Analysis of Workforce Skills in High School Graduates : Self Report of High School Seniors in Northwest Ohio

Analysis of workforce competencies at the conclusion of high school graduation are discussed in this paper. Researchers sampled over 875 graduating seniors from 16 high schools within six counties throughout Northwestern Ohio. Results highlight future career and educational goals of these young people and a self-report of skills based on the SCANS competencies and basic foundation skills. When evaluating Foundation Skills of Personal Qualities, Basic Skills, and Thinking Skills, students indicated highest ratings in Personal Qualities and overall lowest ratings in Basic Skills. A series of five Workforce Competencies were also evaluated, including Using Resources, Using Information, Using Technology, Interpersonal Skills, and Working in Systems. Highest ratings for Competencies were reported in Interpersonal Skills and lowest in Using Resources.


Introduction Changing the US Workforce
There are dramatic forces of change affecting the type of employment, employment-related skills, and necessary training needed for successful employment (Levy, & Murnane, 2006; Partnership for 21st Century Skills, 2003; Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills [SCANS], 1991).The movement from a predominately agricultural/industrial-to an information/service-based economy in the latter part of the 21st century has been well documented (e.g., Naisbitt, 1982;Toffler, 1990).This evolution produces employers that expect higher level skills from youth.
The forces shaping the future of the United States workforce (Karoly, & Panis, 2004) include a gradual decrease in the labor force growth rate as the Baby Boomers retire, acceleration of technological change, increase of economic globalization, increase in the rate of transition to decentralized business models, and the demand for more flexible and knowledge-based employees.Demographic changes will have significant impacts on the labor market.Baby boomers' decision to continue employment or seek retirement will affect not only the demand for labor, but the leadership and experience-set employers are looking for.Job skill requirements have been changing in all sectors of employment.Technological advances have progressed to the point that more routine labor functions are now being replaced by machines.The expanded use of computers to generate data has increased the demand for skill sets in problem solving and data analysis (Karoly, & Panis, 2004).
Flatter organizational structures focused on decentralized decision-making and team-focused work will require enhanced communication skills, leadership, and teambuilding skills.Technology will further expand the prevalence of non-traditional work arrangements (telecommuting, working from home, etc.).Employers everywhere have access to a worldwide workforce comprised of people that do not have to be physically present to participate in work teams or to contribute to an organization (National Center on Education and the Economy, 2006).Outsourcing is a current tool used as organizations evaluate steps in the production or service chain to determine most effective methods.There are opportunities for other people or organizations to deliver tailored services to meet specific components of a production chain or service sector.For example, Indian engineers may make $7,500 compared to $45,000 for a comparable American engineer (National Association on Education and the Economy, 2006).The demand for a more adaptable and flexible staff will increase the percentage of workers in non-traditional work arrangements such as contract or consultant work or short-term employment assignments (Karoly, & Panis, 2004).Today's employers demand a more skilled employee.In the U.S., less than 20% of the workforce is in jobs classified as unskilled (Lynch, 2000).

