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Education Dive
Soft skills are an invaluable 'counterpart to STEM.' Here's how a USC program is equipping teens
Center for Third Space Thinking founder Ernest Wilson says there are
five competencies K-12 students "desperately need" to succeed in a
tech-focused world.
Linda Jacobson
March 2, 2020
Adaptability is a competitive advantage, Chris Swain, a product
designer, entrepreneur and lecturer at the University of Southern
California, tells the young men and women gathered for his presentation.
“How often are we not getting what we want out of the world?” he asks them. “Every single day.”
But students' ability to show those they hope to impress that they can
deal with setbacks and keep working toward their goals will make them
stand out, he added.
Swain, who founded the Electronic Arts Game Innovation Lab at USC in
Los Angeles, gives this talk to executives from companies such as IBM,
Google and United Airlines as part of the leadership training delivered
by the university’s Center for Third Space Thinking. Founded in 2017 by
Ernest Wilson, former dean of the Annenberg School for Communication
and Journalism at USC, the center teaches the "soft skills”
corporations say they are looking for in employees.
But one afternoon last month, his audience was made up of juniors and
seniors from the Merced Union High School District interested in
filmmaking and media. They live in California’s San Joaquin Valley, a
region known for its agriculture industry — not news and entertainment.
"We’re always like, ‘It would be so great to go to [Los Angeles] and
get the vibe of what it’s like to be with other filmmakers,'" said
Oscar Perez, a senior at Atwater High School in Atwater, California,
who recently entered his short film "Insular Counselor" into a
SkillsUSA competition.
But Perez, whose parents both work in the agriculture industry, also
understands collaboration and patience are important in the career he
wants to pursue. "If you can’t work with other people," he said, "don't
work in film."
As part of their exposure to digital storytelling and photography, the
students are also learning about the skills the center has identified
will help them be successful in their careers. In addition to
adaptability, there’s cultural competency, empathy, intellectual
curiosity and 360-degree thinking — understanding multiple
perspectives. The center calls these the “counterpart to STEM.”
“I was doing research to find out what my students need to know,” said
Wilson, now a professor of communication and political science. “I
talked to people who are going to employ them. I came to realize that
this is hugely needed work.”
Taking his cellphone out of his pocket and holding it in front of his
face, he said, “the more time you do this” is linked with anxiety and
depression in young people. “Our kids desperately need soft skills.”
Such skills are a leading topic in business publications, and a study
conducted by researchers at MIT Sloan School of Management showed that
providing training to employees on areas such as communication, problem
solving and decision-making improved productivity.
In addition, an analysis of 142,000 job descriptions released in
January shows that oral and written communication, collaboration and
problem-solving are the most highly requested 21st century skills in
the workplace. Others appearing in the review included social
intelligence and self-direction.
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