research shows that soft occupations. They forecast that soft-skill- skills are critical for success. intensive occupations will account for two-thirds A 2017 Deloitte report notes that having well- of all jobs by 2030.13 Therefore, those employees developed soft skills is now a recognized pathway equipped with strong soft skills are set up to for individuals to improve their chances at getting succeed in this shifting economy. a job, and that there is increasing recognition that In fact, companies are already clamoring soft skills lead to greater success on the job.9 In for employees with strong soft skills. A Wall fact, research conducted by Harvard University, Street Journal executive survey found that the Carnegie Foundation, and Stanford Research 92% said soft skills were equally important or Center concluded that 85 percent of job success more important than technical skills.14 A 2019 comes from having well-developed soft skills CareerBuilder survey similarly found that four and only 15 percent of job success comes from out of five hiring and HR managers rate soft technical skills and knowledge.10 skills as being of equal or greater importance When more individuals succeed academically than hard skills.15 and professionally, it results in collective success When skilled employees are set up to do well, for both businesses and schools. Strong soft it positively impacts companies’ bottom lines. skills development creates this kind of win-win In the Deloitte Access Economics study, a situation. survey of over 1,000 managers and employees found that employees who have and utilize In the Workplace teamwork skills (a commonly-cited soft skill) are 3% more productive, and worth almost $2,000 In a key 2018 report on automation and the more per year to a business than employees future of the workforce, the McKinsey Global without such skills. The report cited additional Institute noted that “accompanying the adoption studies showing that soft skills contribute to of advanced technologies into the workplace higher revenue, productivity, and profitability, will be an increase in the need for workers with across industries and countries.16 This result is finely-tuned social and emotional skills [soft due to reduced costs in , training skills]—skills that machines are a long way from time, and employee turnover, and improved mastering.”11 As businesses drive change toward employee performance on bottom-line business using all available technologies to improve metrics, such as higher sales and better efficiency and competitiveness, this shift will customer service, a finding replicated by a Youth bring other changes in how work is organized. Employment Funders Group report.17 The McKinsey report predicts a widespread

Urban Alliance | Who Will Succeed in Tomorrow’s Job Market? 3 Soft Skills Can Be Taught

While it was once assumed that soft skills were environment, and relationships. Collaborative innate traits that an individual either possessed for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, or or did not, it is now understood that these are CASEL, defines SEL as “a process through which indeed skills that can be learned by anyone, children and adults understand and manage provided they are taught and developed emotions, set and achieve positive goals, feel effectively and intentionally, most often through and show for others, establish and a process known as social and emotional maintain positive relationships, and make learning (SEL). Much research has been done responsible decisions.”18 to understand how this learning takes place, and how it can be enhanced for maximum By leveraging neuroscience, psychology, and effectiveness. social science, we are now understanding that students learn best when they develop Soft skills development takes place through a set of foundational competencies. These both formal and informal processes. In both competencies are social, emotional, and cases, the core elements of the learning process cognitive skills – or soft skills. They can be are the same: Observation; Practice; Feedback/ both explicitly taught and developed through Coaching; Reflection and Adaptation; and a learning environment that is rooted in Spaced Repetition. relationships, settings, and contexts.19

SEL describes an educational approach that With SEL, the how of learning and development informs how learning best happens in young matters just as much as the what. The research people. SEL is not a stand-alone curriculum. on the benefits of SEL is well-established and Instead, it is a holistic approach to learning that is shown to develop soft skills and career takes into account a young person’s emotions, readiness outcomes.

The unpredictability of future hard skills and careers before high school graduation. The versus the certainty that soft skills will dominant call for students to be both “college be needed even more than today may and career ready” over the past decade has signal that soft skills training is the lower led state and local school authorities to begin risk/higher reward strategy for business rethinking their understanding of what a high investment in workforce capacity. school diploma should mean, spurred on by both the federal government (through initiatives like the Common Core State Standards and In Schools the Every Student Succeeds Act) and state Students with strong soft skills not only further education agencies, requiring for the first time their own future success in the workplace, but that all U.S. schools teach to high academic their overall academic performance improves standards that will prepare students to succeed 20 as well. in college and beyond. According to Education Week’s Chance-for-Success index measuring The field of K-12 education is currently how well schools are preparing students for experiencing a large shift, as schools are under post-secondary success, there is still a long way a mandate to prepare students for both college to go in meeting that goal.21

