A Quantitative Analysis of 21st Century Skills: A Case of Semantic and Psychometric Overlap

Abstract

While the concept of 21st century skills has become omnipresent, there is little consistency regarding the terms, definitions, or measurement instruments used, causing a problem for personnel selection policies as well as education and training. A proliferation of terms makes it difficult to identify, operationalize, assess, and teach these nontechnical skills, and also goes against the scientific principle of parsimony. This study aimed to simplify the field by using a three-phase approach to quantify and reduce the extent of proliferation: A literature survey, a latent semantic analysis, and a hierarchical cluster analysis. Forty 21st century “skills” were identified in the literature search, and analyses revealed a high degree of semantic and psychometric overlap. This suggests that some individual “skills” may not be conceptually distinct, but are rather an array of context-dependent manifestations of a more general underlying competency. We stop short of proposing a new taxonomy of 21st century skills, however some examples of conceptually distinct themes to emerge include competencies relating to interpersonal (e.g., teamwork), intrapersonal (e.g., self-management), and goal-directed/executive skills. To establish greater coherence within the field, we suggest standardizing terms, reducing task impurity of assessment, and revisiting the concept of skills to encompass only higher-order, general competencies. We assert that human resources (HR) professionals should shift from isolated skill labels to adopt competency-based hiring and training frameworks, and use dynamic, behavior-based assessments to evidence these abilities rather than self-reports.