Non-Cognitive Skills and Labour Market Outcomes in Canada: New Evidence Using the BFI

Authors:Ross FinnieAshley Pullman

As part of SRDC’s support for the launch of Skills for Success, Dr. Ross Finnie and Dr. Ashley Pullman conducted a new analysis of Canadian data from the Longitudinal and International Study of Adults (LISA).

Drs. Finnie and Pullman examined the extent to which social emotional skills, captured through Big Five Inventory (BFI) measures in the LISA can validly predict labour market success. Capitalizing on the fact that the LISA dataset can be linked with the PIAAC dataset, they also investigated the interaction between core literacy and numeracy skills and social-emotional skills in predicting labour market outcomes.

Because BFI measures can be mapped, albeit indirectly, onto some of the newly added or substantially updated skills in Skills for Success, the findings from their analysis enhance our understanding of how social emotional skills may be broadly linked with labour market outcomes in the Canadian population. They also help identify gaps in our current understanding of how Skills for Success as specifically and fully defined in our framework are predictive of key labour market outcomes.

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Project Details

Capability: Policy Research
Policy Area: Adult Learning - Adult Training - Workplace Training - Literacy and Essential Skills, Career Development and LMI
Population: General Population
Type: Full Report, Executive Summary
Completion Date: May 2021
Sponsors: Employment and Social Development Canada | Applied Research Branch

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