12 Academic Skills: Definition, Examples, How To Improve Them

Achieving academic success requires more than just hard work – it involves strategically developing and applying a range of skills suited to your unique talents and abilities. These talents, known as strengths, can be identified through a comprehensive assessment like the HIGH5 test. The skills that allow students to capitalize on their strengths and excel academically are referred to as academic skills.

By taking the HIGH5 test and understanding your greatest strengths, you can prioritize honing the most relevant academic skills for your natural way of thinking and working. In this article, we will cover how you can seek out academic skills, attain them, and use these skills to your advantage in life.

What are academic skills? Definition and meaning

Academic skills, sometimes called study skills, are the abilities and strategies that help you become a better student. These skills prepare you for a career, help you stay focused and motivated, and get you exposed to new ways of thinking. Some of these skills may be innate, but others must be learned, and all must be practiced in order to promote your ongoing success.

If a skill helps you study efficiently, attain a desirable grade, stay focused, and retain information, it is a study skill. Such essential skills are not only applicable to one field of study, too. An immense benefit of these abilities is their versatility and range of applicability. Regardless of the specific skills, academic or study skills help you acquire good grades and may even help you enjoy school more. At times, academic and study abilities are categorized together, as they are intertwined. While these skills are typically taught to high school and college students, they can be learned at any age.

Importance and benefits of academic skills

There are numerous benefits to using academic skills effectively. The key is to identify and capitalize on your unique strengths through a validated assessment like the HIGH5 test. For example, those who identify an innate talent of verbal expression can enhance their chances for school success by leaning into their facility for writing. Similarly, students gifted with curiosity and analytical thinking can leverage their natural strengths into the research aspect of their academic studies. Taking the HIGH5 test provides personalized insights into your greatest skills, empowering you to strategically develop and apply them across academic pursuits.

10 benefits of academic skills

Why should you bother discovering your academic strengths and developing them? The following list will provide you with some of the perks that come from developing your academic abilities:

Increased ability to focus and get work done
Lower levels of anxiety during test-taking [1]
Improved time management skills
More enthusiasm and passion at school, especially when learning about a new topic
Higher test grades from more effective studying
Enhanced communication skills, leading to better support from teachers
Greater ability to recall information [2]
Increased goal-planning skills and a more goal-oriented mindset
A boost in your self-confidence and increased desire to venture outside of your comfort zone
Greater ambition to improve and more interest in the acquisition of new academic skills
Stronger teamwork for more successful group projects and stronger networking resources for future career

Long-term benefits of academic skills

While some believe “academic” strategies and skills only apply to the scholarly world, this is not entirely accurate. Academic skills can also benefit individuals in the workplace. In fact, one of the great benefits of learning such skills early on is the ability to transfer them to your lifelong career. Many of the benefits one gains by investing in better school performance can also be transferred to the workplace. For example, employers value how strong time management skills are key to productivity, and an employee who works well alongside their colleagues promotes a more effective work environment.

Pro Tip From HIGH5

Maintaining focus and avoiding procrastination can be challenging for some, while others seem to naturally excel at time management. If this skill is one of your strengths identified by the HIGH5 test, build on it by experimenting with different productivity techniques like the Pomodoro method or personal kanban boards. However, if time management is not an innate strength, consider working with a coach or finding an accountability partner to systematically develop habits that compensate in this area.

12 essential academic skills

Below is a list of academic strengths that will not only improve your performance in your studies but will also translate to confidence and competency in your future career.

Time management
Research skills
Reading comprehension
Computer skills
Self-discipline
Critical thinking
Group work
Public speaking skills
Writing
Goal planning
Constructive criticism
Multitasking

Time management

When you are a student, managing your time means maximizing your study time. In the same way, time management in the workplace does not necessarily mean “working as much as possible.” It involves prioritizing tasks, planning, setting goals, and much more. As an employee, you will often have to meet deadlines. To consistently meet your goals, you must also work with deadlines or quotas.

The idea of working smarter and not always harder is a key component of effective time management. The easiest way to improve your scheduling efficiency is by discovering your most frequent distractions and conversely which environments maximize your productivity. Schedules, reminders, timers, and planners can all help you build your time management competency.

Research skills

When you think back to your secondary school years, specifically writing assignments, what comes to mind? Likely, you will remember writing long and arduous essays or complex school projects. Regardless, success in either of these tasks involved a high level of effective research.

Proper research involves finding credible sources, reading data, interpreting it, knowing the questions you need to answer, and understanding where to search for those answers. To effectively design a product, you may need to research development practices and regulations. Market research itself is a vital field that relies on strong investigative techniques.

Reading comprehension

Undoubtedly, every worker will have to read instructions, script, or some other form of writing during the workday. Reading comprehension is vital if a student is to understand tasks, homework assignments, tests, and project requirements. Students who hone their reading comprehension skills become valuable employees who clearly understand the directions given to them.

