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Title: American Millennials are among the world's least skilled
Source:
Fortune
URL Source: http://fortune.com/2015/03/10/ameri ... mong-the-worlds-least-skilled/
Published: Mar 11, 2015
Author: Anne Fisher
Post Date: 2015-03-11 17:31:34 by Willie Green
Keywords: None
Views: 27503
Comments: 77
Surprised? So were the researchers who tested and compared workers in 23 countries. We hear about the superior tech savvy of people born after 1980 so often that we tend to assume it must be true. But is it? Researchers at Princeton-based Educational Testing Service (ETS) expected it to be when they administered a test called the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). Sponsored by the OECD, the test was designed to measure the job skills of adults, aged 16 to 65, in 23 countries. When the results were analyzed by age group and nationality, ETS got a shock. It turns out, says a new report, that Millennials in the U.S. fall short when it comes to the skills employers want most: literacy (including the ability to follow simple instructions), practical math, and — hold on to your hat — a category called “problem-solving in technology-rich environments.” Not only do Gen Y Americans lag far behind their overseas peers by every measure, but they even score lower than other age groups of Americans. Take literacy, for instance. American Millennials scored lower than their counterparts in every country that participated except Spain and Italy. (Japan is No. 1.) In numeracy, meaning the ability to apply basic math to everyday situations, Gen Yers in the U.S. ranked dead last. Okay, but what about making smart use of technology, where Millennials are said to shine? Again, America scored at the bottom of the heap, in a four-way tie for last place with the Slovak Republic, Ireland, and Poland. Even the best-educated Millennials stateside couldn’t compete with their counterparts in Japan, Finland, South Korea, Belgium, Sweden, or elsewhere. With a master’s degree, for example, Americans scored higher in numeracy than peers in just three countries: Ireland, Poland, and Spain. Altogether, the top U.S. Gen Yers, in the 90th percentile, “scored lower than their counterparts in 15 countries,” the report notes, “and only scored higher than their peers in Spain.” “We really thought [U.S.] Millennials would do better than the general adult population, either compared to older coworkers in the U.S. or to the same age group in other countries,” says Madeline Goodman, an ETS researcher who worked on the study. “But they didn’t. In fact, their scores were abysmal.” What does that mean for U.S. employers hiring people born since 1980? Goodman notes that hiring managers shouldn’t overestimate the practical value of a four-year degree. True, U.S. Millennials with college credentials did score higher on the PIAAC than Americans with only a high school diploma (albeit less well than college grads in most other countries). “But a degree may not be enough,” Goodman says, to prove that someone is adept with basic English, can do what she calls “workaday math,” or has the ability to use technology in a job. Curious about how the PIAAC measures those skills, or how you’d score yourself? Check out a few sample math questions, or take the whole test.
Poster Comment: Heck, anybody who reads their Tweets already knows that their grammar is atrocious and they can't spell to save their souls.
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 44.
#1. To: Willie Green (#0)
Regardless of how education improves and school budgets increase, this generation and future generations will continue to be underachievers and poor choice makers. It's got nothing to do with IQ or quality of education. It has everything to do with the libtard "equality" mindset. There is no reason for children to excell, for they are instantly regarded as good as their peer and excuses are made for their ineptness. Then, these entitled little "it's not my fault" children grow up and spawn even a lower quality child.
By "libtard" I assume that you're referring to the underachieving libertarians who belittle the need for a quality higher education.
Meaning, any liberal minded person that feels people are equal. They aren't. Are you one?
No, I'm an engineer. Although when measured on this scale, lower capabilities are indeed on the "left" and greater capability on the "right", this does NOT apply to any particular political ideology that an individual may espouse.
Generally speaking. Are blacks smarter then whites?
Generally speaking, I don't believe skin pigment affects intellectual capability. However, there are also environmental/cultural factors that can skew the results. "Smarter" in one culture may be "not so smart" in another. It all depends what you mean by "smarter." And of course health/nutrition & training of infants & younger children in their formative years can lead to a greater disparity as to who is "smarter" when they get older.
