Institutional Leaders' Perceptions on 21st Century Skills

Institutional Leaders’ Perceptions on 21^st Century Skills

EDINFO 2002-01
January 2002
ERIC Clearinghouse for Community Colleges

The League for Innovation in the Community College conducted a study to identify the core competencies and learning outcomes that community college leaders deemed essential for students to succeed in the 21^st century. As part of this study, in November 1999 surveys were mailed out to the chief academic officers of the League’s 677 member colleges, representing a wide cross section of North American community colleges in United States and Canada. 238 institutions (92%) of the responding 259 institutions indicated that their college had agreed on a set of 21^st century skills critical for students. Selecting from a preset list of skills, respondents indicated that their colleges considered the following skills as important for students, listed by the percentage of colleges reporting that skill as important.

Written/Oral Communication (91%)
Critical Thinking/Problem Solving (88%)
Technology Literacy (86%)
Mathematics (79%)
Information Management (69%)
Collaboration/Teamwork (67%)
Cultural/Global Studies/Diversity (59%)
Humanities (50%)
Learning Skills (50%)
Personal Responsibility/Management (47%)
Creativity (43%)

In addition to the above areas, six additional areas were noted by at least three respondents (1%) in an open-ended question about other important skills not listed in the pre-set list.

Ethics (3%)
Natural sciences (3%)
Social Responsibility/Citizenship (2%)
Aesthetics (2%)
Workplace Readiness (2%)
Health and Wellness (1%)

This information was reported in ED439751, "Learning Outcomes for the 21^st Century: Report of a Community College Study" by Cynthia D. Wilson, Cindy L. Miles, Ronald L. Baker, and Laurence R. Schoenberger. A full-text copy of this document may be obtained by contacting ERIC Document Reproduction Services (EDRS), 7420 Fullerton Road, Suite 110, Springfield, VA 22153-2852; or by calling (800) 443-ERIC. This project has been funded at least in part with Federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education under contract number ED-99-CO-0010. The content of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the U.S. Department of Education nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. ERIC EdInfos are in the public domain and may be freely reproduced.

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