Social And Emotional Learning (SEL) Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Component (Solutions, Services), By End-user, By Type, By Core Competencies, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2023 - 2030

SEL Market Size & Trends

The global social and emotional learning (SEL) market size was valued at USD 2.31 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 24.3% from 2023 to 2030. SEL is the process through which youth, children, and adults effectively acquire the attitudes, knowledge, and skills necessary to manage and understand emotions, feel & show empathy for others, make responsible decisions, achieve positive goals, and maintain positive relationships. The COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the significance of SEL and addressed the need for a more comprehensive approach to kids' learning and development.

For instance, in June 2021, Kinful, a web development studio offering social and emotional learning programs, surveyed schools increasingly turning to SEL programs. The survey stated that students who take part in school-based social and emotional learning programs have benefits over their peers who do not experience any such involvement in SEL.

SEL is defined as the process by which individuals apply and acquire core skills in five interrelated areas, namely - social awareness, self-management, self-awareness, relationship skills, and responsible decision-making. Parents provide excellent support for their children's social and emotional development. Still, a network of support for building social and emotional competencies in children must be made through coordination between school staff, families, and community resources.

These skills are actively reinforced in the classroom through extracurricular activities, support services, after-school activities, and service-learning programs. SEL also improves students' social and emotional competence by fostering learning environments that are caring, safe, well-managed, cooperative, and interactive. SEL adoption as part of the core curriculum is being promoted by associations and governments. In the U.S., Federal policy plays a vital role in creating conditions that promote districtwide and statewide adoption of SEL so that all students could benefit.

Furthermore, it promotes SEL for students, supports adults' SEL capacity building and competencies, and aligns efforts that leverage community assets and schools to support the social, behavioral, and emotional needs of students and families. One of the most prevalent SEL strategies entails training teachers with the ability to teach social and emotional skills explicitly, then identifying opportunities for students to practice those skills throughout the day.

The growing adoption of smart devices and the increasing digitalization in the education sector are factors accelerating market growth. With the digitization of the educational sector, social and emotional education is also playing a significant role in the modernization and reformation of the educational environment globally. Further, government initiatives to promote digital infrastructure are accountable for driving the adoption of SEL.

The emergence of augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality technologies would provide an immersive social and emotional learning experience that would keep students engaged in their studies and motivate them to learn. AI can also be implemented to build an AI-based mentor that can assist students with grasping ideas, recommending courses, and providing feedback to enhance their learning experience.

Component Insights

The solutions segment led the market in 2022, accounting for a 74.0% share of the global revenue. The high share can be attributed to the widespread use of SEL solutions across emerging and developed economies, and their ease of deployment in places with poor internet connectivity. They are useful tools for educators to assist students in learning academic and non-cognitive skills.

Other growth-promoting aspects for the industry include several technological developments, such as incorporating SEL platforms with virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI), and cloud computing technologies. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the extensive adoption of online and virtual platforms by educational institutions. These platforms are reachable via servers and virtual private network (VPN) software.

Further, the market's expansion is also aided by the widespread use of computing technology in the kindergarten to 12th grade (K-12) sector. For instance, in May 2021, Aperture Education, a social enterprise focusing on social and emotional learning education, acquired Ascend, a student empowerment goal-setting platform, to expand its social and emotional learning offerings.

The acquisition aims to strengthen Aperture Education's SEL offerings for high schools with Ascend’s mobile-friendly software platform to engage students in SEL. The new platform allows students to access Aperture's DESSA-Student self-report, which students may use to evaluate their SEL competencies, goal-based SEL approaches, and real-time results.

The services segment is predicted to foresee significant growth in the forecast years. SEL services comprise training and support, consulting, and deployment & integration. They encourage educational institutions and organizations with high integration capabilities to seek out applications. Several publishers provide books that employ the SEL approach for the social and emotional development of children to help them acquire critical skills that will be effective in the classroom and during their lives. Many schools have implemented a ‘whole-child’ system for SEL services to help students deal with stress and trauma.

Type Insights

The web-based segment dominated the market in 2022 and accounted for a revenue share of 58.0%. This high share is attributed to factors contributing to the increased adoption of digital transformation in K-12 schools. A web-based platform helps educators effectively drive collaboration and participation, empowering students & teachers to engage with the content safely and confidently. Teachers can utilize private messaging and video conferencing to nurture the class community and help foster SEL skills, whether students are learning from another location or inside the classroom.

