ACT Newsroom & Blog: ACT Research: Unlocking Success Through Essential Skills Development

Written by ACT | Aug 19, 2025 5:00:00 AM

Education is about more than grades or degrees — it’s also about equipping students with the tools they need to excel in life and work. Over the years, the spotlight on "essential skills" (formerly referred to as social-emotional learning or SEL) has intensified, and for good reason. These skills, encompassing traits like grit, teamwork, resilience, curiosity, and leadership, are critical for personal growth and professional success. We have conducted pivotal research to understand how essential skills can bridge gaps in preparedness, benefiting students’ academic journeys and eventual entry into the workforce.

What are essential skills?

Essential skills are the foundational traits and behaviors that influence how individuals think, act, and respond to challenges. These traits can be cultivated through formal education, life experience, and intentional development programs. For this research, the essential skills examined include the following key qualities:

Grit – Persistence, goal orientation, and diligence in achieving objectives.
Teamwork – Collaboration, empathy, and trust when working with others.
Resilience – Effective stress management and the ability to bounce back after setbacks.
Curiosity – Openness to new perspectives, creativity, and a willingness to learn.
Leadership – Optimism, assertiveness, and the ability to inspire and influence others.

These skills are universally applicable, shaping everything from relationships to classroom and workplace behavior. Many employers have now expressed the need to prioritize candidates who demonstrate these transferable traits.

The growing importance of essential skills

Our research highlights the key role that essential skills play in both education and employment. Reports from the World Economic Forum indicate that seven of the top 10 core skills needed in today’s workforce are closely linked to key attributes such as collaboration, adaptability, and resilience. But why does this matter?

Here’s a breakdown of what our surveys revealed about students’ perceptions of these skills' importance:

High school students

Over 92% of surveyed high school students agreed that essential skills are vital for success in college.
Many students recognized their strengths in these areas but expressed a desire for further development to feel more prepared for higher education.
Some cited challenges, such as managing lifestyle changes, academic pressures, and the college admissions process, as reasons for feeling less equipped to transition to college.

College students

Nearly 97% of college students agreed that essential skills are crucial for workforce readiness.
However, 28% admitted they felt unprepared to enter the workforce, often pointing to gaps in leadership, resilience, and hands-on experience.
Interestingly, many students supported the idea of college coursework or programs explicitly focused on essential skill development.

Current challenges in essential skill development

While essential skills have gained traction in K-12 education, their integration into higher education has lagged. Programs focusing on grit, teamwork, curiosity, and other crucial attributes are widely adopted in primary and secondary schools, often as part of essential skills standards. However, there’s less standardization and fewer resources for essential skill initiatives at the college level.

This gap can leave students underprepared for the demanding transition from high school to college or from college to the workforce. Our research identified several reasons for this disparity:

Lack of formal programming: While some colleges offer optional workshops or first-year courses on life skills, these initiatives often lack consistency or scale.
Limited awareness: Both students and faculty may underestimate the importance of essential skills development, focusing solely on academic performance.
Structural barriers: Implementing new curricula in higher education is often complicated by constrained budgets, competing priorities, and institutional resistance to change.

The case for essential skill curricula in higher education

Our findings make a compelling case for bridging these gaps through structured, well-designed essential skill programs in colleges. Here’s what the data suggests:

Boosting preparedness: Students who participated in essential skills interventions during K-12 education exhibited better stress management, improved academic performance, and higher levels of civic engagement. Extending such programming into college could enhance workforce readiness and personal resilience.
Student interest: Both high school and college students expressed strong support for college-level programs. For example, nearly 85% of college students agreed that essential skills should be taught in college. Furthermore, over 70% said they would enroll in a course specifically designed to improve these traits.
Scalable models: We highlighted examples of effective implementation in higher education settings, such as digital badges signifying skill mastery, residential programs fostering leadership, and first-year seminars integrating essential skill lessons. These scalable approaches showcase the adaptability of such programs for diverse campus environments.

What’s next: A call to action

It’s clear that essential skills aren’t just nice to have – they’re vital for thriving in today’s educational and professional landscapes. However, capitalizing on their benefits requires a shift in institutional priorities. Educators, administrators, and policymakers must work together to integrate essential skills into the core of college education. Possible steps include:

Developing credit-bearing courses: By offering essential skills courses as core or elective subjects, colleges can encourage broader student participation.
Integrating skills into existing curricula: Essential skills content can complement existing coursework, such as embedding teamwork exercises into group projects or introducing lessons on grit in capstone seminars. The ACT WorkKeys Essential Skills Curriculum offers a framework to help educators seamlessly implement these skills into their coursework.
Leveraging digital tools: Badges, modules, and online certifications can make skill-building more flexible and accessible for students.
Building in faculty professional development: Successful implementation will require training and supporting instructors in recognizing and fostering essential skills among their students.

Students also play a role by advocating for programs that support their holistic development. Essential skills affect everything from their academic performance to their career trajectory. By investing in these areas, institutions can better prepare learners to lead, create, and inspire in an increasingly interconnected, competitive world.

The bottom line

The road to success demands more than just technical knowledge or degrees. Grit helps students persevere through challenges. Teamwork drives collaboration in diverse environments. Resilience allows individuals to bounce back stronger, while curiosity and leadership enable innovative thinking and influence.

The evidence is clear, and the demand is growing. Essential skills not only improve educational outcomes but also prepare students to face the real-world challenges of adulthood. It’s time for colleges to rise to the occasion. Prioritizing the integration of essential skills into higher education is not just a step forward; it’s an investment in the leaders of tomorrow.

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