Shaping the competences of graduates of higher education for the needs of the EU labour market : case study of business school students

It is a well-known fact that undergraduate students have to be equipped with relevant types of key competencies in order to be successful in the job market. Complex challenges that companies face in today's world and the fast development of technology shift employer’s expectation for knowledge towards competency and abilities to use skills and talents (European Commission, 2010). Higher Education Institutions need to create a curriculum that will support students to develop a correct set of life long competencies. However, in many cases students struggle to recognize the importance of developing key competencies during their time at University and only focus on key knowledge. That is why Higher Education Institutions struggle to convince students of the value of certain activities which take place within the curriculum. The aim of this paper is to investigate the perception of Business School Students of key competencies of lifelong learning. The applied research procedure combines analysis of the literature with empirical research and is based upon searching for the answer to the questions about how Business School students view the importance of lifelong learning competencies. The research shows that the most desired lifelong learning competencies by business programme students are experience, industry expertise, certificates, awards confirming completion of studies/programs/skills, followed by technology competencies and cultural awareness