{"id":915,"date":"2020-02-13T17:00:18","date_gmt":"2020-02-13T22:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/notes\/?p=915"},"modified":"2024-04-24T14:12:03","modified_gmt":"2024-04-24T18:12:03","slug":"pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/2020\/02\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Pop quiz! What was the No. 1 soft skill sought by employers in 2019?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>?<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(If you read <a href=\"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/2020\/01\/20-ways-to-be-a-virginia-western-superhero\/\">20 Ways to Be a Virginia Western Superhero<\/a>, you probably know already!).&nbsp;<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>?<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Answer: <strong>Creativity <\/strong>&#8230; followed by persuasion, collaboration, adaptability, and time management (source: LinkedIn).&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But I don&#8217;t need a LinkedIn employer survey to tell me creativity matters.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I&#8217;ve known this most of my life. Fostering a creative environment was the topic of my master&#8217;s thesis &#8230;  and a subject I read about for <em>fun<\/em>. Now I&#8217;m approaching creativity as the parent of a 6-year-old who is just starting her academic journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is why the Innovation Grants awarded by VWCC&#8217;s Educational Foundation are my favorite grants to talk about. My goal isn&#8217;t just to increase the number of funded grant proposals, but to promote creative thinking every day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But how do we <em>teach<\/em> creativity? Is that even possible? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Just as I learned of the LinkedIn employer survey, the Chronicle of Higher Education released a special report: <strong>The Creativity Challenge: Teaching Students to Think Outside the Box<\/strong>, which also cites the same survey.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"464\" height=\"601\" src=\"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/creativitychallenge-1.jpg\" alt=\"Cover Image: The Chronicle of Higher Education - The Creativity Challenge\" class=\"wp-image-8927\" style=\"width:348px;height:451px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/creativitychallenge-1.jpg 464w, https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/creativitychallenge-1-232x300.jpg 232w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 464px) 100vw, 464px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Thanks to the help of Dale Dulaney and the Brown Library, we were able to purchase this report. The Creativity Challenge explains why creativity matters, and, most importantly, it showcases colleges that are trying to cultivate creativity through coursework.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A program close to home was among the five case studies: <strong>James Madison University<\/strong>, which offers project-based learning courses through its interdisciplinary X-Labs program (https:\/\/jmuxlabs.org\/). However, the report does <em>not<\/em> include examples at community colleges (I even emailed the reporter, who said she was unaware of any so far).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If I had to distill the most important takeaways, it would be this list, lifted directly from the special report:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>How professors can foster students&#8217; creativity:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Have students work on complex, open-ended problems<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Let students collaborate, ideally across disciplinary lines<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Give students ownership over their work<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Encourage students to come up with lots of ideas, and to work through different iterations of an answer<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>How college leaders can foster students&#8217; creativity:<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>Reduce barriers and provide incentives for students &#8212; and professors &#8212; to work across disciplinary lines<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Provide opportunities for students to take risks and fail without penalty<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Encourage and recognize teaching practices that ask students to synthesize material and create something new<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>Make sure that programs designed to support creativity are available to all students, not just a select few.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I would be happy to share the full report by request &#8230; it&#8217;s a quick read. Email sseagle@virginiawestern.edu. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8212; Stephanie Ogilvie Seagle, February 2020<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>? ? ? (If you read 20 Ways to Be a Virginia Western Superhero, you probably know already!).&nbsp; ? ? ? Answer: Creativity &#8230; followed by persuasion, collaboration, adaptability, and time management (source: LinkedIn).&nbsp;&nbsp; But I don&#8217;t need a LinkedIn employer survey to tell me creativity matters.&nbsp; I&#8217;ve known this most of my life. Fostering&hellip; <a class=\"continue\" href=\"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/2020\/02\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\/\">Continue Reading<span> Pop quiz! What was the No. 1 soft skill sought by employers in 2019?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-915","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"","author_link":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/author\/"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Pop quiz! What was the No. 1 soft skill sought by employers in 2019? - Grants Development &amp; Special Projects at Virginia Western<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Blog post: Pop quiz! What was the No. 1 soft skill sought by employers in 2019?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/2020\/02\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pop quiz! What was the No. 1 soft skill sought by employers in 2019? - Grants Development &amp; Special Projects at Virginia Western\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Blog post: Pop quiz! What was the No. 1 soft skill sought by employers in 2019?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/2020\/02\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Grants Development &amp; Special Projects at Virginia Western\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-02-13T22:00:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-04-24T18:12:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/creativitychallenge-1.