Urban Alliance | Who Will Succeed in Tomorrow’s Job Market? 4 An important development is the consensus the curriculum and school culture so that it is that has emerged in recent years among the integrated with academic learning rather than academic and research communities that in neglected or treated as stand-alone. As stated addition to academic skills, schools should also above, adopting this social and emotional be developing the skills foundational to learning, learning (SEL) approach can help schools meet i.e. students’ cognitive, social, and emotional academic performance benchmarks as well competencies, or soft skills. This shift requires as the college- and career-ready mandate. expanding our understanding of learning beyond By integrating knowledge-building with what is learned to also include how it is learned. soft skill-building, schools can prepare more well-rounded, agile students who The Aspen Institute’s National Commission on can better cope with the challenges and Social, Emotional, and Academic Development unknowns of the future workplace. (SEAD) released a landmark report in 2019 utilizing research from psychology, brain science, Soft skills development can impact both young and social science to explain how learning people’s odds of success academically and happens for all students. Academic learning, economically, as well as businesses’ ability to fill their research says, depends on developing hiring gaps. However, schools and businesses the competencies foundational to learning, are struggling to develop ways to train their or soft skills. In other words, developing these graduates and applicants on soft skills. Those skills helps the academic growth of students. training challenges then manifest in a growing Students who have developed soft skills perform skills gap, leaving employers unable to fill better in school and are more likely to enroll in millions of open jobs. While some workers are and graduate from college. able to bridge this gap, too many are falling through the cracks. The Youth Employment Funders Group calls for expansion of soft skills development across

Urban Alliance | Who Will Succeed in Tomorrow’s Job Market? 5 The Problem: The Soft Skills Gap

Businesses are Under- 2019 Society for Human Resource Management survey.27 28 Similarly, in a LinkedIn survey of 291 Investing in Soft Skills hiring managers, 58% said the lack of soft skills Training among job candidates is limiting their company’s productivity.29

Successful businesses understand Businesses have focused on recruiting for soft the importance of working with local skills, but that does not address the larger issue schools and organizations to shape the of an overall shortage of workers with these skills. next generation of leaders. Investing in To reduce this shortfall, it will inevitably become young people is not only a great business necessary for businesses to invest in soft skills practice and a great investment, it’s the training for both current and future workers. The right thing to do. At the end of the day, McKinsey report predicts companies will shift successful organizations and schools toward training, with a mindset that providing have the same goal – development. continuous learning options for workers is key to Companies who develop their team their future success.30 members today are prepared to address To equip more workers with in-demand hard tomorrow’s challenges. One challenge we skills, employers are turning to tried-and-true already face is the growing skills gap. If solutions – apprenticeships, training programs, schools and businesses make a conscious and hands-on technical education – and they’re effort to build the next generation’s skills starting the process early to build a talent now, everybody wins. pipeline from the ground up. In the last few – Dan Ngoyi, Director of Talent Acquisition, years, federal funding to expand apprenticeship Quicken Loans programs that develop hard skills has been climbing, nearly doubling since 2016. Additionally, Businesses are already encountering difficulties employer spending on formal training has finding workers who possess the strong soft skills similarly increased.31 While businesses and adaptability companies increasingly need. have seriously invested in hard skills Soft skills dominate the list of most-desired skills training, they have not yet made the same by employers in survey after survey – across commitment to soft skills development. The all industries.22 23 24 25 26 With a near record-high large soft skills gap is evidence of both this lack number of open jobs in the U.S., the soft skills gap of investment as well as the fact that employers is reason for concern. are uncertain of the best strategies for training employees in soft skills. A 2015 Wall Street Journal survey of nearly 900 executives found that eight in ten said they have Unlike hard skills, soft skills are both difficult a difficult time finding people with the necessary to screen for and difficult to measure. This soft skills, a trend that has not slowed down, with one-two punch sets up a larger barrier for entry the same share of human resources professionals for employers who recognize the need for soft reporting difficulty in hiring skilled workers in a skills training.

