More than half of respondents to the Wall Street Journal’s poll of 479 college recruiters said that the skill grads lack most is a combination of critical thinking, problem solving skills and the ability to think independently, the WSJ reports.

This isn’t to say that new grads are dumb. On the contrary: Sara Holoubek, chief executive of Luminary Labs, a boutique consulting firm in New York, says that the new grads she hires are more observant than their bosses. But they have trouble turning their observations into a strategy, she adds.

So schools are changing curricula to focus on critical and analytical thinking skills. George Washington University’s school of arts and sciences is changing its science requirement: “Freshmen will no longer simply complete a science class and get credit for a required course. They’ll have to prove proficiency in scientific reasoning to pass. To measure that, professors are designing evaluation standards and assignments to test students on their reasoning skills.”

The WSJ adds though that it’s not certain that today’s grads are lacking anything. It simply may be that the modern workplace demands more from everyone.

In the meantime, think hard. Employers like it.