Perception of the key competencies of lifelong learning and employability of university students and graduates from Colombia and México

The implementation of strategies to strengthen key competencies for lifelong learning requires considering the environment and perspectives of different actors. This research aims to describe the perception of university students and graduates regarding the eight key competencies for lifelong learning, from their impact on employability, mastery achieved and need for strengthening. The research is quantitative, exploratory, cross-sectional and non-experimental with a descriptive approach. The results showed that university students and graduates coincide in the competencies perceived as having the greatest need for strengthening: multilingual, the one with the greatest mastery: citizenship and with the greatest impact on employability: digital, which fulfills the hypotheses raised. In the results by country, Mexicans and Colombians coincide in the competencies of need for strengthening: multilingual and impact on employability: digital. They differ in domain: Colombians perceive citizenship and Mexicans additionally perceive social personnel and learning to learn and cultural awareness and expression.