b'MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST COMMUNITY COLLEGEDEVELOPMENTDevelopment of the QEPgathering that result in failure in the workplace, as Including Literature Review well as less than desirable performance in academia Following the Board of Trustees approval of Essential(Lorenzo & Dziuban, 2006). Skills as the QEP topic, the College President andIn 1918, the Carnegie Foundation for MGCCCs Executive Council appointed a QEPthe Advancement of Teaching released Development Committee that included faculty, staff, a community stakeholder, and a student, representingCharles Manns survey results of 1,500 the various components of the MGCCC Districtengineers who believed that 80 percent (Appendix H).The QEP Development Committee metof career success is due to soft skills while during spring semester 2018 to review the literature and identify best practices related to essential skills20 percent is due to hard skills for employment.The Development Committee used- (NSSA, 2017).Strategic Plan 2020 (2011), planning documents,A century later, that premise continues to hold true and research to guide the discussion and outcomesbecause essential skills (i.e., soft skills, career readiness for students.The committee asked the followingskills, or employability skills) have garnered renewed questions to guide the research:attention in educational institutions, as well as the What are the most current, literature-basedbusiness community.Over the past two decades, a best practices for essential skills? number of research studies and formal surveys have What is MGCCC currently doing to addressidentified essential skills as lacking in individuals essential skills? entering the 21st century workforce.Career success What steps can MGCCC take to best implementhinges on developing specific job-related or hard essential skills for students? skills and competencies in combination with the What are the most pertinent student learningnonspecific essential skills that employers seek.The outcomes for essential skills? ACT WorkKeys authors call these skills foundational Introduction to Literature Review and portable skillsfoundational in that they are the basis for additional tasks and learning, and portable In the current economy, businesses seek employeesin that they are not job specific but can be applied who demonstrate expertise not only in work-relatedto a variety of personal characteristics needed for aptitudes, but who also have the ability to interactjob success (NCRC, 2018). well with coworkers and who conduct themselves in a professional manner. Defining Essential SkillsThis ability leads to the development of successfulIn an attempt to define essential skills, the QEP business relationships which ensure Career success. InDevelopment Committee investigated the topic with the literature, a wide spectrum of employers discussthe following definitions being perhaps the most the lack of essential skills in the current Americanubiquitous.Capelli and Won (2013) define soft skills workforce,andthistopicisfoundthroughoutas understanding people and possessing the ability associated literature on the subject (Darity, 2008;to manage them in social contexts.Soft skills Harris & Rogers, 2008; Lippman, et al., 2015; NACE,are the employability skills that speak to a workers 2018; NSSA, 2018; SCANS, 2000; Tymon, 2011;interpersonal skills and character, according to the Wonderlic, 2012). Consensus exists among businessesOffice of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP, 2010, and educational institutions that students oftenp. 1-2).Although terminology and definitions vary lack appropriate skills, personal attributes, criticalthroughout the literature, Darity (2008) believes thinking techniques, technology use, and informationthat skills are divided into intrapersonal skills (self-16 MGCCC QEP 2019'