socioemotional-skills
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- PaperETS Research Report Series30 Jan 2026
Keep Calm and Carry On: A Conceptual Framework for Perseverance
Kevin Williams, Guangming Ling, Jose Sotelo, Wyman Brantley et al.
The paper proposes a new conceptual framework for perseverance, defining it as two subskills: emotional resilience and effortful persistence. It addresses ambiguities in previous definitions and is designed for youth education settings. The framework distinguishes perseverance from overlapping constructs and discusses implications for measurement and malleability.
Original abstract
Perseverance is a highly valued durable skill—a set of constructs also referred to as socioemotional skills, noncognitive constructs, transferrable skills, and 21st century skills, among other terms—as it describes one’s ability to manage challenges and obstacles in academic, workplace, and other life areas. As part of a new critical skills taxonomy designed to include academic and employability skills beyond traditional academic content knowledge, our novel conceptual framework of perseverance addresses the ambiguities of previous perseverance definitions. Specifically, our perseverance definition includes two subskills: emotional resilience and effortful persistence. We approach conceptualization with an eye towards relevance for youth settings (e.g., pre-kindergarten–Grade 12). We also compare this conceptual framework to previous definitions and distinguish it from overlapping constructs. We then describe each subskill’s relevance to outcomes across various settings. Additional implications of our conceptual framework, including measurement considerations and malleability, are discussed. Suggested citation: Williams, K. M., Ling, G., Sotelo, J., Brantley, W., Wang, Y., & Kinsey, D. (2026). Keep calm and carry on: A conceptual framework for perseverance (Research Report No. RR-26-01). ETS. https://doi.org/10.64634/5qd2rx29