The identification and measurement of innovative characteristics of young people Development of the Youth Innovation Skills Measurement Tool

Foreword The challenges of the future-globalisation, climate, technological and demographic change – require a different response from our education system. We need to equip future generations not only with strong basic skills and specialist technical knowledge, but with the attitudes and wider skills to generate radical new solutions and adapt to our rapidly changing world. We need to provide future generation with the skills for innovation to a greater degree than ever before: the confidence and insight to generate a novel idea or new approach; the motivation, commitment and resilience to pursue that idea; the leadership, energy and dynamism to communicate their vision to others and drive it forward from concept to reality. For these skills to have currency in education we need to be able to identify and measure them. We are delighted to have supported this pioneering work from Kingston University, which combines theoretical knowledge on measuring skills with practical understanding about how it can be done. In partnership with Kingston University, we intend to take this work forward with the development of an online tool that will be freely available to young people, so that they can assess their capacity for innovation and appreciate how they can develop it further. Our aim is to transform the UK's capacity for innovation. We invest in early-stage companies, inform innovation policy and encourage a culture that helps innovation to flourish. The Youth Innovation Skills Measurement Tool is an instrument to support the development of the skills and attitudes which young people require if they are to become the innovators of tomorrow. The Tool measures the skills needed for innovation The Tool measures five generic skills that underpin innovative behaviour and form a set of attributes clearly linked to the innovation process: • BLOCKINRisk-propensity (a combination of risk tolerance and the ability to take calculated risks); and • BLOCKINLeadership (vision and the ability to mobilise commitment). The skills were identified through a literature review and through testing the concepts with separate focus groups of young people and teachers from different disciplines in schools and colleges in Greater London and Hampshire. The skills assessed by the Tool are also important for young people's employability and ability to make a wider social contribution. The five skills tested match closely those which employers say they most need in their new recruits, but which they too often find missing. Our current economic climate, where enterprises …