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Watson Since you used a bell curve, was wondering if you had read book by same name. If not, maybe you can familiarize yourself with the guy in link above. What studies/books have you read that have formed your opinions on this subject?
My undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering is based upon the pioneering work of Frederick W Taylor and Frank & Lillian Gilbreath. Work Measurement / Time Study / "piece work" incentive pay plans are fundamentally based on use of the Bell Curve. For instance, the "base" pay rate is established as 100% for the "average" worker. (analagous to having a 100 IQ)... But with an incentive pay plan, an "average" worker should be able to exert extra manual effort and achieve a 2-sigma (25%) increase in output, thus earning 25% more pay over the base rate. But since everybody is different, some people might earn only 15% over base while others might earn 30% more, depending on their individual effort and capabilities. It's pretty basic stuff. But when conducting a motion-time study on a worker, you have to train yourself to ignore any preconceptions you might have if the worker is black, white, hispanic, male, female, young, old, fat, skinny, tall, short, or whatever... All you're really doing is judging the rythm of the motion, whether it's "fast" or "slow" so you can "normalize" the data that you are observing. It's an acquired skill... kinda like a quarterback rolling out of the pocket and trying to hit a wide receiver running a slant in the opposite direction. LOL! Practice it enough, it becomes second nature.
Umm, maybe you might wish to answer the question?
Which question?
The question is, where did you get the information used to have the opinion, that I think you do. Because I'm not real sure what your opinion is TBH. You sorta keep dancing. Do you believe, that blacks and whites over the entirety of the population, are equally intelligent? If so, what studies lead you to this?
I am unaware of any credible study that proves there are IQ differences due to racial/ethnic biology. Any differences that exist are attibutable to socio-economic and cultural influences during formative years. In the absence of such studies, I revert to the self-evident truth that "all men are created equal" that Thomas Jefferson so wisely included in our Constitution.
Name any issue with the exhaustive study on this issue in the book 'The Bell Curve'. Merely frothing at the mouth wont work here.
Like I said, I'm unaware of any such credible study...
Lol... What I thought, your an empty suit.
No, I'm simply not obsessed with irrelevant ethnic/racial distinctions.
To: Dead Culture Watch No, I'm simply not obsessed with irrelevant ethnic/racial distinctions. Huh? It has just about everything to do with article YOU posted. Tard.
The article I posted has to do with the cultural differences of the nations being compared... not the ethnic/racial heritage of individuals. For instance the education system in China is different than the one in Norway... and both of those are different than what we have in the US.
Just because YOU dont want to see it, does not mean its not relevant. If you take out minorities out of the mix, the US does very well. An issue missing in China and Norway.
I don't believe that's true.
Lol, a free gift now equals acheivement. Ok, let's play in your pen for awhile. Do you suppose its the 'education system' in China thats superior to ours? Is that the reason we are slipping behind? Class size? Teachers salaries? Common core? Lol....
Too many nonproductive distractions: entertainment, sports, video games, crap music.. the kids have everything handed to them... spoiled rotten...
Lol. Absolutel B.S. Every statistic tells me that the dropout rate is especially hard hitting to minority communities. I would really appreciate you saying something non politically correct. Would be refreshing to see you not be so squeamish about reality. You seem to have no issue pointing out problems in the white community, yet recoil in horror when discussing issues that affect minorities, why is that?
#45. To: Dead Culture Watch (#44)
Well during the '70s, '80s & '90s... and even partially into the '00s, I had begun to believe that there was sufficient progress in race relations and minority opportunity/achievement that affirmative action was no longer necessary to overcome decades of bigotry, segregation and discrimination. But sadly, through my involvement in these "conservative" discussion boards (in opposition to Klintonian liberalism), I've become aware that racial hatred and bigotry had merely been lingering beneath the surface, and is experiencing a despicable national revival in the current GOP/Tea Party agenda. Frankly, I'm disappointed that there aren't more conservatives who openly reject and denounce this despicable partisan bigotry... but instead, they embrace their own ignorance with a religious fervor... Too bad for them. I have my own immortal soul to worry about... so every day I thank the Lord for providing me with a penchant for education & independant thinking that enabled me to breakaway from the partisan Echo Chamber of ignorance.