For instance, in March 2021, the Committee for Children, a non-profit organization and a provider of SEL curriculum, launched a new program in its portfolio. The organization released its elementary digital program "Second Step," a fully web-based platform for grades K-5. The web-based platform would deliver a multimodal learning experience with integrated video, audio, and interactive components with various activities to help engage kids with new, age-appropriate content, both remotely and in person.

The application segment is anticipated to witness significant growth in the coming years, as it offers numerous resources and tools to help students enhance their social and emotional literacy. SEL applications teach listening, emotions, communication, and kindness skills to all. The SEL interactive app assists children in learning, dealing with their own emotions, and understanding why they experience many emotions. These applications allow students to overcome and cope with what they are going through.

For instance, in September 2022, Sesame Workshop, a U.S.-based non-profit organization, and BEGiN, an education company, launched an SEL app, "Learn with Sesame," that offers social-emotional learning skill development with a research-based framework. Through their interactive stories, games, videos, and songs, the app gives kids between 2-5 years of age opportunities to navigate everyday emotions and challenges, as they explore foundational concepts such as colors, shapes, numbers, and more.

Core Competencies Insights

The self-management segment led the social and emotional learning market in 2022, accounting for 30.6% of the global revenue share. The Center for the Advancement of Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL) defines self-management assuccessfully regulating one's behaviors, emotions, and thoughts in different situations. This regulation is achieved by effectively motivating oneself, managing stress, and creating impulses. Self-management is working and setting academic and personal goals without significant deviation.

The responsible decision-making segment is expected to showcase significant growth over the forecast period. The segment's rise can be attributable to various factors, including different cognitive biases, individual differences, socio-economic status, beliefs, and age in personal relevance. Responsible decision-making includes having the capacity to make thoughtful, helpful, and constructive decisions about actions and interactions on a personal and social level.

Knowing one's skills and areas for development allows a person to decide when to seek help while making important decisions. To evaluate the effects of actions or decisions on individual and social well-being, learners must be able to consider ethical and safety norms and standards.

The relationship skills segment is anticipated towitness substantial growth in the coming years. These skills involve listening actively, resisting inappropriate social pressure, communicating clearly, seeking help, and negotiating conflict constructively. Relationship skills are vital to human development, equipping students with the abilities, skills, and knowledge to solve problems, build positive relationships, and make intelligent decisions.

Furthermore, establishing leadership abilities is a significant aspect of the social-emotional learning module on interpersonal skills. Instilling such abilities entails fostering a sense of social justice and being capable of speaking up for the interests and rights of others, in addition to learning how to guide a group of people toward a common goal.

End-user Insights

The middle & high schools segment held the largest revenue share of over 43% in 2022.Educational advocates, such as teachers, principals, legislators, and parents, have shown enormous interest in implementing SEL solutions in middle & high schools for the development of students' academic and social skill sets. Implementing SEL in middle & high schools helps students recognize stress, and the different strategies to help them choose what approach might work for them and help manage it.

SEL teaches students critical life skills to create a positive learning environment, where all students can learn and thrive in a classroom and have optimal resources. For instance, teaching students about respect and empathy will help develop a sense of community and create a supportive environment for learning. Programs for social and emotional learning generally strive to encourage what is best for students' academic, social, and emotional development.

The elementary school segment is expected to witness significant growth in the coming years, owing to the rising adoption of SEL by these institutions to support healthy child development by improving their concentration and memory, as well as creating a positive outlook, to make students more capable of focusing on their education. The use of SEL benefits teachers and enhances kids' enthusiasm for learning. Furthermore, teachers can choose the ideal SEL program for their classrooms and children once the requirement has been identified, ensuring that each student's necessities are fulfilled.

For instance, in November 2021, HundrED.org, a not-for-profit organization, partnered with The LEGO Foundation to create a social and emotional report, titled “Social & Emotional Learning Policymaker Report”, to identify scalable and impactful solutions that help educators and parents support the development of children's social and emotional skills.

The partnership aims to seek focused, intentional, and active innovations to foster SEL skills in children aged between 5-12 years. Furthermore, the report stated its aim to discover 10 to 20 innovations that support secure learning environments, build nurturing relations, are receptive to the requirements of learners, and may be implemented into many sociocultural contexts.

The pre-K segment is expected to expand at the fastest CAGR during the projected period, owing to the rising usage of engaging education methodologies such as animated SEL programs and interactive gaming, which act as a catalyst for the segment's growth. The corporate segment is also expected to showcase significant growth over the forecast period, as integrating SEL in the workplace supports the development and building of the five major competencies in employees.