Urban Alliance | Who Will Succeed in Tomorrow’s Job Market? 6 Schools Face Challenges learning environment to effectively teach and develop soft skills in order to ensure those Developing Soft Skills opportunities are available to all students, regardless of socioeconomic background.

The three core categories of skills: social, The degree to which young people learn soft emotional, and cognitive, can be taught, skills as part of their K-12 education experience but schools cannot do this work alone. largely depends on the schools’ intentionality in Young people need opportunities across instruction. It is well documented that teachers all the places and spaces they learn from can either explicitly teach or design assignments, both adults and peers who can teach, projects, and activities that require soft model, and create opportunities to skills such as teamwork, communication, practice these critical skills necessary problem-solving, or critical thinking to complete. for success in school, the workplace, and The learning environment is also important. our democratic society. As the Aspen Institute’s A Nation at Hope reports, soft skills are best developed in – Jennifer Brown Lerner, Assistant Director for environments that feel safe and supportive for Policy and Partnerships, The Aspen Institute’s the learner. The report argues that schools’ National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development ability to create this environment, as well as to offer this kind of intentionally-structured curriculum, can be limited. The skills gap is not just a concern for businesses. Young people entering the workforce after high There are examples of schools making school and college also report feeling unprepared important progress in adapting their approach to succeed in employment. to incorporate SEL, helping to prepare young people for an environment in which adaptability A YouthTruth survey of 165,000 high school and lifelong learning will be critical. However, students found that less than half felt capacity constraints are still keeping the prepared for college or careers.32 A recent Dell majority of schools and educators from more Technologies survey also reported that members fully incorporating SEL approaches in their of Generation Z – born in the mid-1990s classrooms. A 2018 report by the Economist through the mid-2000s – are more confident Intelligence Unit found that nearly one in eight in their technology skills than their soft skills.33 teachers surveyed believe that schools should Additionally, students who do not develop soft be building students’ soft skills through SEL, skills in high school are often not catching up in but more than half of those surveyed feel college, only exacerbating the problem. A large constrained by school budgets from doing so.35 majority of college students – two-thirds – report feeling unequipped with both hard and soft Incorporating SEL in classrooms also requires skills needed to enter the job market in a recent new types of training and professional Gallup/Strada Education Network survey.34 development that can be costly and timely to develop. Finally, many schools still see Ensuring that students leave high school with developing soft skills as a stand-alone a strong set of soft skills is becoming more curriculum or experience that will only come at important by the day. Yet schools face what the expense of teaching core academic subjects, can seem like an insurmountable challenge: rather than as a framework touching all aspects restructuring learning experiences and the

Urban Alliance | Who Will Succeed in Tomorrow’s Job Market? 7 of a child’s education. While many examples designed to best develop students’ soft skills of promising programs exist throughout the can contribute to this inequity. Young people country, these barriers will make it difficult for who receive limited exposure to lessons and many schools to develop soft skills in their youth activities explicitly designed for soft skills over the short term. development can lag behind. A Brookings and Child Trends analysis of longitudinal survey data on classroom activities found that there Unequal Access to Training are significant gaps in exposure to classroom Deepens the Soft Skills Gap activities that build soft skills, particularly for low-income students.36 This has serious negative implications for an economically-disadvantaged Networking is a soft skill critical to young person’s economic future. Additionally, career success–both for finding the next the Aspen Institute’s A Nation at Hope reports job opportunity and for developing a that schools with larger percentages of low- comprehensive set of interpersonal income students have a limited ability to skills that allow for achievement in any create the kind of safe and supportive learning workplace. That’s why at LinkedIn we are environment needed to develop soft skills. focused on closing the network gap–the Unfortunately, this limitation then further contributes to education inequity and the advantage that some people have over widening of the achievement gap. others as a result of their connections. – Cammie Erickson, Group Manager, Social Impact Outside the formal training that schools at LinkedIn and employers can provide, young people’s soft skills are shaped and molded by the Developing soft skills has a clear, demonstrated networks and experiences they are exposed to impact on both education and employment throughout childhood and adolescence. Harvard outcomes. Business School professor Francesca Gino explains that “networks give people access to Those who develop these skills will have information, such as advice and problem-solving significant advantages in tomorrow’s economy. assistance, among other benefits. Over time, But soft skills are not innate. Soft skills are this information access helps people acquire not inherited. These skills must be developed the knowledge and competencies that are and taught, even among individuals with a necessary to succeed at work and better handle predisposition for them. Since both educators challenges.”37 and employers struggle to provide this training, it raises the question of who is receiving such Students who grow up around employed adults training, and who is not, bringing up serious are more likely to gain access to professional equity concerns about how soft skills are networks and experiences that will facilitate developed outside traditional training spheres their understanding, development, and practice – and who that affects. As with so many of soft skills through repeated exposure and opportunities, research points to inequities modeling. Those who grow up with access to across different income and racial groups when it and mentoring from a variety of adults with comes to soft skills development. strong soft skills tend to develop strong soft skills as well. However, too many young people The previously-noted difficulties schools do not grow up with ready access to these types face in implementing the SEL frameworks

