Soft Skills: Emerging Agenda for Russia Kirill Vasiliev World Bank
Skills issue in Russia 1. Innovative development in Russia requires not only professional skills, but also: Skills for communication, collaboration and team work (social and behavioral skills) Skills related to problem solving and critical thinking (highorder cognitive skills). 2. These skills are employed in workplaces and actively sought by employers. 3. These skills are in short supply. 4. Lack of these skills is of particular concern for innovative firms. Source: Developing Skills for Innovative Growth in Russia, World Bank, 2013 2
Lack of skills among specialists Ability to resolve problems Professional skills Ability to work independently Ability to work with people Ability to cooperate with others Ability to make nonstandard decisions Ability to plan work Conscientiousness Conflict aversion Leadership Emotional stability Openness to new ideas Knowledge of foreign languages Reading and writing skills Extraversion Math skills 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 percent Source: Developing Skills for Innovative Growth in Russia, World Bank, 2013 Traditional firms Innovative firms 3
Current challenge How to measure soft skills of individuals / students? How to develop soft skills at different stages of life? 4
General education New competences focused standards adopted Relevant curriculum under preparation Assessment of teachers ability to develop soft skills and capacity building for teachers Information and communication literacy assessment test available for 15 y.o. 5
TVET + Adults Training WfD and LLL Strategies: Soft skills in focus Skills for WfD Project with the Bank: Capacity building for the TVET sector is the key Soft skills in focus (training programs) World Skills international competition Soft skills assessment 6
Higher education Int. Study of Higher Education Learning (ISHEL): Russia USA China Critical thinking Analytical skills Quantitative reasoning Academic skills in physics and math Master Degree Entrance Test (for engineers): Critical thinking Self efficacy Math and IT literacy Bachelor Degree Test: Problem solving Information literacy Critical thinking 7
Next steps: Soft Skills TA for FY16 Defining priority soft skills through consensus building Developing unified framework for the tests TA to develop the test for TVET students TA for soft skills focused programs development 8
Thank you! 9
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Skills classification Cognitive Basic cognitive Literacy (reading and writing) Numeracy Foreign language skills High-order cognitive Ability to make non standard decisions, take non standard actions Work related problem solving Ability to plan work (for yourself or others) Non-cognitive Social and Behavioral Ability to work with people Leadership skills Ability to work independently Team work, collaboration skills The Big five/ Personal traits Conscientiousness (self-discipline, self-organization, reliability) Emotional stability (ability to handle problems in a calm manner) Agreeableness (ability to adopt to a situation during communication with people) Extraversion (is talkative, assertive, takes initiatives) Openness to experience (comes up with new ideas, curious) Technical (Professional / Job-related) Job-related technical skills (speed typing for a typist, accounting for accountant) 11
Inadequate skills as a major growth constraint for Russian firms 2005 2008 2012 Tax rates 2 2 1 Corruption 3 3 2 Skills and education of workers 4 1 3 Access to finance 6 8 4 Macroeconomic instability 5 Electricity 13 4 6 Transport 12 9 7 Tax administration 1 10 8 Organized crime/mafia 9 Access to land 10 5 10 Crime, theft and disorder 8 6 11 Business licensing and permits 5 11 12 Customs and trade regulations 9 13 13 Labor regulations 11 14 14 Courts 7 12 15 Telecommunications 14 7 Source: BEEPS At A Glance 2008, Russia, The World Bank Group, 2010 ; BEEPS At A Glance 2012, Russia, The World Bank Group, forthcoming 2010 12
Lack of skills among blue collar workers Conscientiousness Professional skills Ability to resolve problems Ability to work independently Conflict aversion Ability to work with people Emotional stability Ability to cooperate with others Ability to plan work Openness to new ideas Ability to make nonstandard decisions Knowledge of foreign languages Leadership Extraversion Reading and writing skills Math skills 0 5 10 15 20 25 Traditional firms Innovative firms percent 13
Lack of skills among managers Ability to make nonstandard decisions Leadership Knowledge of foreign languages Ability to work with people Ability to resolve problems Openness to new ideas Professional skills Ability to plan work Emotional stability Conflict aversion Ability to cooperate with others Ability to work independently Conscientiousness Reading and writing skills Math skills Extraversion 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 percent Traditional firms Innovative firms 14
HEIs: growing gap resulted from focus on traditional learning outputs Changes in the stock of cognitive skills from 1 st to 4/5 th year Assessment of skills importance by employers Increase in skills from 1st year to 4 5th year, as % of national s.d. 30% 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 3 5 4 2 1 0% Writing text Foreign language Oral presentations Computer skills Team work 15