The Importance of Non-Cognitive Skills for Positive Outcomes, though they Must be Cultivated for Years

Non-Cognitive Skills (NCS) are considered to be a range of abilities such as conscientiousness, perseverance, & teamwork. These skills are critically important to student achievement, both in and beyond the classroom. These skills are essential for the work place. NCS are critical and research studies show non-cognitive skills in students are significant predictors of positive outcomes in adulthood, including employment, incarceration, mental health, substance abuse and educational outcomes. 

• NCSs may also involve intellect, but more indirectly & less consciously than cognitive skills. 
• Persistence, self-discipline, focus, confidence, teamwork, organization, seeking help as needed, staying on task.
• Focus-pay attention to teacher and learning, likely to earn higher grades.
• Academic Perseverance- to focus & persist for extended periods of time in the face of distractions and temptations (delayed gratification, grit, tenacity, self-discipline & self-control). Without these tendencies, achieving high academic or social outcomes become quite challenging and/or impossible. 

Boys more than not suffer from poor non-cognitive skills and find themselves suffering with everyday routines. Schools, colleges, militaries, boy organizations, churches, YMCAs, Urban League, as well as community centers should be working with creating policies with supportive practices to help boys rebound from the negative outcomes which may plague them for a life time. Society at large is obligated to provide wrap around supports in the areas of education, self-regulation, suicide, and emotional-discipline. For the sake of society and our families’ continual existence, the challenges, hardships, barriers, and fixed mindsets from others boys face globally cannot continue to be ignored. Despite the apparent poor outcomes for boys, they do go ignored. 93% of prison population are men.

IQ and standard test measure cognitive skills, which are defined as the ability to perform higher mental processes of reasoning, remembering, understanding, and problem solving (Bernstein, 2007). Though this is a valid way to define or describe cognitive skills, its irresponsible to just focus on cognition. Focusing solely on cognitive skills is simply not enough. Intelligent test only shows a narrow perspective over a period of time. For example, great performance on the job has rarely anything to do with cognitive skills in isolation. This is not the case for non-cognitive skills which demands the ability to plan, set goals, be punctual, collaborative, motivated, as well as display resilience. Utilizing strong non-cognitive skills may equate to stellar job performance, a less stressful life, and the same non-cognitive skills known as tenacity, resilience, goals setting, emotional control, and self-regulation allow one to live longer with notable diminished unwanted challenges life throws at each one of us. These skills matter and should not be overlooked. They demand our attention for the purpose of improving life’s curve balls. This is especially true for all males, despite the their race or ethnicity. All suffer when we sweep these concerns under the carpet. Over time the dirt and filth under the carpet start to smell of rot.