In recent years, business and industry have been vocal critics of education. Critics complain the American workforce, particularly young people, are deficient in workplace skills.
A survey of 500 randomly selected Ohio businesses was used to determine opinions of respondents related to workplace skills gaps, rising skill levels, and level and type of critical thinking used on the job by all employees and entry-level employees.Four of 18 science outcomes promoted by the Ohio Department of Education had an application in business and these required critical-thinking skills to complete. These four formed the foundation in the survey because they provided a connection between thinking skills required on the Ohio 12th Grade Proficiency Test and those required on the job.
Pearson correlation coefficient was used to identify correlation between responses. The alpha level was p < .05. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was conducted to identify significant (p < .05) relationships between variables as represented by responses. In addition, one version of the Science Section of the Ohio 12th Grade Proficiency Test was analyzed for use of critical thinking using the SCAN’s critical- thinking attributes as a standard.
There were several findings related to workplace skills and critical thinking. Only 17.1% of respondents indicated dissatisfaction with the basic academic skill level of their employees. A majority (71.1%) of responding businesses perceived a lack of work ethic as more important than deficient academic skills. Only 17.1% of respondents reported the skill level of their entry-level employees was rising. Approximately 1/3 of responding businesses required no critical thinking at all from their entry-level employees. Small businesses were significantly more likely to require higher levels of critical thinking from their entry level employees than larger businesses. Employers who reported rising skill levels in entry-level employees required all of their employees to exhibit critical thinking similar to that required on the four tested outcomes on the Science Section, Ohio 12th Grade Proficiency Test.