Urban Alliance | Who Will Succeed in Tomorrow’s Job Market? 8 of networks, and thus they are more likely to lag family influence and income. The long-standing behind in soft skills development. systemic inequities in society based on race and class then come into play in the development In addition to developing soft skills through of soft skills, as those with historically greater modeling, strong adult networks can open the access to networks become those who are able door to experiences that allow young people to to build the skills needed for future success. further develop and practice soft skills. A 2018 For example, in a decades-long study of the Brookings/Child Trends report posits that early wide-ranging effects of youth poverty, Johns work-based learning opportunities such as Hopkins researchers found that white men internships and apprenticeships enable students were much more likely to further their careers to develop soft skills such as problem-solving, through professional networks than their black, communication, and teamwork by providing low-income counterparts.41 Many young people students a chance to practice those skills in – specifically those from low-income or under- a real-world setting in a way that is difficult resourced neighborhoods where decades 38 to replicate in a classroom alone. However, of discrimination and systemic racism have the same inequities in access to professional limited economic mobility and opportunities for networks and mentoring also extend to such generations of families – have more restricted early work-based learning opportunities, with access to working adults who can model, teach, students from low-income backgrounds often and specifically discuss soft skills.42 This cycle having less access to such opportunities, perpetuates and exacerbates the soft skills gap 39 40 particularly when the experience is unpaid. and it is heightened by the critical role that soft In the absence of training from schools and skills will play in tomorrow’s economy. employers, a young person’s network has an Soft skills are key to success in the workplace oversized influence on the development of of today and of the future. Young people soft skills critical for success. These networks who leave high school with that key can open are often closely tied to those of their family many doors – to promising careers, to further and neighborhood, and opportunities to academic achievement, and more. Those who expand those networks, including through leave without it will find their path to success jobs and internships, are often a function of repeatedly blocked.

Urban Alliance | Who Will Succeed in Tomorrow’s Job Market? 9 Partnership to Build a More Equitable Future Workforce