Reading comprehension is also the first step in developing stronger writing skills. An ability to gather and understand data for work projects is crucial to a student and an employee’s proficiency in communicating those findings., To boost your reading comprehension, consider reading more books, increasing your vocabulary, or spending time studying terms specific to your industry.

Computer skills

You may believe that computer skills are only necessary for coders and engineers, but nearly everyone is the end user of some kind of digital product. Aptitude with computers and mobile devices is very likely to boost your productivity and help you research more efficiently. Applications and their attached devices also help you smoothly create a schedule, communicate with peers through email, or create a report or graph.

Self-discipline

There are ways to use extrinsic, or outside, motivation to your advantage. However, relying solely on others to motivate you is risky. Similar to time management, self-motivation, and intrinsic motivation. can help you prioritize tasks independently and set clear goals. Many individuals have a natural tendency to procrastinate. Self-discipline helps you focus on what truly matters so you can achieve goals even without direct supervision.

Critical thinking

Critical thinking is a universally needed trait that helps you analyze information and solve problems creatively. Critical thinking makes even complex problems and tasks easier to understand and complete. In virtually any academic or workplace setting, you will encounter setbacks and hardships. During these moments, critical thinking will help you overcome problems that others find impossible.

Critical thinking skills also can address inefficiency and mistakes. Critical thought also breeds innovation and helps you maintain a competitive advantage over other students, firms, and candidates. Mindfulness, industry-related knowledge, and speaking to mentors can boost your ability to think critically.

Group work

Even the most independent jobs require some level of group work and communication. As a student, you will need to participate in group projects. You may also need to discuss topics or assignments in group settings. If you know how to work with a group effectively, many other skills will follow. Quality teamwork leads to increased conflict resolution skills, better communication, increased collaboration skills, and the growth of exceptional leadership qualities.

Throughout your career, you may need to work with others in your department or even multiple departments at once. To improve your collaboration skills, you can try volunteering or participating in non-work-related group activities, such as team sports.

Presentation and public speaking skills

Students, employees, and employers alike all need to give presentations. Public speaking abilities allow you to appear confident, calm your nerves, and effectively communicate a message. Using proper body language, tone, communication style, word choice, and so on all contribute to being a persuasive public speaker. By giving your audience appropriate visual aids and speaking assertively, you increase your authority and grab the audience’s attention. Take a public speaking class or ask your friends for public speaking feedback.

Writing

Writing skills are necessary in nearly every field of study and career. Strong writers become better communicators, retain more information, take clear notes, instruct others with precision, and write quality reports. While you may not need to write paper notes often, writing is still a vital skill. You will likely need to compose emails, create memos, and report progress, all of which require strong writing abilities.

To be informative and persuasive, you must understand how to be a good writer. It may even improve your leadership and collaboration skills. There are many guides you can access to improve your writing. Alternatively, you can also take a writing workshop.

Goal planning

There are many benefits that come from setting goals. You become more motivated, feel more engaged, stay productive, and generally enjoy your studies and your job more with clear, attainable goals. However, you cannot set the best goals without understanding goal planning. Having a specific goal-setting strategy will further increase your productivity and focus.

Once you understand how goals function, you can track your progress. You will understand which strategies are effective and the best ways to maximize your success. There are many resources that can assist you in creating goals. Keep the acronym SMART in mind when setting a goal: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound [3].

Taking constructive criticism

Taking criticism personally is one way to sabotage both your academic and professional careers. Academic feedback may come in the form of comments from peers, teachers, and even parents. More formally, evaluation of your work can come through tests and graded projects. Likewise, at work, you will have performance reviews or progress meetings. There, your supervisors will explain what you are and are not doing well.

If you see feedback as an opportunity to grow, then your ability to increase all of your skills is high. Your overall potential increases. On the other hand, ignoring criticism robs you of the opportunity to develop your skills and improve. Worse, looking down on any suggestions for improvement can give you a reputation for being a difficult student and colleague. Try to ask for feedback whenever possible, be an active listener, and avoid impulsive or emotional reactions to processing feedback.

Multitasking

Multitasking is the ability to simultaneously perform multiple tasks. Some say this controversial skill may decrease your productivity, while others believe the exact opposite. Thankfully, there are ways to effectively leverage multitasking to your benefit. While you are a student, this may look like alternating between working on two assignments at once. For another example, you may be listening to a lecture while also taking notes.

As an employee, you will need to prioritize and organize tasks to maximize your productivity. Sometimes, this may mean working on two tasks at once. On the web, you can find a plethora of information on multitasking techniques and how to develop them. Be careful with using multitasking, though. If the quantity of output starts to decrease in quality, it may be time to focus on each task individually.

How do you develop academic skills?

