A new report from the North Carolina Department of Commerce shows that skills included in the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction’s Portrait of a Graduate are essential to every occupation in the state, and jobseekers need these skills to meet employer demand.
State Superintendent Catherine Truitt said the findings presented to the State Board of Education today (on Thursday) highlights the need to continue integrating durable skills into everyday learning across North Carolina classrooms.
The Portrait’s seven durable skills are adaptability, collaboration, communication, critical thinking, empathy, learner’s mindset and personal responsibility.
Researchers mapped the skills to the NC Star Jobs rating system, which identifies promising career paths based on average wages, growth rate and the number of projected job openings.
In every occupation, the Portrait’s durable skills rank at least as “somewhat important,” meaning that workers need those skills to be effective in their jobs.
Occupations that value durable skills as "very important” tend to also be those that pay better.
