Solid cognitive skills coupled with problem-solving skills and other competencies necessary to carry out tasks in online environments are key for individuals to prosper in the digital society, including at school and the workplace, and in learning new skills.
Students aged 15 years who are top performers in science, mathematics and reading in the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) can be considered to be among the best equipped to adapt to the scale, speed and scope of digital transformations. In 2015, about 15% of 15-year-olds were top performers in OECD countries with notable cross-country differences. Their share reached 26% in Japan and Korea, but remained below 5% in Chile, Turkey and Mexico. Academic all-rounders (those who achieved Level 5 or 6 in science, reading and mathematics) have the highest level of proficiency. They can draw on and use information from multiple direct and indirect sources to solve complex problems, and can integrate knowledge from across different areas. Such exceptional skills can provide a significant advantage in a competitive, knowledge-based global economy (OECD, 2016).
Evidence from the OECD Programme for International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) enables a similar view to be drawn for adults. Individuals with a well-rounded skill set in terms of literacy, numeracy and problem solving in technology-rich environments can be expected to use digital tools more efficiently, to carry out more sophisticated activities online, and to better adapt to digital transformations. Countries with higher shares of top-performing students also exhibit higher shares of adults with well-rounded skills (the same is true for lower performance). This underlines the importance of formal education. Furthermore, the share of individuals lacking basic skills in Chile and Turkey is comparable to that of individuals with a well-rounded skill set in Finland, Norway and Sweden, pointing to a skills’ gap among OECD countries.
Programming skills are continuing to gain importance as a key competence for prospering in the digital society. In many countries, children are starting to learn programming at increasingly younger ages and opportunities for developing software skills at the secondary and tertiary levels have been widening in most OECD countries over recent years. In 2017, 15% of 16-24 year-olds in the EU28 undertook a programming activity in the past 12 months, compared to 6% for the entire population. This ratio has increased since 2015 in most countries.
The majority of young programmers in all countries presented are men, although the gender gap varies between countries. In 2017, women comprised 10% of 16-24 year-old software programmers in the Czech Republic and Slovenia, compared to about 38% in France, Switzerland and Spain.
