Skills: A sociological overview

What does it mean to be competent? Competences prove to be a symbolic passepartout (Gherardi, 1998) that allows access and contact between different contexts and meanings. As a construct, competences emerged in the early 70s in the social fields of work and education; in the scientific fields of labor, organization, and management sciences; in educational and learning sciences; and in linguistic sciences. In terms of meaning, competences are a controversial topic because they are often used with different nuances and meanings.

Even declining this concept in the singular or plural changes its meaning. When we speak of competence, we refer to a way of thinking and acting; in the plural, however, it refers to a set of notions, actions, and characteristics to be learned and demonstrated. In short, we can say that the term competence refers to the sphere of knowledge (practical and otherwise) in social learning processes; the word skills refers to a set of resources for performing a task (work-related and otherwise). Therefore, we must accept the insoluble polysemy of the term, that is, the inability to provide a univocal and absolute definition for this concept (Fondazione Agnelli, 2018).

Attention to skills

Attention must be paid, however, to a common mistake that often arises at the social level: mistaking competence for natural talent. Specifically, individual characteristics are actually constructed and developed based on life, social, educational, and family experiences. Indeed, they are the result of processes that combine relational, emotional, cognitive, and value-based factors.

Skills are resources for action, expressed in actions and formed through actions. They are learned through practice, developed in different contexts, and absorbed into family, school, and professional socialization processes (Dubar, 2004). They are recognized within the development of individual and social identities (Ajello, 2002; Pontecorvo, Ajello, & Zucchermaglio, 1995). To this end, it can be argued that skills are not just an individual's toolbox, but much more. They are:

• A set of information and cognitive concepts that must be learned (during school and work) and which individuals must be able to master;
• They are cognitive and procedural processes that are able to modify the subjects themselves, almost becoming a characteristic of them;
• These are processes that are activated on a cultural level and that take place in different social and organizational contexts; therefore, they cannot be analyzed by separating individuals from contexts and practical learning situations (Lave & Wenger, 1990).

The world of work

Fertile ground for the recognition and the beginning of the popularity of skills (and of having to be competent) was precisely the world of workThis is due to the parallel development of the need in industrialized and post-industrial countries to have transversal professional figures, i.e. flexible and multitasking, with good interpersonal skills, problem and group management and responsibility taking skills (the so-called soft skills e socio-emotional skills).
This need arises as a response to several general questions, such as:

• A greater need for knowledge in all types of tasks, from the simplest to those requiring the so-called hard skills, in relation to the new and high technological and automation content in all professions;
• An increase in tertiary activities, with jobs requiring widespread, multidisciplinary knowledge, adaptable to different contexts;
• A sudden and constant acceleration of change in almost all work and professional contexts, also due to globalization.

For this reason, skills can be defined as a sign of broader issues, for which it would be misleading to think that they can be the only immediate solution (Consoli, 1998).
The advent ofskills-based approach has brought about the transition from passive social policies, which characterise the welfare state focused on assistance and income guarantee, to active policies focused onwomen empowerment of the worker, therefore on training and skills development (Paci, 2005).

Can skills be acquired or learned?

A fundamentally important question is whether or not one can become competent. The answer involves a compromise between the belief that individuals possess innate characteristics and the possibility that some knowledge can be learned. Skills, in fact, are a resource for the individual who possesses them, but at the same time they are also qualities that can be learned during education and throughout one's life. Specifically, skills have a " life cycle ": they are generated, developed, and can be weakened and renewed throughout an individual's life and across different contexts.

Different approaches to skills

Skills require practice, which, however, can also be conceived within the pedagogical and formative dimension. This is one of the assumptions of the so-called socio-constructivist vision (Jonnaert, 2009), which labels skills not as behaviors, but rather gives importance to the social action that directs the formation and awareness of them as resources for action. From this perspective, Ciborra and Lanzara (1994) speak of a formative context , that is, a set of tasks, practices, routines, and ways of doing things that make skills an element of an organization's cultural and social heritage.

Gherardi (1996) introduces the concept of texture of practice , which allows us to view practical knowledge as a link between cognitive, technical, procedural, and cultural aspects. In this way, skills are not merely personal characteristics, but a set of actions and relationships that are linked to organizational and social dimensions.

The 90s

Since the 90s, a more managerial approach to skills has developed, focusing on defining skills as individual capital and as resources that can be analyzed, codified, and measured. Indeed, this approach has developed primarily in more economic contexts and literature.

At the same time, a more social and cultural approach has also developed, viewing skills as a relational resource. This approach embraces a more cultural and interpretative vision, focusing on the generative and developmental dimensions of skills, starting from practices (work-related, organizational, and educational). This approach has attracted the attention of sociologists, pedagogues, and psychologists in particular.

The development of skills in different human fields

The first field in which the topic of skills emerged was organizational consulting and human resources management . In this context, the topic of skills has developed into a parameter , a unit of measurement, evaluation, and certification in organizations; a criterion for managing employees, even transcending the system of qualifications required and recognized as essential for performing certain tasks.