Given the growing importance of soft skills to A well-designed work-based learning experience future success, and their increasing value to is a way for schools and businesses to employers’ bottom lines, the development of collaborate now to start plugging the skills gap. these skills should not be left to chance. Neither To address the shortage, the U.S. Chamber of businesses nor schools are set up to tackle this Commerce Foundation strongly recommends soft skills gap unaided. The time, resources, and that businesses partner with high schools to staff it would take to adequately prepare students support and engage in work-based learning.43 with the skill mobility needed for the changing job market of the future make the solution too Intentionally-structured internships are natural burdensome for any one sector to implement developers of soft skills, evoking many principles alone. The good news is that what one sector of the highly-effective SEL framework by tying lacks, the other possesses. Finding a way to work in setting, context, and adult relationships. As together is the way forward. schools begin the long process of incorporating SEL into their curricula, internship programs With over two decades of experience connecting provide an efficient, ready-made way to businesses and schools to prepare youth for incorporate SEL opportunities into schools post-high school success, Urban Alliance offers with little additional lift. the following recommendations to ensure that all students are equipped with the critical soft Well-Designed Internships are skills needed to succeed in a rapidly shifting Especially Effective at Soft Skill Building job market. By integrating well-designed internships and work-based learning into high schools, educators #1 Recommendation can ensure that many of the key soft skill competencies will be developed, providing the Schools and Businesses Should internship programs are designed with built-in training that focuses on explicitly training soft Partner to Provide Work-Based skills. In addition to the direct training, these Learning Opportunities that competencies are further honed during the Develop Soft Skills internship. Even routine office tasks require elements of problem-solving, critical thinking, An SEL approach to training provides a proven, and communication. Finally, feedback and evidence-based roadmap to better develop assessment during internships is often soft students’ soft skills: 1) naming the skills, 2) skills-focused. It isn’t just the final product that specifically teaching them, and 3) giving students matters, but how the product was delivered, the chance to practice them. However, with including professionalism, timeliness, autonomy, many schools and districts still years away from and dependability. fully implementing this learning approach, and businesses in need of a quick solution to the Internships also provide safe learning growing soft skills gap, action must be taken now. environments that foster feelings of

Urban Alliance | Who Will Succeed in Tomorrow’s Job Market? 10 inclusiveness and acceptance. Workplaces emphasize shared team goals and deliverables. Hospitality is one of the remaining Students are automatically members of the industries with a large concentration “team,” attending meetings and dividing up tasks of entry-level jobs that often lead to with a diverse set of colleagues. In addition, fulfilling, life-long careers, and finding diverse workplaces encourage students to feel candidates with the right professional that their background and culture is valued. skillset is increasingly important. Finally, students who are placed in internships However, the soft skills gap is preventing often enjoy a sense of accomplishment and many young people from connecting to self-value, recognizing an opportunity offered to open jobs. That is why nearly half of Hyatt them that others may not have. hotels around the world collaborate with Developing soft skills also relies on adult community organizations to prepare expertise and commitment. Internships young people for success in the jobs of offer youth access to adults who model these today and tomorrow. This kind of multi- skills in a setting that is closer to what they will stakeholder partnership connecting encounter after high school than the traditional businesses, schools, and intermediaries classroom setting. Professional internships like Urban Alliance to provide youth with during high school offer both the access effective soft skills training is a powerful and exposure to behavior modeling and the approach to bridging the existing gap. opportunity to practice soft skills in a real- – Malaika Myers, Chief Human Resources world setting under the guidance of adult Officer, Hyatt professionals.

Urban Alliance | Who Will Succeed in Tomorrow’s Job Market? 11 Intermediaries can be the key to helping # 2 Recommendation schools and businesses take the hard work out of investing in soft skills development. Seek Out Existing Experts Within Schools and businesses do not have to chart the Community a new course. They can look first within their community for local experts and lean on such Building the relationships needed for effective intermediaries to kick-start a more collaborative partnership can be overwhelming for resource- system of preparing students for future success. strapped schools, and businesses are also finding that the time, resources, and effort The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation needed to develop in-house work-based notes that “when it comes to moving the needle learning opportunities can often be prohibitive. on college and career readiness, especially Fortunately, neither need not take on these among students underrepresented in higher tasks alone. Turning to intermediaries – such as education, employers should attempt to partner Urban Alliance, YouthForce NOLA, and others – with established nonprofits that have a clear that are already set up to manage all the moving record of success.”45 parts of successful work-based learning is an effective and efficient solution. #3 Recommendation Urban Alliance takes a two-step approach to developing critical soft skills: 1) teaching the Add Employability as a Measure principles in a classroom setting; and 2) giving of Success in High School students the opportunity to practice and apply their new skills in a real-world setting through Though a high school diploma is still typically paid, nine-month internships. This work-based seen as the first step toward post-secondary learning approach allows students to master a success, too many young people are failing to skill both conceptually and in practice. connect to meaningful work or further education after graduating. Today, 4.5 million young people Research by the American Institutes for ages 16 – 24 (one in nine teens and adults Research suggests such afterschool and nationally) are not connected to school or work.46 expanded learning programs can be ideal Of those, 75 percent have completed high settings for the development of the kinds school.47 The data is clear: a high school diploma 44 of soft skills that enhance employability. is far from a guarantee of future success.

