Are Skills Becoming an Increasingly Important Determinant of Life Outcomes?
Several theoretical traditions posit that individual skills (or human capital) have become stronger predictors of life outcomes over time. To date, however, significant limitations have hindered a confident empirical assessment of this important idea. Using six nationally representative datasets, th...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2024-12-01
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| Series: | Socius |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231241298815 |
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| _version_ | 1850110741652176896 |
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| author | Douglas B. Downey Benjamin Gibbs Eric Grodsky |
| author_facet | Douglas B. Downey Benjamin Gibbs Eric Grodsky |
| author_sort | Douglas B. Downey |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Several theoretical traditions posit that individual skills (or human capital) have become stronger predictors of life outcomes over time. To date, however, significant limitations have hindered a confident empirical assessment of this important idea. Using six nationally representative datasets, the authors find surprisingly little support for the notion that measurable skills are becoming more important over time. Instead, the results reveal a durable relationship between measurable skills and socioeconomic outcomes despite periods of significant societal change. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-9ae9ff093cf34978805d48ffa7d25661 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2378-0231 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-12-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Socius |
| spelling | doaj-art-9ae9ff093cf34978805d48ffa7d256612025-08-20T02:37:46ZengSAGE PublishingSocius2378-02312024-12-011010.1177/23780231241298815Are Skills Becoming an Increasingly Important Determinant of Life Outcomes?Douglas B. Downey0Benjamin Gibbs1Eric Grodsky2The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USABrigham Young University, Provo, UT, USAUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, USASeveral theoretical traditions posit that individual skills (or human capital) have become stronger predictors of life outcomes over time. To date, however, significant limitations have hindered a confident empirical assessment of this important idea. Using six nationally representative datasets, the authors find surprisingly little support for the notion that measurable skills are becoming more important over time. Instead, the results reveal a durable relationship between measurable skills and socioeconomic outcomes despite periods of significant societal change.https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231241298815 |
| spellingShingle | Douglas B. Downey Benjamin Gibbs Eric Grodsky Are Skills Becoming an Increasingly Important Determinant of Life Outcomes? Socius |
| title | Are Skills Becoming an Increasingly Important Determinant of Life Outcomes? |
| title_full | Are Skills Becoming an Increasingly Important Determinant of Life Outcomes? |
| title_fullStr | Are Skills Becoming an Increasingly Important Determinant of Life Outcomes? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Are Skills Becoming an Increasingly Important Determinant of Life Outcomes? |
| title_short | Are Skills Becoming an Increasingly Important Determinant of Life Outcomes? |
| title_sort | are skills becoming an increasingly important determinant of life outcomes |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/23780231241298815 |
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