Skill

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A skill is the learned ability to act with determined results with good execution often within a given amount of time, energy, or both. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific skills. Some examples of general skills are time management, teamwork and leadership, and self-motivation. In contrast, domain-specific skills would be used only for a certain job, e.g. operating a sand blaster. Skill usually requires certain environmental stimuli and situations to assess the level of skill being shown and used. [1]

Contents

A skill may be called an art when it represents a body of knowledge or branch of learning, as in the art of medicine or the art of war. [2] Although the arts are also skills, there are many skills that form an art but have no connection to the fine arts. [3]

People need a broad range of skills to contribute to the modern economy. A joint ASTD and U.S. Department of Labor study showed that through technology, the workplace is changing, and identified 16 basic skills that employees must have to be able to change with it. [4] Three broad categories of skills are suggested and these are technical, human, and conceptual. [5] The first two can be substituted with hard and soft skills, respectively. [6]

Hard skills

Hard skills, also called technical skills, are any skills relating to a specific task or situation. It involves both understanding and proficiency in such specific activity that involves methods, processes, procedures, or techniques. [7] These skills are easily quantifiable unlike soft skills, which are related to one's personality. [8] These are also skills that can be or have been tested and may entail some professional, technical, or academic qualification. [9]

Holistic competency

Holistic competencies is an umbrella term for different types of generic skills (e.g., critical thinking, problem-solving skills, positive values, and attitudes (e.g., resilience, appreciation for others) which are essential for life-long learning and whole-person development. [10] [11]

Labor skills

Skilled workers have long had historical import (see division of labour) as electricians, masons, carpenters, blacksmiths, bakers, brewers, coopers, printers and other occupations that are economically productive. Skilled workers were often politically active through their craft guilds. [12]

Life skills

An ability and capacity acquired through deliberate, systematic, and sustained effort to smoothly and adaptively carry out complex activities or job functions involving ideas (cognitive skills), things (technical skills), and/or people (interpersonal skills). [13] [14]

People skills

According to the Portland Business Journal , people skills are described as: [15]

A British definition is "the ability to communicate effectively with people in a friendly way, especially in business." [16] The term is already listed in major US dictionaries. [17]

The term people skills is used to include both psychological skills and social skills but is less inclusive than life skills.

Social skills

Social skills are any skills facilitating interaction and communication with others. Social rules and relations are created, communicated, and changed in verbal and nonverbal ways. The process of learning such skills is called socialization. [18] : 5  [19]

Soft skills

Soft skills are a combination of interpersonal people skills, social skills, communication skills, character traits, attitudes, career attributes and emotional intelligence quotient (EQ) among others. [20]

Development

Development of a very high level of skill is often desirable for economic, social, or personal reasons.

In his 2008 book Outliers , Malcolm Gladwell proposed the "10,000 hour rule", that world-class skill could be developed by practicing for 10,000 hours. This principle was disputed by other commentators, pointing out feedback is necessary for improvement, and that practice is no guarantee of success.

In his 2019 book Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World , David Epstein argues that a period of sampling different activities (whether musical instruments, sports, or professions) can be helpful before choosing a specialization. Epstein argues that many tasks require a variety of skills which tend to be possessed by more well-rounded people, and finding a task which is a better fit to one's personality and interests can overcome the advantage otherwise provided by having more practice earlier in life and attempting peak performance as a younger person. Someone who has demonstrated a high level of knowledge or skill in multiple disciplines is known as a polymath, or in musical performance, a multi-instrumentalist.

A long-standing question is to what extent skills can be learned versus the degree that innate talent is required for high-caliber performance. Epstein finds evidence for both sides with respect to high-performance sport in his 2013 book The Sports Gene . For thinking tasks, the heritability of IQ has been extensively studied to try to answer this question, though does not necessarily map directly onto skill level for any given thinking task.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Theory of multiple intelligences</span> Pseudoscientific heory of multiple types of human intelligence

The theory of multiple intelligences (MI) is the pseudoscientific differentiation of human intelligence into specific intelligences, rather than defining intelligence as a single, general ability. The theory has been criticized for its lack of empirical evidence, its dependence on subjective judgement and its overall unscientific nature, being referred to as a “neuromyth”.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Teaching</span> Process or activity of imparting knowledge and skills

Teaching is the practice implemented by a teacher aimed at transmitting skills to a learner, a student, or any other audience in the context of an educational institution. Teaching is closely related to learning, the student's activity of appropriating this knowledge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Performance</span> Act of staging or presenting a form of entertainment

A performance is an act or process of staging or presenting a play, concert, or other form of entertainment. It is also defined as the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intrapersonal communication</span> Communication with oneself

Intrapersonal communication is communication with oneself or self-to-self communication. Examples are thinking to oneself "I will do better next time" after having made a mistake or imagining a conversation with one's boss in preparation for leaving work early. It is often understood as an exchange of messages in which sender and receiver are the same person. Some theorists use a wider definition that goes beyond message-based accounts and focuses on the role of meaning and making sense of things. Intrapersonal communication can happen alone or in social situations. It may be prompted internally or occur as a response to changes in the environment.

