Workforce Development

In the workplace, successful employees need more than their technical skills. Every day, they must collaborate, communicate, manage stress, solve problems, navigate conflict, and persist through challenges.  With social and emotional learning (SEL), students have the opportunity to master those in-demand skills.

A smiling young woman in a job interview shaking hands with one of her interviewers.

Employers and SEL

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In our 2020 report, Preparing Youth for the Workforce of Tomorrow, we analyzed surveys of the skills that employers seek—and often have trouble finding—to identify the most in-demand skills. Again and again, employers identified skills that are at the center of SEL, including: 

  • Communication and interpersonal skills
  • Self-management skills
  • The ability to collaborate and work in teams
  • Problem-solving skills 
  • A respect for people from different backgrounds
  • Critical-thinking skills
  • The capacity to make wise and ethical decisions

Preparing for the Future

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These findings indicate that SEL supports young people not only for success in school and their current well-being. It also lays the groundwork for their success for the rest of their lives. That is, SEL is central to students’ future readiness.

State and local education leaders can play a powerful role in supporting students to become the kind of employees organizations want, as well giving them the skills to thrive, learn, and grow throughout their careers.

State and district leaders can explicitly embed social and emotional skills into career and technical education programs, internships, apprenticeships, work-based learning, career pathways, dual enrollment, and other efforts to promote youth success. 

Through better alignment and connections, we can begin to transform how students are prepared to succeed in work and life. Our 2022 policy roadmap, Educating Future-Ready Students, offers guidance for bridging SEL and career and workforce development.

Portraits of a Graduate

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A Portrait of a Graduate offers a holistic look at the skills and competencies students need to thrive in work, postsecondary educational opportunities, community, and their personal lives. More and more states, districts, and schools are developing these portraits to create a vision of the kind of skills and competencies they want their students to have upon graduation.

CASEL has done pioneering work on these Portraits of a Graduates and their relationship to SEL, including a report that examines how state portraits of a graduate can support future readiness and a report analyzing 272 Portraits of a Graduate to identify the prevalence of social and emotional, workforce-relevant, and academic and technical competencies. 

Our Work: Workforce Development

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