Social Skill Dimensions and Career Dynamics

Abstract

All work is social, yet little is known about social skill dimensions or how social skill experiences accumulate across careers. Using occupational data (O*NET) on social tasks, the authors identify social skills’ latent dimensions. They find four main types: emotion, communication, coordination, and sales. O*NET provides skill importance scores for each occupation, which the authors link to individual careers (Panel Study of Income Dynamics). The authors then analyze cumulative skill exposure among three cohorts of workers using multitrajectory modeling. They find substantial variability in social skill experience across early-, middle-, and late-career workers. White, female, and highly educated workers are the most likely to accumulate social skill experience, net of total years of experience. Group differences in cumulative exposure to social skill are rooted in early-career experiences. This study enhances the understanding of social skill exposure across careers and has important implications for future research on social stratification and economic inequality.

Relational Work in the Economy

“…Relational work skill. Fligstein (2001) theorized that actors differ in their social skill, or their ability to induce cooperation (see also Wyant et al 2018). Following this, Bandelj (2012) proposed that actors will also be differentially versed in relational work skill.…”

European Mobility Programs and Skills Development

“…Thus, some more relevant studies, both qualitative and quantitative, could be conducted towards this direction. Finally, we should also reflect on some issues related to training and education: finding a common understanding of the topic, investigating learners' needs, devising a training structure, defining the appropriate training agents and the processes followed while planning training interventions, using active techniques and adult education principles (Karanikola & Panagiotopoulos, 2023;Wyant et al, 2018).…”

Διερευνώντας Τη Σημασία Των Ήπιων Δεξιοτήτων Κατά Τη Μαθησιακή Διαδικασία

“…Οι δεξιότητες αποτελούν σημαντικό μηχανισμό της θεωρίας του ανθρώπινου κεφαλαίου, καθώς η επένδυση στην ανάπτυξή τους συνδέεται με την παραγωγικότητα και την αποτελεσματικότητα του ατόμου, του οργανισμού, της κοινωνίας και κατ' επέκταση της οικονομίας (Wyant et al, 2018).…”