It wasn't liberal/progressives who convinced me that the GOP/Tea Party was infested with a bunch of neo-confederate/McCarthyite racists & bigots.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latestthat Millennials in the U.S. fall short when it comes to the skills employers want most: literacy (including the ability to follow simple instructions), practical math, and — hold on to your hat — a category called “problem-solving in technology-rich environments.”
#2. To: GrandIsland (#1)
It has everything to do with the libtard "equality" mindset. There is no reason for children to excell, for they are instantly regarded as good as their peer and excuses are made for their ineptness.
#3. To: Willie Green (#2)
(Edited)
By "libtard" I assume that you're referring to the underachieving libertarians who belittle the need for a quality higher education.
#7. To: GrandIsland (#3)
Meaning, any liberal minded person that feels people are equal. They aren't. Are you one?
I believe that human capabilities (physical and/or intellectual) are disbursed in the general population along the "normal distribution"
#8. To: Willie Green (#7)
No, I'm an engineer. I believe that human capabilities (physical and/or intellectual) are disbursed in the general population along the "normal distribution"
#9. To: A K A Stone (#8)
Generally speaking. Are blacks smarter then whites?
All people ARE created intellectually equal in that respect. They are all dispersed equally along the same normal distribution regardless whether their skin pigment is black, white, brown, yellow, red, olive or whatever other shade of human pigmentation there is.
#12. To: Willie Green (#9)
#16. To: Dead Culture Watch (#12)
What studies/books have you read that have formed your opinions on this subject?
#17. To: Willie Green (#16)
#19. To: Dead Culture Watch (#17)
Umm, maybe you might wish to answer the question?
#20. To: Willie Green (#19)
#26. To: Dead Culture Watch (#20)
Do you believe, that blacks and whites over the entirety of the population, are equally intelligent?
If so, what studies lead you to this?
#33. To: Willie Green (#26)
m unaware of any credible study that proves there are IQ differences due to racial/ethnic biology.
#34. To: Dead Culture Watch (#33)
So if you believe they exist, why don't YOU go ahead and list them?
#35. To: Willie Green (#34)
#36. To: Dead Culture Watch (#35)
#38. To: Willie Green (#36)
#39. To: Dead Culture Watch (#38)
It has just about everything to do with article YOU posted.
That has nothing to do with any absurd assertion that achievement is attributable to skin pigmentation.
#40. To: Willie Green (#39)
#41. To: Dead Culture Watch (#40)
During my lifetime, affirmative action has provided a noticeable improvement in minority achievement levels.
At the same time, there hasn't been much noticeable improvement in lower class whites, who seem to increasingly turn to drugs and blame their own lack of ambition on the government.
#42. To: Willie Green (#41)
(Edited)
#43. To: Dead Culture Watch (#42)
I think it's less of a problem among minorities who still have strong exposure to parents (or single parents) who have to work hard to make ends meet.
But many in the more affluent middle class are underachievers, and expect everything to be handed to them on a silver platter.
#44. To: Willie Green (#43)
I think it's less of a problem among minorities who still have strong exposure to parents (or single parents) who have to work hard to make ends meet.
Replies to Comment # 44. You seem to have no issue pointing out problems in the white community, yet recoil in horror when discussing issues that affect minorities, why is that?
#46. To: Dead Culture Watch (#44)
It was the conservative/libertarian GOP activists & legislators themselves who convinced me that that was truly what they are.
I never embraced liberal/progressivism. But I'm morally obligated to denounce and disassociate myself from the ignorance, hypocrisy and hatred of the partisan opposition.
End Trace Mode for Comment # 44.
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