Human relations movement refers to the researchers of organizational development who study the behaviour of people in groups, particularly in workplace groups and other related concepts in fields such as industrial and organizational psychology. It originated in the 1930s' Hawthorne studies, which examined the effects of social relations, motivation and employee satisfaction on factory productivity. The movement viewed workers in terms of their psychology and fit with companies, rather than as interchangeable parts, and it resulted in the creation of the discipline of human relations management.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coach (sport)</span> Person involved in directing, instructing and training sportspeople

An athletic coach is a person coaching in sport, involved in the direction, instruction, and training of a sports team or athlete.

Intercultural communication is a discipline that studies communication across different cultures and social groups, or how culture affects communication. It describes the wide range of communication processes and problems that naturally appear within an organization or social context made up of individuals from different religious, social, ethnic, and educational backgrounds. In this sense, it seeks to understand how people from different countries and cultures act, communicate, and perceive the world around them. Intercultural communication focuses on the recognition and respect of those with cultural differences. The goal is mutual adaptation between two or more distinct cultures which leads to biculturalism/multiculturalism rather than complete assimilation. It promotes the development of cultural sensitivity and allows for empathic understanding across different cultures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social skills</span> Competence facilitating interaction and communication with others

A social skill is any competence facilitating interaction and communication with others where social rules and relations are created, communicated, and changed in verbal and nonverbal ways. The process of learning these skills is called socialization. Lack of such skills can cause social awkwardness.

Knowledge workers are workers whose main capital is knowledge. Examples include ICT professionals, physicians, pharmacists, architects, engineers, scientists, design thinkers, public accountants, lawyers, editors, and academics, whose job is to "think for a living".

Cooperative learning is an educational approach which aims to organize classroom activities into academic and social learning experiences. There is much more to cooperative learning than merely arranging students into groups, and it has been described as "structuring positive interdependence." Students must work in groups to complete tasks collectively toward academic goals. Unlike individual learning, which can be competitive in nature, students learning cooperatively can capitalize on one another's resources and skills. Furthermore, the teacher's role changes from giving information to facilitating students' learning. Everyone succeeds when the group succeeds. Ross and Smyth (1995) describe successful cooperative learning tasks as intellectually demanding, creative, open-ended, and involve higher-order thinking tasks. Cooperative learning has also been linked to increased levels of student satisfaction.

Employability refers to the attributes of a person that make that person able to gain and maintain employment.

Soft skills, also known as power skills, common skills, essential skills, or core skills, are psychosocial skills generally applicable to all professions. These include critical thinking, problem solving, public speaking, professional writing, teamwork, digital literacy, leadership, professional attitude, work ethic, career management and intercultural fluency. This is in contrast to hard skills, which are specific to individual professions.

Competence is the set of demonstrable characteristics and skills that enable and improve the efficiency or performance of a job. Competency is a series of knowledge, abilities, skills, experiences and behaviors, which leads to effective performance in an individual's activities. Competency is measurable and can be developed through training.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Analytical skill</span> Crucial skill in all different fields of work and life

Analytical skill is the ability to deconstruct information into smaller categories in order to draw conclusions. Analytical skill consists of categories that include logical reasoning, critical thinking, communication, research, data analysis and creativity. Analytical skill is taught in contemporary education with the intention of fostering the appropriate practises for future professions. The professions that adopt analytical skill include educational institutions, public institutions, community organisations and industry.

Life skills are abilities for adaptive and positive behavior that enable humans to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of life. This concept is also termed as psychosocial competency. The subject varies greatly depending on social norms and community expectations but skills that function for well-being and aid individuals to develop into active and productive members of their communities are considered as life skills.

Social thinking or thinking socially refers to a methodology created by Michelle Garcia Winner; it is described as a piece we all go through in our minds as we try to make sense of our others’ thoughts, feelings, and intentions in a situation, whether we are merely present, actively interacting, or observing (noticing) what is happening from a distance. Our ability to think socially is part of social learning that begins at birth and evolves across our lifetime. Social thinking in this context is also referred to as social cognition.

People skills are patterns of behavior and behavioral interactions. Among people, it is an umbrella term for skills under three related set of abilities: personal effectiveness, interaction skills, and intercession skills. This is an area of exploration about how a person behaves and how they are perceived irrespective of their thinking and feeling. It is further elaborated as dynamics between personal ecology and its function with other people's personality styles in numerous environments. British dictionary definition is "the ability to communicate effectively with people in a friendly way, especially in business" or personal effectiveness skills. In business it is a connection among people in a humane level to achieve productivity.

