Proposal for implementing a skills

hierarchy in ESCO

24 September 2018

European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations 27th ESCO Maintenance Committee meeting – Proposal for

implementing a skills hierarchy in ESCO

September 2018 2

ESCO (2018) SEC 021 DRAFT Document date: 11/09/2018

Contents Purpose of the document .................................................................................... 3 Current status quo ............................................................................................. 3 Background ...................................................................................................... 3 Canadian classification ....................................................................................... 3 Approach of the pilot .......................................................................................... 4 Lessons learnt ................................................................................................... 5 Structure of the future ESCO skills hierarchy ......................................................... 6 Process and methodology for the creation of the ESCO skills hierarchy ..................... 6 Annex 1 ........................................................................................................... 8 Annex 2 ..........................................................................................................12

European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations 27th ESCO Maintenance Committee meeting – Proposal for

implementing a skills hierarchy in ESCO

September 2018 3

Purpose of the document

The purpose of this document is to present to the members of the Maintenance

Committee a proposal for creating a complete skills hierarchy in ESCO and seek their

advice on the methodology and hierarchy.

Current status quo

The skills pillar of ESCO v1 structures 13,485 skill1 and knowledge concepts in four

different manners:

• through their relationship with occupations, by using occupations as an

entry point;

• through a hierarchy (only for transversal knowledge, skills and

competences);

• through associative2 and contextualised3 relations (not consistently

applied throughout the entire classification);

• through functional collections grouping only a subset of the skills available

that is of interest for specific use cases. ESCO v1 includes three functional

collections: digital competences (identical to the Digital Competence

Framework4); language skills and transversal skills.

Background

During the 26th Maintenance Committee meeting on 5 June 2018 the Commission

services presented to the Committee members the results of the ESCO pilot on the

skills structure5. The Committee members advised the Commission services to use i)

the Canadian classification as a basis and ii) ISCED-F and NACE to further structure

the ESCO skills pillar. Taking into account this advice, the ESCO team carried out a

pilot to explore whether the Canadian classification could serve this objective.

Canadian classification

The Canadian National Skill Classification is a two-level hierarchical classification of

skill and knowledge groups with 85 concepts at its second level. It distinguishes skill

concepts (44) from knowledge concepts (41). Each concept contains a description and

examples. The skill and knowledge groups are clearly designed to be independent of

particular branches of economic activity or occupation.

1 Since there is no distinction between skills and competences in the ESCO skills pillar,

in this document the term skills will be used to refer both to skills and competences. 2 Associative relations indicate how knowledge, skills and competences are relevant to

other knowledge, skills and competences. 3 Skill contextualisation is a method to create knowledge or skill and competence

concepts by analysing how transversal skills, competences or knowledge are applied in

the specific context of a sector or an occupation. For more information and example,

you can visit the ESCO portal:

https://ec.europa.eu/esco/portal/escopedia/Skill_contextualisation 4 https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/digcomp 5 https://ec.europa.eu/esco/resources//escopedia/20180614_131747/bda570a7-

22e9-44a3-84a4-0ab50a04d27fDraft-_Summary_reportfinal.pdf

European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations 27th ESCO Maintenance Committee meeting – Proposal for

implementing a skills hierarchy in ESCO

September 2018 4

Figure 1

Figure 2

Approach of the pilot

The ESCO team carried out a pilot to test:

how the Canadian Classification can be used as a starting point to develop a

consistent and complete (mono-)hierarchy to structure the ESCO skill pillar;

the methodology for allocating each ESCO skill to the groups of this skill

hierarchy.

Throughout the pilot the team members allocated:

a sample of 690 randomly selected ESCO skill and knowledge concepts and

the skill and knowledge concepts from four ESCO occupational profiles: i)

language school teacher, ii) plumber, iii) microelectronics engineer and iv)

horse breeder6

to the skill and knowledge groups of the Canadian classification. In the process, the

team reflected on how these skill groups can be integrated with the existing ESCO

transversal skill thesaurus, which also has a hierarchical structure.

6 See Annex 1 for the allocation of the skill and knowledge concepts of these four

occupational profiles.