Urban Alliance | Who Will Succeed in Tomorrow’s Job Market? 12 Many high school graduates lack the soft skills # needed to excel in college or a career, and once 4 Recommendation students graduate, it becomes exponentially more difficult for them to gain these critical Reinforce Soft Skills skills. A high school diploma should mean Development in High School that a student is ready for not only further Soft skills development should be embedded education and the challenges and uncertainties throughout the K-12 continuum, as focusing SEL of adulthood, but for the world of work. through employability and work-based learning Focusing on both academic and social and in high school provides an age-appropriate emotional growth in school is the key to and relatable construct for developing these achieving this result. aptitudes. Soft skills are often linked to real- However, current incentives for educators are world, workforce experiences and thus misaligned with this goal. Established measures immediately relevant to high school students on of success for schools and districts such as the cusp of entering adulthood and focusing on high school graduation and college enrollment preparation for life beyond the K-12 sphere. numbers largely do not include soft skills Brookings Institution/Child Trends research development or employability. This absence found that, for economically-disadvantaged makes it difficult for school leaders to integrate young people, participating in a cooperative programming, instruction, and training toward education, internship, apprenticeship, or that goal. Only by establishing employability mentorship program in high school is related as a marker of success can school leaders to higher job quality at least a decade later. coordinate and prioritize the development of They emphasize that this is true only if these the skills that would support it. work-based learning experiences are specifically Unfortunately, there is currently no established designed to enable adults to provide students consensus on how to measure employability with developmentally appropriate and or career readiness. The 2016 Every Student incremental guidance that helps them develop Succeeds Act (ESSA) required states to adopt the skills that employers seek in new hires.48 their own standards for college- and career- As the last convener of young people before readiness. However, there is an opportunity for adulthood, high school is the last best chance states, school districts, and local governments to equip students with the skills needed to work together to define employability within for college or career success. Soft skills a local context that connects employment development should occur while students are needs and trends with training offered through still a captive audience in school – before they schools. Local policymakers can help create have the chance to disconnect from future work benchmarks for post-secondary success that or school. Businesses and schools can ensure a include not only college enrollment, but also stronger future workforce pipeline by investing connection to career training and workforce in early soft skills development. opportunities that match the employer demand. These benchmarks can be tracked and publicly reported, similar to high school graduation rates, encouraging school and district leaders to align curricula, partnerships, and experiences to maximize their employability goal.

Urban Alliance | Who Will Succeed in Tomorrow’s Job Market? 13 factors such as food and housing insecurity. #5 Recommendation Training that fosters a nurturing, accepting, and diverse environment will yield more Businesses Should Utilize Best lasting impact, particularly for more at-risk Practices from K-12 to Develop young people. Soft Skills • Creating space to apply new skills. Along with a safe environment, students need a When it comes to soft skills, employers should practical environment in which to apply and look at what works – and luckily, there is consensus in the evidence around soft skills practice newly-developed soft skills – such development: soft skills can be taught. as an internship. Without this hands-on component, the repetition and models of To maximize soft skills training efforts, employers success needed for skill mastery will lead to can borrow a page from the education sector’s imperfectly-developed skills. established research and recognize that the • Fostering skills growth and development. how of learning and development matters While soft skills can be explicitly taught just as much as the what. The research on the and developed, they also grow over time. benefits of SEL contexts is well-established A one-time training of a specific soft-skill and is shown to develop soft skills and career competency will not foster true development. readiness outcomes. Relying solely on content- focused training will fall short in developing soft Feedback, behavior observation, and social skills because it lacks the more surround-sound cues all influence a young person’s soft approach recommended by SEL practitioners. skills development. Employers can build in evaluation of soft skills into their regular Instead, employers should bolster their soft skills performance assessments to encourage training by: reflection and help demonstrate that these • Utilizing relationships. Positive adult skills are necessary for success. relationships and social environments help There are soft skills courses offered by many fortify the lessons and skills youth learned organizations and available online for general during training. Mentoring, job shadowing, and consumption. However, these courses as informational interviews are examples of how designed may be offered without considering the businesses can add to their soft skills training. setting, the context, and the modeling required • Creating a safe environment. Learning and to fully develop soft skills. These offerings development is stymied by stress, anxiety, and currently fall short of developing true and lasting pressure. Most job seekers experience stress, competence, and may have limited benefit which is only compounded for applicants from for new hires who have limited experience in low-income neighborhoods and families who professional settings. are more likely to experience mitigating risk

