Data-Driven Identification of Skills for the Future: 21st-Century Skills for the 21st-Century Workforce

Abstract

The world is rapidly changing, and the systemic shifts have the potential to affect the nature of work. To prepare the workforce, it is crucial to develop the skills that will be necessary for the unpredictable landscape of the future. Before these skills can be developed, however, they have to be identified and quantified through some form of valuation. It is important that the approach to skills valuation is empirically defensible. This article presents an approach to skills valuation that focuses on the extent to which a skill facilitates occupational transitions as its measure of value. This valuation metric is then developed using a graph-theoretic approach. Results show that this valuation reflects skills-importance that aligns with existing skills valuation in the literature. Limitations of this approach and its potential extensions are discussed.