The Rising Importance of Transversal Skills and the Challenges of Providing Young People with Transversal Skills & Competencies

Transversal skills, also known as "soft skills" "human skills" or "21st-century skills," are becoming increasingly important in today's rapidly changing workforce. These skills are transferable across different industries and job roles and are essential for personal and professional success.

Examples of transversal skills include communication, teamwork, adaptability, critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, leadership, and emotional intelligence. These skills are not specific to any particular job or industry, but rather are valued by employers across a wide range of fields.

The importance of transversal skills is driven by several factors, including globalisation, advances in technology, and changes in the nature of work itself. 

* Firstly, globalisation has led to an increase in international trade and competition. This means that businesses need employees who can communicate effectively across cultures, have a deep understanding of global markets, and can adapt to different business practices and regulations.

* Secondly, advances in technology have transformed the workplace, creating new industries and disrupting traditional ones. This requires workers to be adaptable and able to learn new skills quickly. Additionally, technology has made it easier for companies to outsource work, meaning that workers need to have skills that cannot be easily replaced by automation or cheaper labour abroad.

* Thirdly, the nature of work itself is changing. Many jobs are becoming more interdisciplinary, requiring workers to have a broad range of skills and knowledge. This means that workers need to be able to collaborate effectively with colleagues from different backgrounds and fields, and be able to think creatively and critically to solve complex problems.

As businesses become more globalised, they require employees who can communicate effectively with people from diverse cultural backgrounds. Advances in technology have also changed the nature of work, requiring workers to be adaptable and able to learn new skills quickly. In addition, many jobs today require workers to solve complex problems and think critically, and to do so, they need strong creative and analytical skills. And as workplaces become more collaborative and team-based, effective teamwork and leadership skills are essential.

Current challenges in providing young people with transversal skills and competences

The way in which teaching and learning takes place has evolved rapidly in the last two decades, and providing young people with the right set of transversal skills and competences will need a new approach. Especially the use of technology has a big impact on formal, non-formal and informal learning. Young people are now able to learn from longer distances and have access to more information. They also increasingly learn in settings outside formal education, while these learning experiences are often not recognised Opportunities to acquire competences have grown and therefore collaboration between formal an non-formal learning settings is required to make better use of these new opportunities 

Furthermore, the need for key skills and competences is dynamic, as it will change through time depending on the new context young people will enter. This means that the way education, training and learning is organised and assessed needs to be updated from time to time. Being able to respond to changing needs in competences will continue in the lives of young people as they grow older, therefore young people need to be prepared to continue learning throughout their lives.

Validation and recognition of transversal skills and competences

Measuring and validating transversal skills can be a challenging task, but here are some steps that can help:

1. Define the transversal skills: First, it is essential to define the specific transversal skills that you want to measure and validate. These skills may include critical thinking, communication, collaboration, adaptability, problem-solving, creativity, leadership, and teamwork.
2. Identify the indicators: Once you have defined the transversal skills, you need to identify the indicators that will help you measure them. For example, if you want to measure critical thinking, the indicators may include analysing information, evaluating arguments, and identifying assumptions.
3. Develop assessment tools: Based on the indicators, you can develop assessment tools such as self-assessments, peer evaluations, and expert evaluations. You can also use existing tools such as standardised tests and rubrics to measure the transversal skills.
4. Collect data: Use the assessment tools to collect data on the transversal skills. The data can be in the form of scores, ratings, or feedback.
5. Analyse the data: Analyse the data to determine the reliability and validity of the assessment tools. You can use statistical analysis to identify the correlation between the assessment scores and other relevant factors such as academic achievement, job performance, and career success.
6. Validate the skills: Finally, validate the transversal skills by comparing the assessment results with real-world performance. For example, if you measured communication skills, you can validate them by observing how well individuals communicate in their workplace or community.

Current European practices in providing young people with transversal skills and competences

Luckily there are several positive developments which support the development of transversal skills and competences among young people. Examples are policies, supporting EU agencies and other initiatives setup by the European Commission and other international institutions. This section provides a small selection of these developments with the intention to give some insight on what is already being done.

• The European Commission is responsible for proposing and enforcing legislation as well as by implementing policies and the EU budget.
• The strategic framework for European cooperation in Education and Training 2020 (ET 2020) is the current foundation in strengthening education and training systems. “ET 2020 is a forum for exchanges of best practices, mutual learning, gathering and dissemination of information and evidence of what works, as well as advice and support for policy reforms”.
• The new Skills Agenda for Europe supports the strategic importance of skills for sustaining jobs, growth and competitiveness and strengthens existing initiatives to assist Member States, individuals and organisations. They launched 10 actions designed to make the right training, skills and support available to people in the EU, by:
• “improving the quality and relevance of training and other ways of acquiring skills;
• making skills more visible and comparable;
• improving information and understanding of trends and patterns in demands for skills and jobs (skills intelligence) to enable people to make better career choices, find quality jobs and improve their life chances.”
• The Europass Framework helps European citizens to present their skills and qualifications by offering different CV formats or by using an European Skills Passport.
• The Commission Communication on the Modernisation of Education of 2016 set out action aimed to improve and modernise education systems in order to assure high quality education.
• The Council recommendation on tracking graduates helps to improve the collection of data from graduates which can be used to modernise education systems and to improve the student-to-work transition.

In Summary

Globalisation, advances in technology, and changes in the nature of work are creating a more interconnected and complex world. As a result, the demand for transversal skills, which are skills that can be applied across multiple industries and job functions, is growing.

Overall, the rising importance of transversal skills underscores the need for individuals to focus not just on technical skills but also on developing a broad set of interpersonal and problem-solving skills that will be valuable across multiple job roles and industries.

Measuring and validating transversal skills requires a systematic and rigorous approach. It is essential to define the skills, identify the indicators, develop assessment tools, collect data, analyse the data, and validate the skills to ensure their reliability and validity.

How Abodoo Can Help

Introducing the Digital Skills Passport with an integrated skills validation process built in that provides users with the opportunity to identify, validate, manage, and keep a track of their skills and professional experiences. Users can also plan, navigate, and access learning and career development opportunities using personalised learning recommendations at a time that best suits them.

The Digital Skills passport provides users with the following:

• Identify key transversal skills
• Self-assessment tools
• Validation of skills
• Data feedback

By

Fiona Whelan and Vanessa Tierney

Director of Education and Skills and CEO

Learn more at www.abodoo.com

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