Employer Ratings of Four-Year College Graduates Entering Workforce on Readiness in Certain “Basic” Skills, 2006

Given the range of occupations and activities performed by college graduates, further research is needed about how humanities study connects to their subsequent work lives. Existing research on the skills that potential employers find desirable is generally imperfect given the range of possible employers and differing job characteristics. The surveys that do exist, however, tend to highlight the value of a range of humanities skills. For instance, although not nationally representative, a 2006 Conference Board survey of 431 employers noted substantial perceived deficiencies in college-educated employees’ skills in key areas of humanities learning. These “basic skills” included foreign languages, writing in English, and reading comprehension. The responding employers identified the latter two skills as particularly important for successful job performance.1

Endnotes

• 1Are They Really Ready to Work? Employers’ Perspectives on the Basic Knowledge and Applied Skills of New Entrants to the 21st Century U.S. (New York: Conference Board, 2006). For an example of proactive efforts in this area, see the American Historical Association’s Tuning Project at https://www.historians.org/teaching-and-learning/tuning-the
  -history-discipline.