Youth Workforce Skills Gap
A study conducted by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) and Deloitte Consulting (2005) found that today's skill shortages are broad-based and deep, impacting more than 80% of companies surveyed.The deficiency of available skilled labor has impacted production and productivity and the ability of these manufacturers to meet customer demands.Ninety percent of manufacturing companies indicated a moderate to severe shortage of qualified skilled production employees (front-line workers, machinists, technicians, etc.).Engineers and scientists are also needed with 65% of manufacturers indicating a lack of supply of these educated and skilled employees.
Not only are the expected high levels of retirements of skilled baby boomer employees going to impact skilled labor availability but the upcoming availability of skilled trained employees is not anticipated to meet demand.Manufacturing employers cite dissatisfaction with K-12 education systems in terms of their ability to effectively train future employees.When asked whether K-12 schools are doing a good job preparing students for the workplace, 84% of the respondents indicated "no" (NAM, & Deloitte, 2005).Employers are also frustrated by the decline in the number of people seeking advanced training and post-secondary degrees in science and engineering.NAM and Deloitte (2005) found that 74% of manufacturing industry respondents in their study indicated that having a "high performance workforce" will be key to their business success.Not only are manufacturers concerned about technical skills in the labor market, but they also identify ability to work in teams, computer skills, literacy, and supervisory and management skills as essential to future success.Toepfer (1997) suggests that educational systems will need to adapt to new employment realities.However, it is challenging to prepare youth for the jobs of tomorrow when those jobs may not exist today.The technological advancement has been so rapid that entire career fields are being created and/or eliminated.Workers will be required to learn the skills that evolving opportunities will require and the educational system must adapt to meet changing needs of students (Toepfer, 1997).
Manufacturing companies are concerned about the impact of skilled labor shortages.73% of manufacturers in the NAM and Deloitte (2005) study were implementing training for their employees due to business necessity.Innovative and competitive recruitment strategies, implementing more employee-friendly work environments (flexible schedules, tuition reimbursements, etc.), and utilizing more temporary employment are methods used to expand the available skill base for employers.
The tremendous increase in technological change, higher skill levels required by employers, reallocation of labor globally with manufacturing moving abroad, underemployment, downsizing, and other considerable employment changes have resulted in an uncertain labor market for 16-24 year-old young people (Sum, Fogg, & Magnum, 2000).School-based preparation can provide the experiences and education to prepare young people to make effective decisions about postsecondary education and prepare them to transition from school to employment.A young person is "work ready" when they can effectively make educational and vocational decisions and perform expectations from schools and employers (Sarkees-Wircenski, & Scott, 1995).According to the Career Institute for Education and Workforce Development (2002), there is a dramatic disconnect between student courses of study or job pursuits and existing job openings and business needs.
Educational systems and communities also can assist youth in their process of establishing an occupational pathway.Young people traditionally determine their pathway, or "job fit" through meaningful work-based learning experiences and an evaluation of their individual goals, values and strengths (Zeldin, & Charner, 1996).Youth then rely on mentors, teachers, family members, peers, educational institutions and others to help them evaluate their career options and the steps and skills necessary to reach their occupational goals (Bailey, et al., 2004;Clausen, 1991;Csiksentmaihalyi, & Schneider, 2000;Hamilton, & Hamilton, 2000).Career development, for most people, is a lifelong process of learning through a step-wise process of involvement in the world of work (Ferry, 2006).Each individual undertaking the process is influenced by many factors, including the context in which they live, their personal aptitudes, and educational attainment (Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, & Pastorelli, 2001).The social support and guidance of mentors and adult supervisors has been found to be significantly correlated to a young person's future work-orientation and motivation towards building skills and seeking advanced education to achieve occupational goals (Bennett, 2007).
According to Casner-Lotto, J., & Barrington, L. ( 2006), young people are inadequately prepared to be successful in the workplace.After completing high school, over one-half of those directly entering the world of work are deficient in the most important skills: Oral and Written Communication, Professionalism/Work Ethic, and Critical Thinking/Problem Solving.College graduates are better prepared, with lower levels of deficiency in the most important skills, but most are not mastering these skills.Only about one-quarter of four-year College graduates are perceived to be excellent in many of the most important skills (Casner-Lotto, J., & Barrington, L., 2006).
More than half of our young people leave school without the knowledge or foundation required to find and hold a good job (SCANS 1991).According to the US Department of Labor Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCANS 1991), the demands for the current workforce require adaptability and the ability to learn and work in teams.
Using SCANS as the Foundation for the Survey Workforce competencies play a critical role in performance improvement, thus it is not surprising that the study of competencies is of increasing interest when enhancing management and leadership development (Bernthal, Colteryahn, Davis, Naughton, Rothwell, & Wellins, 2004;Dubois, & Rothwell, 2004).The SCANS report emphasizes that competencies are "needed in workplaces dedicated to excellence, [and] they are the hallmarks of today's expert worker" (SCANS, 1991).Researchers of Penn State University used the SCANS report as one of the conceptual frameworks when developing the Penn State Leadership Competency Inventory (LCI).Three experts in leadership development, Wesley Donahue, Katheryn Woodley, and John Park, (each holding PhD's in workforce education, organizational psychology, and adult education respectively, and each having more than 20 years of leadership training experience in the public and private sectors, synthesized and integrated the SCANS report into the LCI (Yoon, Song, Donahue, & Woodley, 2010).Including the SCANS report was considered essential to the use of the LCI for populations composed of individuals not yet in formal managerial positions (Yoon, Song, Donahue, & Woodley, 2010).
The SCANS Report focused on three conclusions addressing what work requires of schools: 1.All American high school students must develop a new set of competencies and foundation skills if they are to enjoy a productive, full, and satisfying life; 2. The qualities of high performance that today characterize our most competitive companies must become the standard for the vast majority of our companies, large and small, local, and global; 3. The nation's schools must be transformed into high-performance organizations in their own right.
The SCANS Report identified five competencies and a three-part foundation of skills and personal qualities that are needed for solid job performance.Report, 1991).

