Teacher preparedness remains a bottleneck. The OECD’s (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) Survey on Social and Emotional Skills (SSES 2023) found that 30% of teachers of 15-year-olds had no training in incorporating social and emotional skills into their classroom practices, and 40% lacked training to monitor these skills regularly.4 Many teachers – particularly in secondary education – feel less capable fostering social and emotional skills than other teaching tasks. Although structured practices such as explicit teaching, guided reflection and peer-to-peer learning are proven to enhance student well-being, motivation, trust and academic outcomes, their integration into curricula remains inconsistent.5 Despite considerable progress in elevating human skills as equal in importance to knowledge acquisition, robust evaluation of these skills is still in its infancy. The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022 creative thinking assessment in 66 countries found that only half of students in OECD countries could generate original ideas in familiar contexts, and in over 20 countries, most students did not reach a baseline level of creative proficiency. Results also revealed divides: students from higher socioeconomic backgrounds consistently performed better, and girls outperformed boys. Policy-makers cited overcrowded curricula, limited assessment practices and insufficient teacher training as key obstacles to embedding creativity in education.6 PISA 2022 also offers insights into learning strategies and lifelong learning attitudes. Fewer than half of students frequently ask clarifying questions when they do not understand lessons, and only 44% report carefully reviewing homework, behaviours strongly linked to academic performance and metacognitive growth.7 These self-monitoring and persistence habits – central to self-directed learning – are strongly linked to later engagement in adult education, as shown by Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) data, which found that adults with stronger intrinsic motivation are more likely to pursue lifelong learning.8Additionally, attitudes such as open-mindedness and growth mindset remain uneven. Just over half of students surveyed believed there was only one correct position in a disagreement, reflecting limits in perspective-taking and critical thinking. Conversely, students with stronger persistence, self-efficacy and growth mindsets were far more likely to adopt proactive learning strategies, such as connecting new material to prior knowledge or engaging in group discussions.9 SSES 2023 data also reveals socioeconomic divides in socio-emotional skills, with disadvantaged students showing lower levels of creativity, tolerance, assertiveness, curiosity, sociability and empathy, reflecting uneven access to learning opportunities in and out of school. Further, girls tend to have higher levels of empathy and tolerance, while boys report stronger sociability and self-control – due, perhaps to cultural expectations around gender roles, which shape the importance assigned to different skills. A growing gap in human- centric skills Figure 3 illustrates employers’ demand for human-centric skills. Analytical and systems thinking, creativity, resilience, motivation and self- awareness, as well as curiosity and lifelong learning are not only core today, but will remain critical over the next five years. By contrast, skills such as dependability and attention to detail; teaching and mentoring; multilingualism; and reading, writing and mathematics are expected to plateau, increasingly viewed as assumed or supported by technology. Reading, writing and mathematics are foundational or assumed skills that underpin learning and professional development, and thus perhaps why they are less prioritized. Similarly, teaching and mentoring are critical factors, even if less emphasized by global employers. Fewer than half of students frequently ask clarifying questions when they do not understand lessons, and only 44% report carefully reviewing homework. New Economy Skills: Unlocking the Human Advantage 8

New Economy Skills Unlocking the Human Advantage 2025