. "B SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO SUCCESS IN SCIENCE OR ENGINEERING." Careers in Science and Engineering: A Student Planning Guide to Grad School and Beyond. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 1996.
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Skills and Attributes that Contribute to a Successful Career as a Scientist, Engineer, Scholar, or Professional
Intellectual Skills
Honesty
Curiosity
Discrimination—ability to distinguish what is important from what is trivial
Imagination and creativity
Common sense
Objectivity
Intuition
Skill in observation of natural, technical, or social phenomena
Systematic problem-solving
A good memory
Capacity for logical reasoning, including abstract and theoretical reasoning
Capacity to draw logical inferences from observational and experimental data
Ability to conceive an explanatory hypothesis and design critical tests to evaluate it
Communication Skills
Capacity to retrieve information from published sources
Skill in learning by interview methods
Capacity to communicate in writing
Capacity to communicate orally
Skill in use of computers and other information-processing devices
