Why businesses should care about social and emotional learning
Most employers will attest to the fact that their most valued employees are responsible and motivated. They work effectively with others, they know how to think critically, they consider diverse views and grapple with difficult problems.
A new report confirms that these same abilities that lead to career success are also required for students to succeed in school. If we more intentionally cultivate these skills through public education, everyone benefits — individuals, business and the economy as a whole.
The report, “From a Nation at Risk to a Nation at Hope,” synthesizes a growing body of evidence supporting the integration of social, emotional, and academic development. The report compiles decades of research in psychology, education and brain science with findings from two years of conversations, meetings, and site visits conducted across the country with students, parents, educators, business and community leaders, and other experts.
The strong consensus both in the research and on the ground is that a whole-child approach to learning, one that encompasses its social, emotional, and cognitive dimensions, is fundamental to student success in the classroom as well as in career and life.
This fall, the Hartford Business Journal reported that Connecticut has significant demand for “middle-skill” workers who have more than a high school diploma but less than a four-year college degree. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that such jobs account for 48 percent of the state’s labor market. But only 38 percent of Connecticut’s workers are qualified for these positions, which means that because employers cannot find workers with the necessary skills, thousands of middle-skill jobs are going unfilled each year in key sectors such as health care, construction, and manufacturing.
While it is certainly the case that some of the necessary skills workers are missing are industry-specific, employers in various sectors also
report that many underskilled adults and “opportunity youth” — people ages 16 to 24 who are not in school or working — lack crucial social and emotional skills, such as the collaboration skills necessary for team building. And the continuing evolution of the modern economy will place a growing premium on such skills, making the issue increasingly urgent.
We need a stronger approach in public education that more intentionally seeks to foster the wide range of competencies that are needed for success in school and beyond. We need to explicitly teach social, emotional, and cognitive skills and embed these skills in school-wide practices and instruction. We need to build partnerships among schools, families, community organizations, and businesses so that we can better support whole-child learning and development both in and out of school.
If students learn skills such as how to pay attention, persevere through problems and work effectively with others, the research shows that their grades, graduation rates and post-secondary outcomes will improve. By creating a better match between what students are learning in school and what employers need them to know and be able to do once they enter the workforce, we can spark a virtuous cycle benefiting individuals, employers and our economy as a whole.
Business leaders can leverage their role as economic stakeholders to encourage communities and policymakers at all levels to make social and emotional learning a priority. And as access to a whole-child approach to learning expands, businesses statewide will benefit from an improving workforce pipeline, which will yield a growing number of future employees who are prepared to thrive in a global and ever-changing economy.
Barbara Dalio is co-founder and director of the Dalio Foundation. Greg Butler is the executive vice president and general counsel of Eversource Energy. The Dalio Foundation has funded the Aspen Institute’s National Commission on Social, Emotional, and Academic Development since 2016.