Recent research shows that soft skills can have a greater impact on an individual’s employment, earnings, and overall well-being than job-specific technical skills. In fact, employers globally report difficulty filling jobs because new recruits often lack soft skills. According to Child Trends, soft skills include “competencies, behaviors, attitudes and personal qualities that enable people to effectively navigate their environment, work well with others, perform well, and achieve their goals.” Researchers, educators and youth development practitioners use varying frameworks to classify the ‘most important’ soft skills. This is demonstrated by the multitude of names often considered synonymous with soft skills, including: non-cognitive, workforce readiness, life, behavioral, and 21st century skills (among others). Examples of the most valuable types of soft skills to youth and adult success are: social skills, communication skills, problem solving, critical thinking, self-control, and positive self-concept.
Making Cents International's Youth Economic Opportunities Network
The annual GYEO Summit Call for Proposals is a competitive process open to all interested applicants working to advance youth economic opportunities. Summit speakers raise awareness about their work, share knowledge and encourage collaboration in our sector through practical, hands-on breakout sessions that connect to the Summit’s theme and technical tracks.
Making Cents International's Youth Economic Opportunities Network
DATE:
Feb 5, 2019 (09:30am to 10:30am)
The annual GYEO Summit Call for Proposals is a competitive process open to all interested applicants working to advance youth economic opportunities. Summit speakers raise awareness about their work, share knowledge and encourage collaboration in our sector through practical, hands-on breakout sessions that connect to the Summit’s theme and technical tracks.
On Wednesday, November 7, 2018, the Boston PIC and the Boston Opportunity Agenda brought together 200 institution leaders and community partners for the release of New Directions: Creating Career Pathways for and with Opportunity Youth. This report chronicles the Opportunity Youth Collaborative’s activities and lessons learned over its six-year effort to engage opportunity youth in career pathways.
Increasingly, the global economy demands that young people enter the workforce not only with a college degree, but also with a set of transferrable, entrepreneurial skills and attitudes that can help them succeed in almost any job or industry. This includes the ability to take initiative and think on your feet, to critically solve problems, and to communicate effectively. Learning these and other skills that are part of the entrepreneurial mindset is central to becoming career-ready.
The Youth Program Quality Survey is a 24-item measure of program quality designed to evaluate participant perceptions of experiences in short- and longterm youth programs. The Youth Program Quality Survey was developed based on the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine’s eight program setting features that can contribute to the positive development of youth. This measurement tool is quite new within the field and as such little research has been conducted to determine its validity and reliability.
Today, the impact of trauma on young people can be seen world-wide. From young migrants traveling to the Southern border from gang-violence affected communities in Central America, to young refugees displaced by conflict, the long-term implications for youth wellbeing and economic growth and opportunity are inexplicably linked.
The Power of Vision Model is a “bridge” between current reality and desired future. The model helps create clear purpose and sense of direction in life upon which future decisions, actions and resources are based. The model helps young people to go through a process of self-discovery, draw their vision, break it down into stratified life goals, identify required resources, act on their vision and track progress using simple methodologies.
Education Development Center, FHI 360, Creative Associates International
In areas where conflict and violence are present, youth are prone to be victims and/or perpetrators of violence. In these contexts, youth economic opportunity programs are compelled to create responses that not only do no harm, but also strengthen youth resilience in a way that minimizes the impact of violence. This session covers collective impact (CI) approaches for implementing and sustaining youth workforce and livelihoods projects within fragile environments, with the end goal of strengthening youth resilience.
Participants engaged in a horticultural value chain assessment to identify partners and strategies that could be used to create job and business opportunities for rural vulnerable youth. By exploring market opportunities and risks, participants gained empathy of the perspectives of each potential agribusiness partners (from input and drip irrigation suppliers to chile pepper exporters) and financial institutions.
Recent research shows that soft skills can have a greater impact on an individual’s employment, earnings, and overall well-being than job-specific technical skills. In fact, employers globally report difficulty filling jobs because new recruits often lack soft skills. According to Child Trends, soft skills include “competencies, behaviors, attitudes and personal qualities that enable people to effectively navigate their environment, work well with others, perform well, and achieve their goals.” Researchers, educators and youth development practitioners use varying frameworks to classify the ‘most important’ soft skills. This is demonstrated by the multitude of names often considered synonymous with soft skills, including: non-cognitive, workforce readiness, life, behavioral, and 21st century skills (among others). Examples of the most valuable types of soft skills to youth and adult success are: social skills, communication skills, problem solving, critical thinking, self-control, and positive self-concept.