Research Objectives
The The majority of respondents indicated that their parents were originally from Northwest Ohio with over 80% of both parents being from the area.The vast majority of reported High School Seniors were employed at-least part-time.Over 59% of these seniors indicated that they were working 11 hours or more per week.Over 84% of the reported high school seniors indicated that they were allocating two or less hours per week studying.More than half of the respondents indicated that they were actively engaged in volunteer work on a weekly basis.High School Seniors reported relative success in their academic work (when analyzing High School Grade Point Average).
To assess SCANS (1991) "Foundation Skills," a series of Likert-Based Questions were asked evaluating youth perceptions of their skills on a series of subcomponents.The instrument was anchored with 1=Strongly Disagree, 5=Strongly Agree.Self-reporting by youth generally reported strong skills.Groups of questions about sub-skills assessed each of the three major Foundation Skills.In Table 1, the three "Foundation Skills" are identified as Person Qualities, Thinking Skills, and Basic Skills.The first "Foundation Skill;" Personal Qualities, had the highest overall mean (4.26) when compared to the other two skill sets.High school seniors indicated the lowest competency in the area of Basic Skills.This is concerning as K-12 educational systems are designed to specifically build these skills in students.

Table 1
Overall Foundation Skill Means (Scale: 1 -5 with 1=Strongly Disagree and 5 = Strongly Agree) Foundation Skills Average Mean Personal Qualities 4.26 Thinking Skills 4.00 Basic Skills

N= 875
Of all the sub-competencies, high school students tended to rate the competency of "Integrity" the highest of all with a mean of 4.40 (table 2).Table 2 shows high school seniors self-reported low means in the competency set within "Basic Skill."This skill set includes "Listening," "Reading," "Speaking," "Writing," and "Mathematics."Of all the competencies within the Foundation Skills, "Mathematics" was identified as having the lowest mean (3.77)."Writing" (3.88) was also a component that high school seniors indicated as a weaker competency.
In evaluating "Thinking Skills," six competencies were evaluated including: "Creative Thinking," "Seeing things in the Minds Eye," "Problem Solving," "Decision Making," "How to Learn," and "Reasoning."As noted in Table 2, high school seniors indicated the highest level of competency in "Creative Thinking" with a mean of 4.05.The weakest area within this set of competencies is "Reasoning" with a mean of 3.90.

Workforce Competencies
To assess "Workforce Competencies," a series of Likert-Based Questions were asked evaluating youth perceptions of their skills on a series of subcomponents.The instrument was anchored with 1=Strongly Disagree, 5=Strongly Agree.Self-reporting by youth generally reported strong skills.The research analyzed youth workforce competencies of: Managing/Using Resources, Managing/Using Information, Managing/Using Technology, Managing and Using Systems, and Interpersonal Skills.Groups of questions or sub-skills assessed each of the five Major Workforce Competencies.Youth reported highest overall skills in "Interpersonal Skills" at 4.10 (Table 3).Lowest workforce competency ratings were reported in their ability to "Manage and Use Technology," with a mean of 3.61 (table 3).Each of the five Workforce Competencies can be further analyzed by the respective subcompetencies or components.As reported in Table 4, youth indicated strong overall skills in "Managing and Using Resources."They feel strongest about their skills in "Managing Time," with a mean of 4.12.They reported weakest skills in "Managing Money" with a mean of 3.69.In evaluating "Managing and Using Information," the highest mean responses for these four sub-components were reported in "Computer Processes" (4.01), with lowest ratings from "Research Information" (3.71).The mean response on "Selecting Technology" was 3.73, with a score of 3.66 for "Applying Technology" and 3.45 for "Maintaining Technology."Overall ratings for the Interpersonal skill sets were high, with highest mean ratings for "Participate on Teams" (4.27) and lowest for "Negotiate Decisions" (3.91).
The skill of "Managing and Using Systems" was evaluated with three components of "Monitoring Performance," "Understanding Systems," and "Improving Systems."The mean rating for "Monitor Performance" was 3.95, "Understanding Systems" was rated at 3.83, and "Improving Systems" was the lowest component in this category with a mean of 3.72.The researchers asked youth to report the overall contribution or influence that formal education, employment, volunteering, and youth activities had upon the development of workforce skills and competencies.Each respective component was rated with Likert-based Scale of 1-5, with 1= "Very Low Influence" and 5= "Very Strong Influence."Youth who were not involved in the respective activity did not rate that component (i.e.Honor Society).The highest influence on workforce skill and competency development, as reported by graduating high school students, was "Job Influence" at 4.28 5).The other sources evaluated included "Honor Society," "Course Influence," "4-H," "Service Clubs," "Volunteer Influence," and "Student Government Involvement."

