Resilience, conscientiousness, openness – do these matter more than cognitive skills?

We're all  told, and most of us believe, that education makes a  big difference to people's lives;  but what exactly is it about the education that has such an impact?  I've just been at a meeting organised by the OECD's Centre for Educational Research and Innovation, where I used to work.   One of the meeting's primary topics was how far so-called 'non-cognitive' skills/characteristics such as resilience, conscientiousness or ability to relate to others contribute to individuals' success, as compared with traditional cognitive skills such as levels of literacy or numeracy. The project is looking particularly at the social outcomes of learning,  ie how education does (or doesn't) affect issues such as crime, health…
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