Blake Ebright

LIFE Fellow since 2022, University of Michigan

I am a doctoral candidate in the Combined Program in Education & Psychology at the University of Michigan under the supervision of Kai Cortina. I am interested in the distinction between the academic skills and the life skills emerging adults develop in college. While academic skills have the potential to clearly define students’ careers, soft skills are promised by colleges and expected by employers alike. My current work focuses on a three-pronged approach to life skills that are considered important for a successful transition into the workforce: critical thinking, self-regulation, and social-interactive skills. I ask whether these prongs develop over the course of a college career and whether college is in fact a “pressure cooker” for these skills. I am especially concerned with appropriately measuring these constructs using performance assessment tasks.