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Identifies significant foundational skills gaps for U.S. WorkKeys examinees with middle and high education levels, showing shortfalls in key skill areas for manufacturing, healthcare, construction, and energy occupations. Argues for developing state or local strategies to replicate nationwide skill-gap research. Summarizes a proposed methodology, analysis steps, and conclusions for strategic skills research using ACT assessment data.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/a-better-measure-of-skills-gaps-utilizing-act-skill-profile-and-assessment-data-for-strategic-skill-research/529299/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/a-better-measure-of-skills-gaps-utilizing-act-skill-profile-and-assessment-data-for-strategic-skill-research/529299.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Mary Man","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-14","2026-10-09",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":29},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"How does the paper define a “skills gap”?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"It defines “skills gap” as the difference between the skills needed for a job and the skills possessed by a prospective worker.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What does the research say about WorkKeys examinees’ skill attainment?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"For target occupations requiring middle or high education, many U.S. examinees did not meet or exceed Locating Information requirements, and less than half met Applied Mathematics requirements for a majority of manufacturing, construction, and energy jobs.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"Why does the paper argue for more precise skills-gap measurement?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"It notes that without a precise measure, policy research and recommendations rely on indirect proxies, making it harder to design effective policies, curricula, and training resources to close gaps.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},529299,1791649546,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":29,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":144,"read_time":26},7421720224475,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","SHARE  \nA Better Measure of Skills Gaps  \nUTILIZING ACT SKILL PROFILE AND ASSESSMENT DATA FOR STRATEGIC SKILL RESEARCH  \nExecutive Summary  \n the phrase “skills gap” is used in the public arena very loosely with varying  \n01 degrees of understanding of what a “gap” in “skills” actually means.  this paper proposes a simple definition for the phrase “skills gap”: the  \n02 difference between the skills needed for a job versus those skills possessed by a prospective worker.  \n significant foundational skills gaps exist for U.S. WorkKeys® examinees  \n03 with both middle and high levels of education for jobs that require a similar level of education.  \n for manufacturing, healthcare, construction, and energy-related  \n04 target occupations that require a middle or high level of education, the majority of U.S. examinees did not meet or exceed the Locating Information skill requirements.  \n less than half of u.s. examinees with a middle or high education level  \n05 met the Applied Mathematics skill requirements for the majority of manufacturing, construction, and energy jobs.  \n despite research to quantify gaps in the skills needed by industry and  \n06 those in supply nationally, strategies should be developed to replicate similar research at a state or local level.  \n© 2011 by ACT, Inc. All rights reserved. | ACT® and WorkKeys® are registered trademarks of ACT, Inc. , in the U.S.A. and other countries.  \nINTRODUCTION.....................................................2  \nLITERATURE REVIEW ..............................................4  \nWorkforce Policy Research ............................................... 4  \nIndustrial/Organizational Psychology Research .............................. 6  \nEconomic Research ..................................................... 7  \nA PROPOSED METHODOLOGY: ACT SKILLS GAP ................8  \nU.S. Examinee Skill Supply ............................................... 8  \nU.S. Target Industry Skill Demand ........................................ 10  \nSkills Gap Analysis ..................................................... 15  \nCONCLUSIONS..................................................... 19  \nREFERENCES ......................................................20  \nSHARE    ~~ ~~ ACT.ORG/WORKFORCE | 1  \nIntroduction  \nIt is no secret that global markets and innovations in technology are driving rapid change in the U.S. economy. While much has been said over the years about the employment shift from goods-producing to service-providing industries, new research suggests that the shift isnot due to sectoral employment change but rather a shift in the mix of jobs within industries and the types of skills that those jobs require . 1, 2  \nIn addition, it has been suggested that upgrades in skills demanded by occupations that previously did not require higher education account for roughly 70% of the increase in postsecondary requirements.3 Aside from shifts in occupational structure and increases within occupation skill requirements, it has also been noted that, over the past four decades, work tasks (and the skills needed to perform them) have become abetter predictor of employment and wage growth than either educational level or occupational title.4  \nAs the nation grapples with the aftereffects of the deepest recession in recent memory, policymakers struggle to find ways to integrate the millions of unemployed individuals whose current skills will continue to languish without immediate job prospects. There is a new reality for both workforce developers and education/training providers: that a significant segment of today’s labor force does not have the requisite skills demanded by employers.5 In addition, demographic shifts in the labor market are being felt in part due to the aging of the workforce, specifically the delay of retirement for older workers. Recent figures show that the labor force participation rate of older workers has increased by 5%, a trend largely due to recessionary pressures.6  \nThe","cbCailwJy0cRIazV","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCailwJy0cRIazV","pdf",749998,24,"English","# Executive Summary\n# Introduction\n# Literature Review\n## Workforce Policy Research\n## Industrial/Organizational Psychology Research\n## Economic Research\n# A Proposed Methodology: ACT Skills Gap\n## U.S. Examinee Skill Supply\n## U.S. Target Industry Skill Demand\n## Skills Gap Analysis\n# Conclusions\n# References","[{\"question\":\"How does the paper define a “skills gap”?\",\"answer\":\"It defines “skills gap” as the difference between the skills needed for a job and the skills possessed by a prospective worker.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the research say about WorkKeys examinees’ skill attainment?\",\"answer\":\"For target occupations requiring middle or high education, many U.S. examinees did not meet or exceed Locating Information requirements, and less than half met Applied Mathematics requirements for a majority of manufacturing, construction, and energy jobs.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the paper argue for more precise skills-gap measurement?\",\"answer\":\"It notes that without a precise measure, policy research and recommendations rely on indirect proxies, making it harder to design effective policies, curricula, and training resources to close gaps.\"}]","A Better Measure of Skills Gaps - Utilizing ACT Skill Profile and Assessment Data for Strategic Skill Research | PDF",1791520885]