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Skill discrepancies between research, education, and jobs reveal the critical need to supply soft skills for the data economy.

ABSTRACT: Rapid research progress in science and technology (S&T) and continuously shifting workforce needs exert pressure on each other and on the educational and training systems that link them. Higher education institutions aim to equip new generations of students with skills and expertise relevant to workforce participation for decades to come, but their offerings sometimes misalign with commercial needs and new techniques forged at the frontiers of research. Here, we analyze and visualize the dynamic skill (mis-)alignment between academic push, industry pull, and educational offerings, paying special attention to the rapidly emerging areas of data science and data engineering (DS/DE). The visualizations and computational models presented here can help key decision makers understand the evolving structure of skills so that they can craft educational programs that serve workforce needs. Our study uses millions of publications, course syllabi, and job advertisements published between 2010 and 2016. We show how courses mediate between research and jobs. We also discover responsiveness in the academic, educational, and industrial system in how skill demands from industry are as likely to drive skill attention in research as the converse. Finally, we reveal the increasing importance of uniquely human skills, such as communication, negotiation, and persuasion. These skills are currently underexamined in research and undersupplied through education for the labor market. In an increasingly data-driven economy, the demand for "soft" social skills, like teamwork and communication, increase with greater demand for "hard" technical skills and tools.

SUBMITTER: Borner K

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6294902 | biostudies-other | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Skill discrepancies between research, education, and jobs reveal the critical need to supply soft skills for the data economy.

Börner Katy K Scrivner Olga O Gallant Mike M Ma Shutian S Liu Xiaozhong X Chewning Keith K Wu Lingfei L Evans James A JA

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20181201 50

Rapid research progress in science and technology (S&T) and continuously shifting workforce needs exert pressure on each other and on the educational and training systems that link them. Higher education institutions aim to equip new generations of students with skills and expertise relevant to workforce participation for decades to come, but their offerings sometimes misalign with commercial needs and new techniques forged at the frontiers of research. Here, we analyze and visualize the dynamic ...[more]

PMID: 30530667

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Project description:BackgroundThe issue of surgical safety has increased significantly over the last few decades. Several studies have established that it is linked to non-technical performance, rather than clinical competencies. Non-technical skills can be blended with technical training in the surgical profession to improve surgeons' abilities and enhance patient care and procedural skills. The main goal of this study was to determine orthopedic surgeons' requirements of non-technical skills, and to identify the most pressing issues.MethodsWe conducted a self-administered online questionnaire survey in this cross-sectional study. The questionnaire was piloted, validated, pretested, and clearly stated the study's purpose. After the pilot, minor wording and questions were clarified before starting the data collection. Orthopedic surgeons from the Middle East and Northern Africa were invited. The questionnaire was based on a five-point Likert scale, the data were analyzed categorically, and variables were summarized as descriptive statistics.ResultsOf the 1713 orthopedic surgeons invited, 60% completed the survey (1033 out of 1713). The majority demonstrated a high likelihood of participating in such activities in the future (80.5%). More than half (53%) of them preferred non-technical skills courses to be part of major orthopedic conferences, rather than independent courses. Most (65%) chose them to be face-to-face. Although 97.2% agreed on the importance of these courses, only 27% had attended similar courses in the last three years. Patient safety, infection prevention and control, and communication skills were ranked at the top as topics to be addressed. Moreover, participants indicated they would most likely attend courses on infection prevention and control, patient safety and teamwork, and team management.ConclusionThe results highlight the need for non-technical skills training in the region and the general preferences regarding modality and setting. These findings support the high demand from orthopedic surgeons' perspective to develop an educational program on non-technical skills.

Project description:Developing a position on a socio-scientific issue and defending it using a well-reasoned justification involves complex cognitive skills that are challenging to both teach and assess. Our work centers on instructional strategies for fostering critical thinking skills in high school students using bioethical case studies, decision-making frameworks, and structured analysis tools to scaffold student argumentation. In this study, we examined the effects of our teacher professional development and curricular materials on the ability of high school students to analyze a bioethical case study and develop a strong position. We focused on student ability to identify an ethical question, consider stakeholders and their values, incorporate relevant scientific facts and content, address ethical principles, and consider the strengths and weaknesses of alternate solutions. 431 students and 12 teachers participated in a research study using teacher cohorts for comparison purposes. The first cohort received professional development and used the curriculum with their students; the second did not receive professional development until after their participation in the study and did not use the curriculum. In order to assess the acquisition of higher-order justification skills, students were asked to analyze a case study and develop a well-reasoned written position. We evaluated statements using a scoring rubric and found highly significant differences (p<0.001) between students exposed to the curriculum strategies and those who were not. Students also showed highly significant gains (p<0.001) in self-reported interest in science content, ability to analyze socio-scientific issues, awareness of ethical issues, ability to listen to and discuss viewpoints different from their own, and understanding of the relationship between science and society. Our results demonstrate that incorporating ethical dilemmas into the classroom is one strategy for increasing student motivation and engagement with science content, while promoting reasoning and justification skills that help prepare an informed citizenry.

Dataset Information

Skill discrepancies between research, education, and jobs reveal the critical need to supply soft skills for the data economy.

Publications

Skill discrepancies between research, education, and jobs reveal the critical need to supply soft skills for the data economy.

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