Since the 90s, large corporations and leading consulting firms have developed multiple intervention programs (from selection to development and enhancement of their workers' skills), which have subsequently been extended to all sectors of production (from industry to public administration). Thus, skills have become the parameters for measuring the development and positioning of people within organizations.

Management Sciences

The first contribution in which the term "competence" is not used in a generic way, but linked to the competence approach in management sciences and human resources management is Testing for Competence rather than for Intelligence by David McClelland (1973). In this article, the author suggested adopting, for personnel selection, new methods of evaluating candidates' skills in place of traditional intelligence tests or school certifications, since he argued that these were flawed in the overall judgment of people.

For McClelland, competence is closely linked to performance : the latter term is intentionally plural because in order to be recognized, performance must be serial, that is, stable over time. Competence thus reveals itself as a job requirement . Furthermore, competence is shown to be multi-factorial , specifically three factors reflected in the iceberg model of Spencer and Spencer (1993). This latter model presents, in decreasing order of depth, the three groups that characterize professional competence, which are:

• Motivations, personality traits, self-image (what is now defined as the “non-cognitive domain”);
• The knowledge;
• Practical skills.

Labor and vocational training policies

The second area where the concept of skills is developing is that of labor and vocational training policies . In this latter sector, especially in Italy, the topic of skills has found fertile ground. Consider ISFOL's three-dimensional model of skills (transversal, basic, and technical-specialist) and the work on skills for employability (Di Francesco, 2004).

From this starting point, the skills journey has continued, influencing the world of education (at all levels), particularly focusing on the bridging function of skills between the worlds of education and work. Much criticism has been leveled at intelligence tests, which have been widely demonstrated to have little impact on career success, and achievement tests, which have been deemed inadequate for assessing soft skills , now essential qualities for entering the world of work and thriving in school.

Subsequently, the development of skills has touched the European and international level , in fact, skills have become a point of reference for OECD recommendations in the educational field. Specifically, two European recommendations have had a strong impact on the debates and regulations on qualifications and curricula in various countries: the Recommendation on key competences for lifelong learning of 18 December 2006 (for Italy see Da Re (2013)) and the Recommendation on the establishment of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) of 23 April 2008. In 2012, the Recommendation of the Council of the European Union on the validation of non-formal and informal learning was published, which invites countries and education systems to evaluate not only technical knowledge and skills, but also the informal and non-formal sphere that characterises individuals throughout their lives.

EU Recommendations on Skills

The EU recommendations are intended as reference points for European Union countries to ensure that the skills deemed essential for the development of citizenship and lifelong learning are fully integrated into national education policies. These European references serve as useful frameworks for guiding national education policies. The eight key competences recognized in the European Reference Framework are:

• Communicate in the native language;
• Communicate in foreign languages;
• Have skills in mathematics and basic skills in science and technology;
• Have digital skills;
• Learning to learn;
• Have civic and social skills;
• Have a spirit of initiative and entrepreneurship;
• Cultural awareness and expression.

Flavia Verona

Bibliographic and web references

• Ajello, A. (2002). Competence. Bologna: Il Mulino.
• Ciborra, C., & Lanzara, G. (1994, 4 2). Formative Contexts and Information Technology: Understanding the Dynamics of Innovation in Organizations. Accounting, Management and Information Technologies, P. 61-86.
• Consoli, F. (1998). The strong reasons for the competence methodology. Democratic School, 88-106.
• From Re, F. (2013). Skills-based teaching. Learning skills, describing them, and assessing them. Milan: Pearson.
• Di Francesco, G. (2004). Rebuilding the experience: skills, balance, training. Milan: Franco Angeli.
• Dubar, C. (2004). Socialization: How social identity is constructed. Bologna: The Mill.
• Agnelli Foundation. (2018). Skills. A map to guide you. (L. Benadusi, & S. Molina, Edited by) Bologna: Il Mulino.
• Ghelardi, S. (2006). Organizational Knowledge: The Texture of Workplace Learning. Oxford-Malden: Carlton/Blackwell.
• Gherardi, S. (1998). Competence. The Symbolic Passe-partout to Change in Learning Organization. Scandinavian Journal of Management
• Jonnaert, P. (2009). Compétences et socioconstructivisme: un cadre théorique. Rome: Armando.
• Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1990). Situated Learning: Legitimate Periperal Participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• McClelland, D. (1973). Testing for Competence rather than for Intelligence. American Psychologist
• Paci, M. (2005). New jobs, new welfare. Bologna: The Mill.
• Pontecorvo, C., Ajello, A., & Zucchermaglio, C. (1995). The social contexts of learning. Acquiring knowledge at school, at work, and in everyday life. Milan: Ambrosiana.
• Spencer, L., & Spencer, S. (1999). Job skills. Milan: Franco Angeli.