Contemporary Competencies from the Perspective of Students in the Humanities and Social Studies at Three Central European Universities. Research Findings from the Project “Enhancing Quality Teaching of Humanities and Social Sciences in Higher Educati

The text addresses the assessment of key competencies by students in the humanities and social sciences. It is based on research carried out in three universities: Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia (a total of 603 students were surveyed) in 2022 as part of (hidden for review). Exploratory and verification procedures were used in the analysis, including a description of the distribution of variables (determination of averages for each rank), correlation analysis (Pearson’s R coefficient; Chi-square), and significance tests of differences (Kruskal-Wallis tests). The 4Cs competencies, together with problem-solving skills, turn out to be the most important for Poles, Czechs, and Slovaks studying. With regard to the self-assessment of their own competencies, students ranked their own problem-solving,critical thinking, communication, creativity, and cooperation skills highest. Similarly, they rated these competencies as the most useful in the labour market. The low importance attributed to digital competences at work is surprising, given their consistent highlighting in the literature as an essential element of successful professionalization. On the other hand, when it comes to competencies related to self-management, the picture is more varied, including between universities, but generally reflects less consistency between the level of a given competence’s mastery and its future usefulness.