Skills for the future: Assessment of the effects of the "Company Programme" in Serbia

Abstract

The changes brought about by the Fourth Industrial Revolution across all areas of human activity have had a significant impact on the knowledge and skills requirements of the population. Research shows that in the era of automation, in addition to the need to develop basic digital skills for all, and advanced digital skills for a certain group of workers, the need to develop social and emotional skills is also on the rise. The development of creativity, innovation, analytical and critical thinking, teamwork, self-efficacy, emotional intelligence is gaining in importance. These skills are an integral part of entrepreneurial competence and are developed through entrepreneurship education. Today, entrepreneurship education is approached in a broader context, as education that is crucial for personal development and realization, education that enables individuals to adapt to dynamic changes in the labour market and be active members of society. There are several approaches, methods and models of entrepreneurship education. According to worldwide experience, the best effects in the development of entrepreneurial competencies are achieved through informal types of education, and the "Company Programme" (CP) has globally been recognized as an example of good practice. This programme is based on experiential learning and is implemented in high schools. In order to provide recommendations for the selection of optimal solutions in the approach to entrepreneurship education in Serbia, a study was conducted to assess the effects of the implementation of the Company Programme on the development of entrepreneurial competencies. The research was carried out with the 2018/2019 school year generation of the Company Programme participants, from 74 schools in 45 cities in Serbia. Based on the results obtained, we may come to the conclusion that the Company Programme has resulted in very high development of student self-efficacy (Cohen's d 1.39), great progress in the development of teamwork skills and project management (Cohen's d of 0.89 and 0.79, respectively) and moderate progress in creativity (Cohen's d 0.56).