Soft Skills Research Fund: Curated Portfolio of Research Projects Grant

The Soft Skills Research Fund aims to enhance workforce development and economic outcomes by integrating soft skills programming in low- and middle-income countries. Focused on addressing existing evidence gaps, the fund supports projects that measure soft skills' impact effectively. It emphasizes collaboration with implementers and researchers, fostering innovative approaches to develop and analyze soft skills programs. Selected projects will align with the research agenda and demonstrate potential for significant policy impact.

NOTE: For the curated portfolio, research projects will be selected on an ongoing, rolling basis.
One promising approach to improving earnings and job performance has been the integration of soft skills programming—assessment and capacity-building of psychological and interpersonal skills, attitudes, and behaviors. However, key gaps remain in understanding which soft skills matter for whom, how best to implement soft skills programs effectively and at scale, and the causal mechanisms through which these skills affect economic outcomes. With new research funding, Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) and the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL)’s Jobs and Opportunity Initiative (JOI) seek to improve evidence at the intersections of soft skills, effective workforce development and entrepreneurship policies, and economic outcomes in low- and middle income countries (LMICs).
Priority will be given to projects that respond to existing evidence gaps, incorporate a common framework for measuring soft skills and economic outcomes, and generate implementation-relevant evidence.
For the curated portfolio, research projects will be selected on an ongoing, rolling basis and leverage IPA’s long-standing work in this area and our strong relationships with implementers and researchers.
These projects will be co-designed with leading implementers and researchers, focusing on:

• Developing research questionsCollecting and analyzing implementation dataThoughtful use of soft-skills measurement
• Projects will be selected on a rolling basis by an internal committee, prioritizing:

Alignment with the research agendaPotential for policy impactCollaboration with interdisciplinary teams that are flexible, knowledgeable, and strategic in using soft-skills measures