b'MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST COMMUNITY COLLEGEAcquiring Essential Skills Colleges should recognize that essential skills areHowever, Tymon (2011, p. 845) argues that these vital to adequately prepare graduates to enter theskills can be trained and developed, and he further workforce and to achieve career success.Darityasserts that educational stakeholders need to be (2008) believes that essential skills affect recruiting,more realistic about what can be developed in the predict career progression, and raise individualhigher education curriculum.Tymon (2011) supports productivity.For example, in a survey conducted atthe view that employability may be more easily Google, STEM (science, technology, engineering,developed outside of formal curriculum although and math) skills came in last when compared withmany expect higher education institutions to prepare the personal qualities identified by its employees asstudents for the workplace, which is part of the reason vital to career satisfaction and success (NSSA, 2017).why this QEP focuses on skill development in a Several initiatives at high schools and colleges arevariety of scenarios.At the least, an awareness of teaching students to become more responsible anddesirable workplace skills should be addressed at the independent, along with encouraging communicationeducational level.As the number of college graduates and the ability to advocate for oneself (Adams, 2013).increases, competition for jobs also increases, and Darity (2008, p. 22) avows the importance of thesegraduates should be aware that additional skills and initiatives, With the shift from manufacturing toattributes are required for job success (Tymon, 2011). services and with the diffusion of computer technologyBurris (2018) predicts that by 2021 there will be a and information systems, the demand for soft skillsshortage of 1.5 million craft professionals.She further in the labor market has increased.Although therecontends that enrolled college students believe their is no clear agreement about the process of how tomajors alone will lead to a good job. Meanwhile, cultivate essential skills in adults, there is the viewemployers determine whether potential employees that emotional intelligence and essential skills arehave the required core competencies for the available developed early in life (Cappelli & Won, 2013). job, and then they look for the presence of essential skills in determining job placement (CareerBuilder, 2018).20 MGCCC QEP 2019'