Longitudinal associations between soft skills, education and labour market outcomes: evidence from a survey of young Australians

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to develop a measure of soft skills suitable for use in a large survey of Australian adolescents.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted with N = 4,704 Australians aged 15–19 over 2 years. Principal components analysis was performed on 14 self-report items, followed by generalised linear mixed modelling predicting education- and employment-related outcomes.FindingsSelf-reported problem solving, creativity, teamwork and verbal communication were alternately associated with later high school performance, hourly wage and employment status. These effects persisted when controlling for demographics and prior academic achievement.Originality/valueExisting measures have been limited by their length or focus on specific skills or industries. The presented measures are short, domain-general, measure multiple skills simultaneously, and are suitable for a wide range of research contexts.