European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations 27th ESCO Maintenance Committee meeting – Proposal for

implementing a skills hierarchy in ESCO

September 2018 5

The team members worked on the same concepts in parallel and discussed their

individual findings in workshops. The objective was to:

understand the logic behind the different choices of allocation and reach an

agreement;

come to a shared understanding of the scope of the skill and knowledge groups

of the Canadian classification;

flag those ESCO skill and knowledge concepts which cannot be allocated to any

of the groups of the Canadian classification;

suggest new groups to be added to the future ESCO skills hierarchy and

allocate the skill and knowledge concepts to the newly added groups.

The ESCO team allocated the ESCO skill and knowledge concepts to the Canadian

classification taking into account the following aspects:

action verb of the preferred term of the ESCO skill concept;

action verb(s) of the description of the ESCO skill concept;

description of the ESCO skill/knowledge concept;

occupations linked to the ESCO skill/knowledge concept and

scope of the groups of the Canadian classification.

Example

Table 1

ESCO Canadian classification

Analyse the artistic concept based on stage actions

Analysing information (broader: Analysis)

Analyse the artistic concept based on stage actions is an ESCO skill related to the

analysis process in the domain of art (theatre). Analysing information is a skill

category in the Canadian classification. It has the same action verb and is a logical

broader concept to the ESCO skill.

Lessons learnt

During the pilot the team discussed at different stages the methodology used and

reached the following conclusions. It is important to:

1. have a clear understanding of the scope of the skill groups of the Canadian

classification;

2. first allocate some skills from a wide range of economic fields to refine our

understanding of the groups of the Canadian classification;

3. have at least two persons work on the same skill, so that we are more

confident of the quality;

4. add a further step to look at the skills we have allocated under each group

(quality assurance);

European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations 27th ESCO Maintenance Committee meeting – Proposal for

implementing a skills hierarchy in ESCO

September 2018 6

5. have at our disposal background documentation and guidance from the

Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC), if available.

Structure of the future ESCO skills hierarchy

While ESCO has a hierarchy for transversal skills (see “Current status quo”), there is

no one for domain-specific skills. To address this issue, the ESCO team combined the

skill groups of the Canadian classification and the ESCO transversal skill thesaurus in

one structure. The image below displays an overview of the future skills hierarchy for

ESCO:

Image 1

For the future complete ESCO skills hierarchy, see Annex 2.

Process and methodology for the creation of the ESCO skills hierarchy

The implementation process consists of the following steps:

1. The ESCO team will develop scope notes for each skill and knowledge group of

the future ESCO skills hierarchy (in the case of the groups of the Canadian

Classification, the team will refine their descriptions to further clarify their

semantic boundaries);

2. Teams of two persons (mappers) will work on each ESCO skill and knowledge

concept (in total 13,485 concepts);

3. The same teams will discuss their findings in small workshops to i) identify

those skill and knowledge concepts that they allocated to different groups and

ii) agree on the final allocation;

4. The team will discuss in collective workshops the difficult cases, the potential

amendment of some of the scope notes and the potential addition of new

groups. The team will also identify the possibility to add more levels to the

hierarchical tree (create more specific skill groups);

European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations 27th ESCO Maintenance Committee meeting – Proposal for

implementing a skills hierarchy in ESCO

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5. The team will carry out a final quality assurance step by reviewing all ESCO

skills per skill group of the hierarchy. This will allow identifying inconsistencies

in the way each skill group has been understood and treated by the team

members.

The ESCO team will initiate the implementation process on 1 October and will deliver

the full hierarchy by mid-2019 (incl. the quality assurance).

European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations 27th ESCO Maintenance Committee meeting – Proposal for

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Annex 1 Language school teacher (skills)

Language school teacher (knowledge)

European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations 27th ESCO Maintenance Committee meeting – Proposal for

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Plumber (skills)

Plumber (knowledge)

European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations 27th ESCO Maintenance Committee meeting – Proposal for

implementing a skills hierarchy in ESCO

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Microelectronics engineer (skills)

Microelectronics engineer (knowledge)

European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations 27th ESCO Maintenance Committee meeting – Proposal for

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Horse breeder (skills)

Horse breeder (knowledge)

Annex 2

The amendments to the Canadian classification are indicated in orange colour.

The skills of the ESCO transversal skills thesaurus are indicated in blue colour.

