On August 30, 2022, Doris Zahner, adjunct associate professor of psychology at Barnard, saw her recently co-edited book published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), a dissemination platform headquartered in Paris, France. The work, titled, Does Higher Education Teach Students to Think Critically?, investigates the “discernible and growing gap” between the qualifications that a university degree certifies and the skills required by labor markets and broader society. It specifically focuses on assessing generic skills called “CLA+” that were established by the Council for Aid for Education.
As automation takes over non- and lower-cognitive tasks in today’s workplace, generic skills, including literacy and critical thinking, problem-solving, analytic reasoning, and communications competency, are significantly valued. However, educational indicators like university degree certificates have become a poor measurement of skill levels. The “CLA+ International Initiative” was created to carry out testing in six countries between 2016 and 2021. The assessment drives policy debate on the importance of generic skills and opens opportunities for governments and institutions to develop initiatives for skill assessment.