Developing academic skills begins with dedication and a customized approach based on your unique strengths profile. Before creating schedules and plans, take the HIGH5 strengths assessment to gain insights into your greatest talents. Then, structure your skill development strategies around leaning into those strengths. For example, if discipline and focus are strengths, build habits like timeboxing your most crucial tasks each day. However, if strengths like creativity and cognitive risk-taking are more natural, experiment with unstructured learning through immersive projects. Tailoring your approach allows you to develop skills while working from a motivating strengths-based mindset.

Additionally, being someone with strong academic abilities requires a passion for knowledge-seeking and learning. You should be willing to constantly seek out information on how to improve yourself and learn more about your field. One way to do this is to invite feedback from teachers, colleagues, or bosses. They may also give you general advice on what to work on. Do not take this personally. Rather, see it as an opportunity to grow and learn new skills. Make yourself available as a team player. If someone needs help, step in and offer assistance. When working in a team, ensure you play a crucial role and help propel your group to success. Finally, in addition to technical skills, you should also strengthen your communication abilities. Communication is necessary for virtually any field.

When it comes to technical skills, experience is the best way to learn. Writing, for instance, is often overlooked as a technical skill. You can become a better writer by reading other texts, expanding your vocabulary, attending workshops, and practicing your writing regularly. Computer skills are also learned through experience. Experiment with new software when generating schedules or presentations. Consider taking a computer course, if possible.

Pro Tip From HIGH5

When improving skills that don’t rely on your strongest talents, use your HIGH5 strengths profile to determine supportive habits. For instance, if public speaking isn’t a strength but relationship-building is, join groups where you can practice presenting among trusted peers first. Or if attention to detail isn’t innate but you have high achievement motivation, use checklists and peer reviews to sharpen your precision. The strengths-based approach provides a roadmap for strategically developing new skills from your motivational sweet spot.

How to improve your academic skills?

Before you can improve your skills, you must track them, starting with an understanding of your baseline skill levels. For productivity, measure how many projects you finish weekly or how many homework assignments you finish in a quarter. In terms of communication, you can keep a journal of how often your initial emails produce the sought-after results or how many of your group projects left you feeling accomplished and accepted rather than misunderstood.

Skill tracking will give you a clear understanding of your current proficiencies. With this information in hand, you should then seek feedback. When you ask for feedback, ensure you get as much information as possible. If you ask a teacher or mentor, follow up by requesting details on how they themselves improved the skill you are focusing on. Eliminating distractions and setting clear goals should help you improve any academic ability, whether it is a dedication to studying or improving your presentation skills. Through dedication, clear goal setting, and mentor support, you can improve any skill.

How to highlight your academic skills in resumes and job interviews?

Since academic skills often translate to skills in the workplace, you should include them on your resume. These skills can clearly show the hiring team that you have a track record of being a communicator, leader, critical thinker, and so on. By headlining these skills, you can highlight the qualities that make you a great employee, making you a more attractive candidate for the position. Some skills, however, are more crucial than others.

To determine which skills are most important to insert, consider the job and industry you are interested in. Look through the job description and even the employer description. Do they mention any skills directly? See if they hint at the company culture places on any specific skills, such as stating the company values hard work in. Then, take a careful look at the job description. Think about which academic skills could help you perform those tasks efficiently, and communicate to the hiring team your facility with those skills

If a task is similar to tasks you performed at school, recall which skills you used to perform the task well. For example, if the job lists “group work/projects” as one of your weekly tasks, consider how you collaborated and worked in teams at school. Collaboration, communication, and leadership likely helped you perform the task well at school. Then, these tasks are the best tasks to list on your resume.

Academic skills FAQ

What are the 5 academic skills?

While many few skills are universally regarded as important, a few should appear at the top of your list. These include time management, critical thinking, cooperation, technical skills, and motivation. All of these skills will benefit you during school, college, and beyond.

What are academic skills for university?

In university, you should have strong writing, reading, mathematical, and computer skills. You should be able to process information adeptly and retain knowledge. Additionally, time management remains a crucial skill. Prioritizing your tasks and working hard is key to productivity. Finally, being a team player and leader will help you stand out as a particularly dedicated student and will benefit your academic career.

What are the most important academic skills?

If you need to narrow your focus on a skill, you would do well to pick from one of the following, regardless of which industry you plan to enter: time management, leadership, dedication, motivation, communication, critical thinking, researching, and an ability to take feedback gracefully. All of these skills will help you stay productive, increase your value to a team and make your school and work more enjoyable.

References

Kazemi, H., Waziri, M., & Abedi, A. (2016). The Effectiveness of Problem Solving Training on Test Anxiety and Social Anxiety In Primary School Students. Social Cognition, 5(1), 100-112.
Walck-Shannon, E. M., Rowell, S. F., & Frey, R. F. (2021). To What Extent Do Study Habits Relate to Performance? CBE life sciences education, 20(1), ar6. https://doi.org/10.1187/cbe.20-05-0091
CFI Team. (2022). SMART Goals. Corporate Finance Institute; CFI. https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/management/smart-goal/