In addition to the expert group studies, and the interviews, there have been related attempts to identify the importance of new skills, or 21st century skills, in high school, and in higher education. For example, in a couple of studies sponsored by the College Board, researchers at Michigan State University (Oswald, Schmitt, Kim, Ramsay, & Gillespie, 2004; Schmitt et al., 2007) inspected mission statements from 35 universities, treating them as evidence for the kinds of skills colleges purport to develop in their students. They sorted statements, and through that process identified the 12 most popular themes:
• Knowledge, learning, mastery of general principles
• Continuous learning, intellectual interest, and curiosity
• Artistic cultural appreciation and curiosity
• Multicultural tolerance and appreciation
• Leadership
• Interpersonal skills
• Social responsibility, citizenship, and involvement
• Physical and psychological health
• Career orientation
• Adaptability and life skills
• Perseverance
• Ethics and integrity