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/grants\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/grants\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Pop quiz! What was the No. 1 soft skill sought by employers in 2019?\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-13T22:00:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-24T18:12:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/grants\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":433,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/grants\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/grants\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/creativitychallenge-1.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/grants\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/grants\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/grants\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\\\/\",\"name\":\"Pop quiz! What was the No. 1 soft skill sought by employers in 2019? - Grants Development &amp; Special Projects at Virginia Western\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/grants\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/grants\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/grants\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/grants\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/creativitychallenge-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-02-13T22:00:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-04-24T18:12:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"description\":\"Blog post: Pop quiz! What was the No. 1 soft skill sought by employers in 2019?\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/grants\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/grants\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/grants\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/grants\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/creativitychallenge-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/grants\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/10\\\/2021\\\/04\\\/creativitychallenge-1.jpg\",\"width\":464,\"height\":601,\"caption\":\"Cover Image: The Chronicle of Higher Education - The Creativity Challenge\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/grants\\\/2020\\\/02\\\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/grants\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Pop quiz! What was the No. 1 soft skill sought by employers in 2019?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/grants\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/grants\\\/\",\"name\":\"Grants Development &amp; Special Projects at Virginia Western\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/grants\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.virginiawestern.edu\\\/grants\\\/author\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Pop quiz! What was the No. 1 soft skill sought by employers in 2019? - Grants Development &amp; Special Projects at Virginia Western","description":"Blog post: Pop quiz! What was the No. 1 soft skill sought by employers in 2019?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/2020\/02\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Pop quiz! What was the No. 1 soft skill sought by employers in 2019? - Grants Development &amp; Special Projects at Virginia Western","og_description":"Blog post: Pop quiz! What was the No. 1 soft skill sought by employers in 2019?","og_url":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/2020\/02\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\/","og_site_name":"Grants Development &amp; Special Projects at Virginia Western","article_published_time":"2020-02-13T22:00:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-04-24T18:12:03+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/creativitychallenge-1.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/2020\/02\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/2020\/02\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Pop quiz! What was the No. 1 soft skill sought by employers in 2019?","datePublished":"2020-02-13T22:00:18+00:00","dateModified":"2024-04-24T18:12:03+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/2020\/02\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\/"},"wordCount":433,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/2020\/02\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/creativitychallenge-1.jpg","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/2020\/02\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/2020\/02\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\/","url":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/2020\/02\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\/","name":"Pop quiz! What was the No. 1 soft skill sought by employers in 2019? - Grants Development &amp; Special Projects at Virginia Western","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/2020\/02\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/2020\/02\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/creativitychallenge-1.jpg","datePublished":"2020-02-13T22:00:18+00:00","dateModified":"2024-04-24T18:12:03+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"description":"Blog post: Pop quiz! What was the No. 1 soft skill sought by employers in 2019?","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/2020\/02\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/2020\/02\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/2020\/02\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/creativitychallenge-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2021\/04\/creativitychallenge-1.jpg","width":464,"height":601,"caption":"Cover Image: The Chronicle of Higher Education - The Creativity Challenge"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/2020\/02\/pop-quiz-what-was-the-no-1-soft-skill-sought-by-employers-in-2019\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Pop quiz! What was the No. 1 soft skill sought by employers in 2019?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/","name":"Grants Development &amp; Special Projects at Virginia Western","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"","url":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/author\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/915","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=915"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/915\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=915"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=915"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/grants\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=915"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}