The Importance of Non-Cognitive Abilities for Success in School and Working Life
Author(s):
Alli Klapp (presenting / submitting)
Conference:
ECER 2016
Network:
09. Assessment, Evaluation, Testing and Measurement
Format:
Paper

Session Information

09 SES 03 A, Research into the Predictive Validity of Individual and Contextual Characteristics for Academic Success and Returns on Education

Paper Session

Time:
2016-08-23
17:15-18:45
Room:
NM-F101
Chair:
Monica Rosén

Contribution

In recent years, the importance of students´ non-cognitive abilities for achievement and adult life outcomes such as grades and earnings has been focused in research (Heckman, Stixrud & Urzua, 2006; Duckworth & Seligman, 2005). Particularly, non-cognitive abilities seem to be of major importance for avoiding failure in school and exclusion, while cognitive ability seem to predict success in the labor market at the upper end of the earning distribution (Lindqvist & Vestman, 2011). The Big Five theory includes five human personality traits and research findings indicate that it is primarily conscientiousness (such as self-discipline) and emotional stability/neuroticism (such as vulnerability) that predicts success and failure in school. Besides, different student background characteristics seem to be of importance for understanding which non-cognitive abilities that predict later outcomes. Lundgren (2013) found that being open to new experiences was a good predictor to grades for minority student, while conscientiousness was a better predictor for high-achieving majority students.

According to research, it seems as if different socio-emotional competencies are of different importance for predicting educational and working life outcomes. It has been stressed that the variation of research findings on the predictive validity for socio-emotional competencies are partly due to the large number of possible competencies and different instruments being developed in order to measure these competencies. Another concern is that many studies within this field use university students on attractive university programs when investigating the importance of socio-emotional competencies for later outcomes (Poropat, 2009).

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the predictive validity and relative importance of four socio-emotional competencies for Grade Point Average (GPA) at the end of compulsory school and earnings in adult life. Control for cognitive ability, gender and family educational level was made.

Method

Data was retrieved from the Swedish longitudinal project Evaluation Through Follow-up. Statistical Sweden compiled the data for a 10 % nationally representative sample. In all, 8115 students born in 1982 participated in the study. A questionnaire in 6th Grade (age 12-13), a measure of cognitive ability in 6th Grade (age 12-13), gender and family educational level was used as independent variables, while GPA in 9th Grade (age 15-16) and earnings at age 29 were used as dependent variables. The items in the questionnaire were used as indicators to create factors. Three factors were created hypothesized to reflect students´ self-perception of competence in Swedish, English and mathematics (SpSw, SpEn and SpMa), and one factor was created hypothesized to reflect students´ feelings of vulnerability in school and with school work (Vulnerable). In the modelling process, a baseline model was estimated with the main effects of the socio-emotional variables on GPA and earnings. Then, the background variables were added each in turn in order to separate the effects. Finally, a full model was estimated with the four factors and the background variables. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling were used as analytic tools. Mplus (Muthén & Muthén, 2009) was used to execute the analyses. The complex function in Mplus was used in order to take into account clustering effects. Missing data analysis was made.

Expected Outcomes

The results show that of the four socio-emotional competency factors, the factor Vulnerable predicts GPA in 9th Grade (β = -.125), the most, even after controlling for the background variables cognitive ability, gender and educational level. The self-perception of competence in Swedish and mathematics explain less variance in GPA (β = .065 and .078 respectively), compared to Vulnerable, while the association between self-perception in English and GPA is non-significant. Cognitive ability explains about 18 % of the variance in GPA. In all, the model explains about 30 % of the variance, leaving much variance unexplained. For earnings, the association between Vulnerable and earnings is negative, weak but significant. Cognitive ability has an even weaker association to earnings than Vulnerable which supports previous research findings that cognitive ability does not predict adult life outcomes such as earnings to a large extent, compared to non-cognitive abilities. In all, the results indicate that different socio-emotional competencies predict GPA and earnings differently. Cognitive ability is of major importance and predicts GPA at the end of compulsory school, while cognitive ability has less importance for predicting earnings in adult life. One major conclusion is to recognize disadvantage students who feel vulnerable in school in order to strengthen their socio-emotional competencies so they can succeed within the educational system and be more successful in working life.

References

Duckworth, A.L., & Seligman, E.P. (2005). Self-discipline outdoes IQ in predicting academic performance of adolescents. Psychological Science, 16(12), 939–944. Heckman, J. J., Stixrud, J., & Urzua, S. (2006, July). The effects of cognitive and noncognitive abilities on labour market outcomes and social behaviour. Journal of Labour Economics 24 (3), 411–482. Lindqvist, E., & Vestman, R. (2011). The labor market returns to cognitive and non-cognitive ability: evidence from the Swedish enlistment. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 3, 101-128. Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (2009). Mplus User´s Guide (5th edition). Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén. Poropat , A. E. ( 2009 ). A meta-analysis of the five-factor model of personality and academic performance. Psychological Bulletin, 135, 322– 338.

Author Information

Alli Klapp (presenting / submitting)
Gothenburg university
Lund

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