Importance of hard and soft skills of business schools' graduates in the opinion of employers

Resum

Adjusting curricula to the labor market is currently one of the main challenges in university management. The decreasing number of candidates for studies and increasing competition between universities causes more and more frequent modifications of educational programs. This situation particularly applies to business universities. The dynamics of changes in the socio-economic environment and the development of technologies determining the functioning of business make it necessary to constantly develop the educational offer at business universities. In the context of these challenges, a question arises about the value of skills developed during education. This question relates to the relationship between hard and soft skills? The first of them are primarily shaped in the process of education at universities. They are related to the acquisition of substantive knowledge and various technical and analytical skills. The latter, as a rule, is only slightly influenced by universities. They are related to individual features as well as conditions and activities that take place outside the university education program. This study presents the results of research on the importance of hard and soft skills of business university graduates for potential employers. The research method used was an interview with employers from southern Poland using a questionnaire form. The results were compiled on the basis of over 300 obtained questionnaires. As a result, the most desirable hard and soft skills of business university graduates were identified.