Oualifications and competence of higher education institutions - from the employers perspective

Abstract

The author is presenting chosen results of the questionnaire survey conducted amongst over 600 employers from the entire Poland, this comprising almost 90 from the region of Masovia, pertaining to the demand for qualifications and competence of graduates of higher education institutions entering the labor market. The survey is pointing to a maladjustment of competence of graduates to the expectations of employers, and to a distinct divergence between the directional structure of education in Polish higher education institutions and the structure of the education expected by the economy. Graduates’ competence sought by employers are different from competence possessed by these graduates. Employers notice particularly the lack of well-developed generał, soft competence of the majority of graduates, competence that considerably increase the chances to get work and have a professional success. The article also contains information about the structure of the demand for graduates of specific groups of studies planned in surveyed companies for 2012-2015.