The purpose of this paper is to review the different ways in which transferable skills has been measured, and to assess the implications of such conceptualisations for employability and the design of curriculum programs.

This paper explores three issues. First it examines how and by whom technical or hard skills are defined and measured, contrasting these conventional or commonly adopted definitions with the alternative definitions and measurements of transferable skills. Second, it discusses the difference between discrete and continuous variables of skill as adopted in the measurements used by employers, industry, and the European Commission. Third, it evaluates the implications of the different measurement approaches for policy analysis.