HUMAN CAPITALYOUR MOST IMPORTANT

RESOURCE

Principle #7: People’s skills influence their income.

Objectives

• Define human capital

• Identify the skill requirements of the 21st century global economy

• Recognize the relationship between education and training and a successful future

Why is this topic here?

• Students should recognize the importance of developing their human capital.

• This topic creates a rationale for the course and answers the question why students are in school.

• It personalizes the course.• If done properly, it improves student self

esteem.• It explains the rules of the game.

Your Human Capital

• Skills

• Knowledge

• Experience

• Personal qualities

How you doin’?

• Uhhh

• We’re incredible

• Hunksa’

• Hunksa’

• Human Capital

You are the most important resource you have.

• How you use you now will influence the control you have over your life forever.

• The more you take advantage of school to improve your human capital, the more control you will have over your life.

• To succeed in the 21st century global economy, you will have to acquire certain skills.

Which house would you like?

A B

Which car would you like?

A B

Which Vacation Do You Want?

Visit the folks A week at the beach

Which Dog do You Want?

Fang Skippy

What Kind of Job Do You Want?

A B

How will you get

From here to there?

THE NEW LABOR MARKETThat was then, this is now

THEN NOW

GLOBAL COMPETITON, RAPIDLY CHANGING TECHNOLOGY

BASIC SKILLS REQUIRED: ASSEMBLY LINE

Agricultural

Manufacturing

Service Knowledge

ImaginationInformation

The U.S. Economy

Table I: Then and nowThe Information/ Knowledge Age

Technology change

Competition

Type of production

Role of workers

Skill requirements

Employment

Learning span

The Industrial Age

Took years to accomplish

Local, state, national

Manufacturing

Manual Laborer

Strength, dexterity, stamina

Lifetime with one employer

Kindergarten-12th grade

Months, weeks to accomplish

Global

Service, info, knowledge

Designer, engineer, manager

Scans (see Table II)

Change jobs at least six times, careers three times

Lifetime

Get the Skills?

What Skills?

Table II: What Skills? Rank Skill Category Description

  Basic Skills Can you read, write, listen, and speak?  Thinking Skills Do you make careful, well-informed decisions? Do you know 

how to learn?

  Personal Qualities

Are you honest, hardworking, respectful, and self-motivated? Can you be trusted? Are you on time? Do you dress appropriately? 

  Resources Do you use your most important resource (you) well?   Interpersonal 

SkillsDo you work well with others, are you a team player? Do you help others succeed? Do you get along well with people who don’t look like you, who may be from a different part of the world, or another neighborhood? Are you kind to people who might not be as talented or good looking or popular as you? Do you try to make others feel comfortable in your group? 

  Systems Do you know how your family, your school, and your classroom work? Do you understand the system? Can you see problems with these systems and find ways to improve them?

  Information When you have to talk about things at school or at home, do you speak off the top of your head, or do you collect information before you make your point? Are you willing to listen to others when they present their facts? Can you tell the difference between facts and “stories?” 

  Technology Are you up to date on the latest technology and are you willing to learn new ones? 

Your Skills Strengths

To compete in a global economy,

you will need these skills

Basic Skills

• reading

• writing

• mathematics

• listening

• speaking

Thinking Skills

• Informed decisions

• Benefit/Cost Analysis

• Know how to learn

Personal Qualities

• Honest

• Hard working

• Respectful

• Self-motivated

• Trustworthy

Resource Use

Interpersonal Skills

• Work well with others • Help others succeed• Get along with others who are not

like you? • Kind to others• Try to make others comfortable

Systems

Information

• Do you have facts?

• Do you know where to get facts?

• Do you listen to facts?

• Can you tell the difference between facts and opinions (yours and others)?

Technology• selecting• applying to specific tasks• maintaining and troubleshooting• keeping up to date• learning

To compete in a global economy,

you will need these skills

Where will you get these skills?

Why are you in school?

• To improve your incredible human capital

• To use your human capital and other resources to achieve your goals

• To lead the good life

• You are in school for YOU!!!!!!

Dreams Deferred: Average Earnings and Education for Adults, 2008

33800

67300

24300

39700

42000

55700

91900

100000

20000

30000

40000

50000

60000

70000

80000

90000

100000

Education

Earnings

Dropout

High School

Some College

Associate's

Bachelor's

Master's

Doctorate

Professional

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2010

Some Benefits of an Education

• A college grad earns more than twice the lifetime earnings of a high school dropout

• For African Americans, the unemployment rate of a high school dropout is 21% compared to 7.3% for college grads.

• The percentage of high school dropouts living in poverty is 8.5 times that of college grads.

• The incarceration rate of high school dropouts is 60 times that of college grads.

Source: The consequences of dropping out of high school. Center for Labor Market Studies, NorthEastern University. October 2009

The Principle of Exchange

Employers will hire workers if they gain more from hiring them than

they give up.

The Mirror: An Incredibly Powerful Package of Human

Capital!

You are the only one who can develop your human capital….. not your

teachers, not your parents,

YOU

MAKE YOURSELF SCARCE!!!!

High demand, low supply

All other things being equal

higher education and/or training

leads to higher income

Main Points• The labor market of the 21st century is

characterized by rapid technological change, global competition, demand for highly skilled workers, numerous job and career changes, and constant upgrades of skills and knowledge.

• The greater your skills and knowledge obtained through education and/or training, the higher your lifetime earnings.

MAKE YOURSELF SCARCE!!!!