For instance, an employee with a high level of relationship skills and self-awareness, such as good relationship building or communication, will be able to process a change in the workplace that they find distressing in a constructive way. Collective wellness, equity, and social-emotional intelligence must be at the core of this work to establish inclusive and conducive work environments that are secure and safe for employees.

Regional Insights

North America dominated the market in 2022, accounting for over 40% share of the global revenue. Developed countries like Canada and the U.S. drive the regional market's growth. Many provinces in Canada, the U.S., and Mexico are integrating social and emotional learning solutions and programs into their education. Governments in the North American region are investing more in the implementation of SEL capabilities. These factors would boost the demand for different SEL solutions and software.

The rising number of global SEL businesses is projected to aid the expanding market. For instance, in April 2022, Panorama Education, a U.S.-based data analytics company that helps educators to improve students' outcomes in SEL, launched Panaroma for Positive Behavior for K-12 learners and educators. The tool was developed in response to studies that revealed that positive behavior supports help in creating a safe environment for learning.

It encourages educators to record data and praise for positive behaviors, set goals for positive behaviors, and track students' growth over time. The tool has three parts, namely behavior logging, behavior analytics, and behavior boost, and is accessible to learners and educators as both a desktop version and a mobile app.

Asia Pacific is likely to possess lucrative market growth opportunities in the coming years. Leading players in the APAC SEL market are focusing on improving their investments, product portfolios, e-learning solutions; increasing the proliferation of distance education; and undertaking strategic partnerships to create both robust and easy functionality. The market expansion is further aided by the extensive availability of online courses and programs provided by schools, colleges, and universities.

Additionally, it enables the market to adapt to the diverse educational needs in many regional economies, such as China, India, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, and Southeast Asian countries. Furthermore, one of the key factors driving the growth of the APAC regional market for social and emotional learning is the increasing adoption of various cutting-edge technologies and solutions by schools and other educational institutions.

Key Companies & Market Share Insights

Well-established as well as emerging players have focused on organic and inorganic strategies to tap into the global market. In doing so, industry players are poised to focus on mergers & acquisitions, innovations, geographical expansions, product offerings, and technological advancements.

For instance, in January 2023, 7 Mindsets, a provider of educational programs focused on SEL, acquired xSEL Labs, a creator of scalable systems to address and assess children's emotional and social needs. The acquisition aims to strengthen the former’s position, expand its offerings, and provide a more robust and diverse set of resources for schools and districts in the U.S.

As investments in SEL during pre-K, elementary, middle, and high school levels could prepare students for academic achievement and positive behaviors both in and out of the classroom, leading players are slated to play a vital role in modernizing K-12 education. Companies are likely to invest in solutions such as platforms and assessment tools and applications expanding SEL education in primary and secondary schools. Some of the prominent players in the global social and emotional learning (SEL) market include:

• Imagine Learning LLC.

• Positive Action, Inc.

• 7 Mindsets

• SchoolMint

• EVERFI, Inc.

• Playworks

• Rethink.

• Move This World

• Growing Leaders

• Ori Learning

Social And Emotional Learning (SEL) Market Report Scope

Global Social And Emotional Learning Market Report Segmentation

This report forecasts revenue growth at the global, regional, and country levels and provides an analysis of the latest industry trends in each of the sub-segments from 2017 to 2030. For this study, Grand View Research has segmented the global social and emotional learning (SEL) market report based on component, end-user, type, core competencies, and region:

• Component Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2017 - 2030)

  • Solutions

    • Social & Emotional Learning Platform

    • Social & Emotional Learning Assessment Platform

  • Services

    • Consulting

    • Deployment & Integration

    • Training & Support

• End-user Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2017 - 2030)

  • Pre-K

  • Elementary Schools

  • Middle & High Schools

  • Corporate

• Type Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2017 - 2030)

  • Web-based

  • Application

• Core Competencies Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2017 - 2030)

  • Self-Awareness

  • Self-Management

  • Social Awareness

  • Relationship Skills

  • Responsible Decision-Making     

• Regional Outlook (Revenue, USD Billion, 2017 - 2030)

  • North America

    • U.S.

    • Canada

    • Mexico

  • Europe

    • UK

    • Germany

    • France

  • Asia Pacific

    • China

    • Japan

    • India

  • Central & South America

    • Brazil

  • Middle East & Africa