Conclusions
The research results revealed interesting and disconcerting trends about the workforce competencies high school graduating youth self report.As GPA rises, so does the skill level of the competencies and foundation skills.In other words, the higher the GPA, the better prepared they are to enter the work force.High school students tended to rate themselves much higher in personal qualities than they did in many of the other workforce competency areas.It appears that they are more confident in their levels of integrity, sociability and responsibility.
One trend that caused some concern was how low high school graduates rated their ability in basic skills such as speaking, writing and mathematics.It was striking to see the lack of self reported confidence the students had in these skills especially since K-12 school curriculum places emphasis on these primary learning subjects.Furthermore, students self reported a low competency in managing money.The combination of low math skills and low money management skills can prove to be a disastrous combination personally and on the job.School curriculum focused on financial literacy needs to be emphasized to both help a student's proficiency in this area and also help foster this skill to be applied on the job.
Another area of concern was how low students self reported their competency in using technology and maintaining technology.Beyond the use of social media platforms (texting, Facebook, Skype, Twitter and so on), there appears to be a major deficiency in technology application.It is commonly accepted that the use of technology in today's educational and work environments is increasing.Schools are increasingly integrating smart boards, Ipads and laptops as tools to educate youth.Work environments are utilizing smart phone applications to file share, sync calendars and web conference.It is imperative that the workforce of tomorrow be competent in using technology as a means of doing business and being productive.
Youth are reporting that they have a number of influencers on the development of job-related skills.The school curriculum is one source of development of skill sets related to entry into the workforce.Extra-curricular activities, part-time employment, and volunteer work are all influencers on the development of skills preparing young people for employment.A diverse array of extra-curricular activities and practical experiences gained through hands-on paid and volunteer work are necessary for youth to be prepared to enter work-roles in the future.
The lack of a youthful skilled workforce is an emerging issue that calls for partnerships between key service providers (colleges, high schools, local employers, and local government officials) to develop strategies to address these changing workforce needs and identify ways to narrow the gap between the skill sets our students have when they enter the workforce or post secondary institutions and what employers actually need from them.To accomplish this, these findings can be used as a conduit to lead a series of focus groups within a region to begin discussions with community leaders.The results of these guided discussions can provide a road map for colleges and high schools to uniformly implement strategies that narrow the disconnect between local employment needs and how our educational systems prepare youth for work.
Community organizations and employers can play an important role in training young people to enter the workforce.For example, community leaders could consider developing a comprehensive internship program that involves local employers and educational institutions.Community organizations can explore ways to get local students opportunities to job shadow to increase awareness of the competencies needed to succeed in today's work environments.Assuming that preparing young people for the jobs of tomorrow is solely the responsibility of school system, limits the ability of youth to truly be prepared to be valuable employees tomorrow.Employers and community leaders need to take an active role working within the school structure and outside to provide perspective to young people that encourages their understanding of the job skills that they will need in the future as well as developing methods to enable youth to develop skills preparing them for tomorrow.
Personal Qualities -Individual responsibility, self-esteem, sociability, self management, and integrity According to SCANS, these competencies differ from a person's technical knowledge.The report suggests that classroom instruction must help students apply what they are learning to real-world situations.Students need an opportunity to recognize and solve problems (SCAN SCANS Three Foundation Skills1.Basic Skills -Reading, writing, arithmetic and mathematics, speaking and listening 2. Thinking Skills -Thinking creatively, making decisions, solving problems, seeing things in the mind's eye, knowing how to learn, and reasoning 3. objective of the reported research study was to analyze the workforce skills of high school graduates in Northwest Ohio, based on SCANS (Secretary of US Department of Labor Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills, 1991).Specific components included:

Table 2
Analysis of Sub-Competencies within each of the three Foundation Skills

Table 4
Analysis of Sub-Competencies within each of the five Workforce Competencies

Table 5
Source Competencies and Skills