What is a “Competency Framework” Anyway?
A “competency framework” is a compilation of skills, knowledge, and capabilities necessary to be successful in a particular area of work. Competency frameworks are one way of decentralizing professional growth by encouraging self-directed processes to pursue academic programs, internships, on-the-job training, and more to further lifelong professional learning.
There is no single path to informal STEM learning nor is one path mandated or privileged over another. In our framework, we purposefully center inclusivity and adaptability to allow for a variety of experiences and to provide a helpful structure broadly applicable across organizations and institution types.
What are Competencies?
Competencies are the skills, knowledge, values, and other capabilities that enable a person to act effectively in a job or situation. The Informal STEM Learning Professional Competency Framework describes competencies associated with successful practice within the field. The framework provides a map to pinpoint where you are and where you might want to go.
What You’ll Find
In total, the framework describes 48 competencies—organized across four domains: Job-Specific Expertise, General Expertise, Institutional Operations, and Institutional Impact. Each domain has four categories with three proficiency levels. Explore each domain to see relevant competencies and proficiency levels:
- Institutional Operations: Competencies related to how institutions and organizations operate to support public activities.
- Institutional Impact: Competencies related to the impact of institutions.
- Job-specific Expertise: Competencies specific to a person’s area of practice, or the activities, routines, tasks, and other work professionals do each day to produce products, programs, or services.
- General Expertise: Competencies related “soft skills”, or to how people interact with their work and work environment.
Two domains—Institutional Operations and Institutional Impact—focus on understanding the ways institutions work within the informal STEM learning field, while the other two—Job-Specific Expertise and General Expertise—focus on the ways individuals work within institutions.
You can also explore the entire framework by downloading A Guide to the Informal STEM Learning Professional Competency Framework as well as a one-pager of the competency tables here.
This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grants 2215274 (active), 1514815, 1514884, 1514890, and 1515315. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.