Social competence consists of social, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral skills needed for successful social adaptation. Social competence also reflects having the ability to take another's perspective concerning a situation, learn from past experiences, and apply that learning to the changes in social interactions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">21st century skills</span> Skills identified as being required for success in the 21st century

21st century skills comprise skills, abilities, and learning dispositions identified as requirements for success in 21st century society and workplaces by educators, business leaders, academics, and governmental agencies. This is part of an international movement focusing on the skills required for students to prepare for workplace success in a rapidly changing, digital society. Many of these skills are associated with deeper learning, which is based on mastering skills such as analytic reasoning, complex problem solving, and teamwork, which differ from traditional academic skills as these are not content knowledge-based.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Competence (polyseme)</span> Ability or capacity to perform a task effectively or successfully

Competence is a polyseme indicating a variety of different notions. In current literature, three notions are most evident. The first notion is that of a general competence, which is someone's capacity or ability to perform effectively on a specified set of behavioral attributes. The second notion refers to someone's capacity or ability to successfully perform a specific behavioral attribute — be it overt or covert — like learning a language, reading a book or playing a musical instrument. In both notions, someone may be qualified as being competent. In a third notion, a competence is the behavioral attribute itself, instead of a general or specific capacity or ability. One may for example excel at the competence of baking, at the competency of ceramics, or at the capability of reflexivity.

References

  1. ↑ White, Melissa (June 2007). "Book Reviews: Chris Warhurst, Irena Grugulis and Ewar t Keep (eds) The Skills That Matter Basingstoke: Palgrave MacMillan, 2004, 272 pp. ISBN: 1—4039—0639—4". Work, Employment and Society. 21 (2): 381–382. doi:10.1177/09500170070210021205. ISSN   0950-0170.
  2. ↑ "art". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary . Merriam-Webster.
  3. ↑ King, Catherine R. P.; McCall, Madelon (2 April 2024). "How the fine arts create the finest students: A design thinking study". Higher Education Quarterly. 78 (3): 1162–1174. doi: 10.1111/hequ.12521 . ISSN   0951-5224.
  4. ↑ "Publications and Research Search Results, Employment & Training Administration (ETA)". wdr.doleta.gov. U.S. Department of Labor. Archived from the original on 28 April 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  5. ↑ Sommerville, Kerry (2007). Hospitality Employee Management and Supervision: Concepts and Practical Applications. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. p. 328. ISBN   9780471745228.
  6. ↑ Rao, M.S. (2010). Soft Skills - Enhancing Employability: Connecting Campus with Corporate. New Delhi: I. K. International Publishing House Pvt Ltd. p. 225. ISBN   9789380578385.
  7. ↑ DuBrin, Andrew (2008). Essentials of Management. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. p. 16. ISBN   9780324353891.
  8. ↑ Connett, Wendy (31 March 2023). "Hard Skills: Definition, Examples, and Comparison to Soft Skills". Investopedia. Archived from the original on 7 May 2023. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  9. ↑ Carter, Jenny; O'Grady, Michael; Rosen, Clive (2018). Higher Education Computer Science. Cham: Springer. p. 223. ISBN   9783319985893.
  10. ↑ Chan, Cecilia K.Y.; Fong, Emily T.Y.; Luk, Lillian Y.Y.; Ho, Robbie (November 2017). "A review of literature on challenges in the development and implementation of generic competencies in higher education curriculum". International Journal of Educational Development. 57: 1–10. doi:10.1016/j.ijedudev.2017.08.010.
  11. ↑ Chan, Cecilia K. Y.; Yeung, Nai Chi Jonathan (27 May 2020). "Students' 'approach to develop' in holistic competency: an adaptation of the 3P model". Educational Psychology. 40 (5): 622–642. doi:10.1080/01443410.2019.1648767. S2CID   201383143.
  12. ↑ Cowan, Ruth Schwartz (1997). A Social History of American Technology. New York: Oxford University Press. p. 179. ISBN   0-19-504605-6.
  13. ↑ "Partners in Life Skills Education : Conclusions from a United Nations Inter-Agency Meeting" (PDF). World Health Organization . 1999. Retrieved 15 July 2018.
  14. ↑ WHO 1993, p.  14: °decision-making - problem-solving; °creative thinking - critical thinking; °communication - interpersonal relationships; °self-awareness - empathy; °coping with - emotions and stressors.
  15. ↑ Rifkin, H. (18 July 2008). "Invest in people skills to boost bottom line". Portland Business Journal. Archived from the original on 18 July 2008. Retrieved 14 October 2009.
  16. ↑ “Macmillan Dictionary” Archived 5 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 2009-08-18
  17. ↑ Dictionary.com definition. Retrieved on 2009-08-18
  18. ↑ Clausen, John A. (ed.) (1968) Socialisation and Society, Boston: Little Brown and Company
  19. ↑ Macionis, John J. (2013). Sociology (15th ed.). Boston: Pearson. p. 126. ISBN   978-0133753271.
  20. ↑ Robles, Marcel M. (12 August 2016). "Executive Perceptions of the Top 10 Soft Skills Needed in Today's Workplace". Business Communication Quarterly. 75 (4): 453–465. doi:10.1177/1080569912460400. S2CID   167983176.


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