Urban Alliance | Who Will Succeed in Tomorrow’s Job Market? 14 #6 Recommendation

Put Soft Skills Front and Center the fundamental skills needed to succeed in in Hiring the workplace communicates to schools and applicants that soft skills are just as important A standard job description details a litany of as hard skills. It sends a message that soft skills specialized skills, but what is missing from development must be a priority. many postings are the true skills employers are reporting an overwhelming shortage of: soft Employers can also work directly with schools skills. To facilitate hiring, the business sector and districts to proactively communicate the largely relies on what it can see and verify in skills they need from employees and work assessing candidates. Certificates, degrees, together to develop a mutually-beneficial positions held, and hard skills dominate curriculum that includes both classroom resumes, and it is easy to understand why. training and work-based learning opportunities. Those elements are simple to authenticate and Organizations such as the U.S. Chamber of widely accepted, unlike soft skills, which are Commerce are spearheading such employer-led much harder to quantify and prove. initiatives to shape education to fit the needs of the future job market. Individual businesses can By rethinking the language of hiring to also follow suit, working directly with their local emphasize soft skills, however, employers can communities to take an active role in developing send an important signal. Clearly indicating the next-generation workforce.

Urban Alliance | Who Will Succeed in Tomorrow’s Job Market? 15 Conclusion: Shared Investment in Solutions

Building effective, structured soft skills collaboration across governments, education development opportunities requires the and training providers, community-based involvement of businesses, schools, and youth programs/nonprofit intermediaries, community organizations.49 Each entity is and employers.52 invested in the ability of all young people in the community to succeed in work and in life The education and business communities are because each shares in both the benefits and united in their recognition of the importance consequences. The challenge is translating of soft skills to students’ future success in both that sense of shared necessity into collective college and careers. What they are not united action that yields real results. As the U.S. in is how to work together to ensure that Chamber of Commerce Foundation declared students are developing these critical skills. in a recent report, “Rather than waiting for Bridging that gap requires both sectors working sweeping reforms, bridging the soft skills gap together to build a stronger and more skilled will require a new wave of local collaboration next generation. An easy way to begin that between stakeholders in the business and collaboration is by working with intermediaries education sectors who are best poised to deliver with existing relationships in each sector and community-based solutions.”50 expertise in designing effective work-based learning opportunities for students. By taking All evidence points to the need for partnership shared responsibility for student success, among these key entities. The U.S. Chamber schools and businesses can share in the report highlights the shared value that is created benefits of a better-trained, more self-sufficient when employers make it a business priority to generation of workers. connect directly with schools to develop the right soft skills for the workforce.51 The Youth Working together, each of these partners have Employment Funders Group also points out a vital role to play in ensuring that all young people leave high school having mastered that successful soft skills development initiatives require active, continuous dialogue and critical soft skills and are truly prepared to succeed in career and life.

Urban Alliance | Who Will Succeed in Tomorrow’s Job Market? 16 Appendix: Skill Development in Practice

