Competence

The meaning of competence (or competency) can vary in different contexts. Generally, it refers to the quality of a person's mental or physical capabilities. The term is regularly used in the business, educational, legal, and psychological arenas. The assessment of an individual's competence can play a large role in determining their ability to do a job, succeed in school, actively participate in legal proceedings, or properly interact with others in social settings. Competence can refer to a person's ability to make rational decisions for themselves. To prove that they can function well in an environment or make informed decisions, an individual typically must display a minimum level of understanding and skill in a particular setting to demonstrate competence.

Types of Competence

Competence often is used as a basic measure of an individual's ability to succeed in various settings. The following are descriptions of competence as it pertains to business, education, law, and psychology.

Business

In a corporate setting, competence is a person's ability to perform a task, including their observable skills, personal traits, and inherent knowledge. Employers judge competence in two settings: job interviews, which allow employers to assess whether a person is suited for a particular position, and performance reviews, which allow employers to evaluate the ongoing effectiveness of an employee. The latter type of assessment is often tied to monetary raises and promotions. It may also be used to assess skill gaps to assign continuing education and career advancement opportunities appropriately. To be considered competent at a job, an individual must demonstrate a consistent ability to apply their respective skills to their assigned duties. Generally, competence incorporates the ability to successfully work with coworkers to accomplish assigned tasks in a group setting. It is the ability to represent the values and interests of one's employer in a professional manner. Assessing competence may occur through direct observations of a person's ability to complete tasks in a satisfactory manner, one-on-one conversations with an employee, reviews of daily workbooks, or testimonials from superiors and coworkers.

Education

In education, competence refers to a student's abilities in the classroom. Competent students can follow a curriculum and absorb information as it is presented. To that end, some educators have adopted a form of curriculum called competency-based education. Under this methodology, students move at their own pace by demonstrating their understanding of the material rather than being graded on their ability to remember the material. For instance, under traditional educational frameworks, students advance to another grade simply by gaining a passing grade over an academic year. In competency-based education, students continue to learn the same materials until they show a comprehensive understanding of it. For some students, this may mean progressing very quickly. For others, it may mean more intensive study is necessary.

Law

In a legal sense, competence refers to a person's ability to understand the nature of their actions. It may be applied in various legal settings, including criminal and civil courts. In general, competence is used to assess a person's mental capacity. Demonstrating competency is important because it allows a judge to assess a person's ability to assist in a courtroom setting (either as a witness or as a defendant) or to determine their ability to make decisions about their life. A person is deemed legally incompetent when the court believes that they are incapable of making rational decisions or being legally responsible for their actions. In such cases, the court may appoint a guardian to make decisions on the person's behalf.

Serious mental health conditions, psychiatric disorders, declining health, or advanced age can affect a person's ability to differentiate between right and wrong. A judge's decision to deem a person incompetent does not necessarily mean that a person is incapable. Rather, competence is a legal definition used to determine court actions. For instance, a person living with a mental health condition may lead a full, productive life but, in some cases, may not meet the strict definition of legal competency. Similarly, a person with dementia may be able to live independently, but if a court decides that they are legally incompetent, they may not be able to serve as a witness or make certain decisions, such as making changes to their will or choosing their medical treatments. In criminal cases, a judge's finding that a person is incompetent can affect both how the trial is conducted and how sentences are determined.

Evaluations of competency typically require a psychiatric test and a physical examination. Doctors giving such tests will review a patient's history, the results of certain physical and mental tests (which may include laboratory results), and a personal interview. After making a competency assessment, a doctor will offer their opinion to the judge. In the United States, a judge is required to assume that all adults are competent unless provided definitive evidence to the contrary.

Psychology

Psychologists use the term social competency to measure a person's social ability. To be a successful member of society, people need to develop certain skills that will allow them to interact normally with others. Functional social competency requires the use of several skill sets, including emotional, cognitive, and behavioral aptitudes. For many children, these skills are learned intuitively through normal social interactions. For others, special instruction may be required to help them understand the social cues that will allow them to develop and maintain healthy long-term relationships.

Competency can also refer to a person's ability to learn a new skill. According to this idea, people learn new skills in four stages: unconscious incompetence, in which a person not only lacks a particular skill but also has no knowledge of their deficit; conscious incompetence, in which a person identifies the need for a skill; conscious competence, in which an individual develops a basic capability in a skill; and unconscious competence, in which a skill becomes an ingrained part of a person's life.

Bibliography

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Junge, Caroline, et al. “The Building Blocks of Social Competence: Contributions of the Consortium of Individual Development.” Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, vol. 45, 2020, p. 100861, doi.org/10.1016/j.dcn.2020.100861. Accessed 5 Dec. 2024.

Lasse, Cheryl. "What Is a Competency Assessment?" Association for Talent Development, 28 Jan. 2020, www.td.org/content/atd-blog/what-is-a-competency-assessment. Accessed 5 Dec. 2024.

Meacham, John A. "The Concept of Nature: Implications for Assessment of Competence." Criteria for Competence: Controversies in the Conceptualization and Assessment of Children's Abilities, edited by Michael Chandler and Michael Chapman, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2013, pp. 43–68.

"What Is Competency-Based Education?" American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, www.aacnnursing.org/essentials/tool-kit/competency-based-education. Accessed 5 Dec. 2024.