Type First level Second level Third level Fourth level

Skills Handling Goods, Materials and Animals Sorting

Loading and Unloading

Handling animals

Building Constructing

Installing Building Interior Infrastructure

Finishing Building Interior/Exterior

Restoring and Repairing

Operating and Repairing Equipment, Machinery and Vehicles

Mechanical Installing, Maintaining and Repairing

Operating Mobile Equipment

Operating Stationary Industrial Equipment

Working with Technological Equipment and Machinery

Installing and Setting-Up Technical Infrastructure

Working with Manual Tools

Producing and Repairing Handicrafted Products

Handling Non-motorised Equipment and Tools

Programming, Debugging and Reprogramming Technical Systems

Using Specialized Instrumentation and Equipment

Service and Care

Counselling and Nurturing

Treating People

Treating Animals

Protecting and Enforcing

European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations 27th ESCO Maintenance Committee meeting – Proposal for

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Serving Others

Cooking, Preparing, Serving

Tending to Daily Needs

Cleaning and House/Shop Keeping

Communication

Negotiating and Adjudicating

Liaising and Networking

Teaching and Training

Professional Communicating

Advising and Consulting

Promoting and Selling

Interviewing

Creative Expression Designing

Technical Designing

Writing

Performing and Entertaining

Information Handling Managing Information

Processing Information

Analysis Projecting Outcomes

Researching and Investigating

Planning

Examining and Diagnosing

Analyzing Information

Inspecting and Testing

Management Strategic Planning

Leading and Motivating

Allocating and Controlling Resources

Evaluating

Co-ordinating and Organizing

Recruiting and Hiring

Supervising

Transversal

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skills/competences

application of knowledge

digital competences

ICT safety

digital communication and collaboration

digital content creation

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digital data processing

problem-solving with digital tools

health and safety

follow environmentally-sustainable work

European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations 27th ESCO Maintenance Committee meeting – Proposal for

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practices

follow hygienic work practices

follow safety precautions in work practices

numeracy and mathematics

carry out work-related calculations

carry out work-related measurements

communicate mathematical information

manage quantitative data

use mathematical tools and equipment

work with shape and space

working environment

apply quality standards

support company plan

support cultural diversity

support gender equality

attitudes and values

attitudes

adapt to change

attend to detail

attend to hygiene

cope with pressure

deal with uncertainty

demonstrate

European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations 27th ESCO Maintenance Committee meeting – Proposal for

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curiosity

demonstrate enthusiasm

demonstrate willingness to learn

make an effort

manage frustration

manage quality

meet commitments

persist

work efficiently

work independently

values

demonstrate consideration

demonstrate good manners

follow ethical code of conduct

social interaction

accept constructive criticism

address an audience

demonstrate intercultural competence

give advice to others

instruct others

interact with others

lead others

motivate others

negotiate compromise

persuade others

report facts

support

European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations 27th ESCO Maintenance Committee meeting – Proposal for

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colleagues

use body language

use questioning techniques

work in teams

thinking

develop strategy to solve problems

evaluate information

identify opportunities

make decisions

manage time

memorise information

process qualitative information

identify opportunities

think creatively

use learning strategies

use of languages

Knowledge Manufacturing and Production

Processing and Production

Food Production and Agriculture

Communications and Transportation

Communications and Media

Telecommunications

Transportation

Law and Public Safety

Law, Government, and Jurisprudence

Public Safety and Security

Social Sciences and Arts Language

Linguistics

Psychology

European Skills, Competences, Qualifications and Occupations 27th ESCO Maintenance Committee meeting – Proposal for

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Sociology and Anthropology

Geography

Philosophy and Theology

History and Archaeology

Library and Heritage

Fine and Applied Arts

Education and Training

Teaching and Instruction

Health Services Medicine

Animal health and welfare

Therapy and Counselling

Mathematics and Science Mathematics

Statistics

Physics

Earth Sciences (Geosciences)

Chemistry

Biology

Engineering and Technology

Engineering and Applied Technologies

Computer and Information Systems

Electricity (Electrical and Electronics)

Design

Building and Construction

Mechanics and Machinery

Business, Finance and Management Business Management

Business Administration

Finance

Economis

Accounting

Personnel and Human Resources

Clerical

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Sales

Marketing

Client Service