Urban Alliance started by connecting six high adults; and 5) ongoing post-program support. school students in southeast Washington, DC During both pre-employment and ongoing with professional, paid internships. However, it professional development sessions, students quickly became evident that bridging the gap learn key professional soft skills including: between employers and youth from underserved self-management, teamwork, communication, communities required more than a job – it required problem-solving, critical thinking, adaptability, bridging the soft skills gap as well. Since that first time management, and interpersonal relationship group of students in 1996, soft skills training building and management. Three key pieces of the has been an integral part of the Urban Alliance Urban Alliance model help to foster lasting skill model. Over the last two decades, Urban Alliance development according to the principles of social has become a leading voice in using work-based and emotional learning: 1) a safe and supportive learning and internships as vehicles to deliver learning environment, 2) strong adult relationships, soft skills training. Working in collaboration with and 3) feedback and assessment. Urban Alliance local high schools and employers, Urban Alliance’s interns are integrated right away into the multifaceted approach maximizes soft skills workplace, working to meet shared goals as part development by combining intentional training with of a team. This process is made possible with an opportunity to practice skills in a real-world, real- the help of two caring adults, an Urban Alliance stakes context. program coordinator who serves as a case manager and coach for the student throughout the Urban Alliance’s core intervention, the High School year, and an on-the-job supervisor or “mentor” who Internship Program, is comprised of five main provides in-the-moment guidance and feedback, components: 1) six weeks of pre-employment tasks tailored to students’ individual learning professional development; 2) a nine-month, needs, and skill growth evaluations at set points paid, professional internship; 3) weekly job and throughout the year. training; 4) mentoring from two caring

In addition to Urban Alliance, several other intermediaries are working to build young people’s soft skills:

NAF’s educational design aims to ignite high problem-solving, information management, school students’ passion for learning through collaboration, and quantitative reasoning career-relevant curriculum coupled with work- through project-based learning and NAF’s work- based learning experiences, including internships. based learning continuum, which builds student Partnerships with business are at the core of the knowledge through career awareness, exploration, design, providing practical context so students and preparation activities. NAF students graduate are able to make connections between the college, career, and future ready with the industry classroom and the working world. Students knowledge and soft skills needed to succeed in the gain professional and technical skills such as working world.

Urban Alliance | Who Will Succeed in Tomorrow’s Job Market? 17 YouthForce NOLA is a collaborative of education, encouraged to leverage skill-building best practices business, and civic leaders working to prepare including feedback, recognition, assessment, New Orleans public school students to succeed in meaning making, and engagement. In response high-wage, high-demand careers. Soft skills have to a growing demand for high-quality soft skills been infused into every aspect of the organization’s development at youth-serving sites across the city, core YouthForce Internship program. Using a skills YouthForce also supports other local programs, training framework developed in partnership with schools, and employers’ soft skill efforts through MHA Labs, youth are provided with opportunities additional programs such as the Soft Skills Teacher throughout the program to develop six core Fellowship, the New Orleans Soft Skill Community skillsets: communication, collaboration, personal of Practice, and a new series of Introductory mindset, plan for success, social awareness, and Workshops co-designed and piloted in 2019 along problem-solving. Coaches and supervisors are with MHA Labs.

Year Up is an intensive, year-long program for may earn college credits for coursework in Year young adults ages 18-24 who have earned a Up’s standard curriculum, which in addition to high school diploma or GED but are otherwise standard office hard skills including computer disconnected from the economic mainstream. and Excel training, includes soft skills such as oral The program includes six months of classroom and written communication (public speaking for training and professional skills development, delivering informative and persuasive elevator followed by a six-month internship with industry pitches, business proposals, and presentations and leaders in 25 cities. The career pathways Year Up business writing for emails, reports, resumes, and offers directly reflect the needs of its corporate cover letters) as well as career development and partners, so young adults develop valuable, in- interpersonal relations for effective job interviews, demand skills, and corporate partners gain access delivering and receiving feedback well, and to a strong pipeline of talent. Students are paid a managing relationships with supervisors and teams stipend during both phases of the program and in a professional office environment.

Urban Alliance | Who Will Succeed in Tomorrow’s Job Market? 18 Endnotes

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Urban Alliance | Who Will Succeed in Tomorrow’s Job Market? 21 Acknowledgements

This paper was made possible through support from The Annie E. Casey Foundation. We would also like to acknowledge the assistance of Kathy Patrick of Strategic Sense, LLC and Rob Maguire Designs, LLC, and the invaluable insight and expertise of our team of reviewers, though the views contained in the paper are solely those of its authors. Specifically, we thank Jennifer Brown Lerner of The Aspen Institute and Martha Ross of The Brookings Institution. Finally, we are grateful for the unflagging support we’ve received from the Urban Alliance board and staff.

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