Are Portrait of a Graduate Skills Important to NC Jobs?

Author: Maggie Smith

Based on findings from the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Labor & Economic Analysis Division (LEAD) Employer Needs Survey, it's evident that beyond technical expertise, employers also value durable skills. These encompass a combination of soft skills—such as communication, problem-solving, and critical thinking—and employability characteristics like professionalism, work ethic, and empathy. These skills are deemed durable because they retain their value regardless of labor market shifts and apply broadly to a wide range of industries and occupational groups.

Recognizing the importance of durable skills, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) introduced the Portrait of a Graduate (POG) initiative in the fall of 2022. Intended to bridge the gap between K-12 education and workforce readiness, POG outlines seven competencies or durable skills that all students should obtain before graduating from high school: adaptability, communication, collaboration, critical thinking, empathy, learner’s mindset, and personal responsibility.

Our analysis, derived from O*NET and Bureau of Labor Statistics data, quantifies the relevance of these POG skills across occupations in North Carolina. We found that these skills are considered somewhat to very important to all occupations. Moreover, occupations that deem these skills as most important often offer higher wages and greater growth opportunities.

POG Skills Are Important Across Education Levels and Career Clusters

When examining average POG scores by minimum education requirements, the data reveal that occupations requiring higher education levels (bachelor’s degree and above) have a slightly higher average POG score, particularly compared to occupations that don’t require an educational credential (Figure 1). Despite these variations, the average POG scores all hover around three, which is categorized as “important” (see Appendix). This indicates that POG skills are valued across all educational levels. Additionally, many occupations within each educational category recognize these skills as either important or very important (see Table A2).

Figure 1

POG Skills Are Important for Occupations at All Education Levels -- Average POG Importance Score per Minimum Education Required

Like educational requirements, POG importance scores vary slightly across career clusters (Figure 2). For instance, Education & Training and STEM career clusters have higher average scores of 3.3, compared to Manufacturing, which has a lower average of 2.7. Nonetheless, all scores consistently indicate that POG skills are regarded as important across different sectors.

Figure 2

POG Skills Are Important for All Career Clusters -- Average POG Importance Score per Career Cluster

Occupations Requiring POG Skills Typically Offer Higher Wages and Growth Opportunities

Although POG skills are important across education and career clusters, occupations that place a higher importance on POG skills (i.e., the “very important” group) tend to offer better compensation and have higher growth projections on average (Figure 3). Given that occupations requiring higher education tend to place a greater emphasis on POG skills (see Figure 1), this observation aligns with broader labor market trends where higher educational qualifications generally indicate better wage and growth opportunities. This pattern suggests that investing in POG skill development could be particularly advantageous for high-wage and high-growth opportunities.

Figure 3

Occupations Ranking POG Skills As Very Important Tend to Pay More and Have Higher Projected Growth -- Average Annual Wage and Projected Annual Employment Growth (2021-2030)

Conclusion

This analysis confirms the value of Portrait of a Graduate (POG) durable skills for all career paths, with every occupation examined deeming them at least somewhat important. Notably, those occupations that place a greater emphasis on these skills also tend to offer higher wages and stronger growth prospects. By integrating these durable skills into our educational programs and training initiatives, we can better equip our graduates to meet the demands of the modern workforce, thereby fostering a resilient economic future for our state.

Appendix

Methodology

The Occupational Information Network (O*NET) is a database that provides detailed information for over 900 occupations. Within O*NET, each occupation is assigned an importance score for skills and abilities, which range from "Not Important" (1) to "Extremely Important" (5). To assess the significance of each Portrait of a Graduate (POG) durable skill, we calculated a composite score for the seven durable skills by averaging the importance scores for the corresponding O*NET skills and abilities. Mapping POG skills to O*NET (Table A1) was done in collaboration with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI), while the North Carolina Department of Commerce’s Labor & Economic Analysis Division (LEAD) was responsible for the analysis. Subsequently, we averaged the composite scores of the seven POG skills to establish an overall POG score. The overall POG scores ranged from 2.0 to 3.9, indicating that no occupation ranked POG durable skills as “Not Important” or “Extremely Important”. For wage and growth analyses, occupations were categorized into three groups: somewhat important (POG score < 2.5), important (POG score ≥2.5 to <3.5), and very important (POG score ≥3.5).