This article describes results of the survey, which was conducted in the context of investigating the readiness of selected companies in the Czech Republic to implement the principles of Industry 4.0. The main objective of the survey was to analyze the level of a basic knowledge of this topic in enterprises, the existence of appropriate strategies, responsible persons, and the general awareness among employees.

This article analyzes the available readiness indexes and maturity models applied for trends designated as “4.0”, with a focus on Industry 4.0, primarily within the countries of Europe. Based upon it, the available indexes and maturity models are organized into the individual layers of the metamodel; a proposal for this metamodel is this article’s main output. Simultaneously, as-yet-uncovered places for the development of existing maturity models, as well as space for further detailed research into the application of Industry 4.0 in theory and in practice, are identified on the basis of this metamodel.

Renowned international experts in higher education fi nancing have argued that, owing to large government defi cits, tertiary education will not be able to open up and meet growing demand unless cost-sharing principles and effi cient student fi nancial aid programmes are introduced. Opponents of cost-sharing in higher education object that introducing tuition fees will raise inequality in access to higher education. Drawing on OECD data, and focusing on college expectations, the authors argue that the effects of ability, gender, and socioeconomic background on college expectations are primarily shaped by the characteristics of secondary education systems, such as the degree of stratifi cation and vocational specifi city of secondary schools, while the principal characteristics of the tertiary education system, such as enrolment rates and the model of fi nancing, play a much less important role. The results clearly show that, after controlling for the effects of secondary school system characteristics, cost-sharing, as such or by degree, does not affect the formation of college expectations by ability, gender, and socioeconomic background as much as the selectivity of the secondary school system does.

The article deals with the analysis of available readiness indexes and maturity models for Industry 4.0. The main goal is to determine the extent to which these models and indexes are able to show a company's readiness from the point of view of its information system. Because this topic is not sufficiently dealt with in the available models there is a proposal focusing on the enterprise information system in the conclusion of this article.

The theme of this paper is student interest in future natural sciences-related careers. It is based on data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) survey that in 2006 focused attention on the science literacy achievements of students. The paper uses the methods of linear regression modelling and structural equation modelling in analysing the impact of student family background on the formation of interest in future science-related educational and occupational careers relative to the impact of school characteristics. An almost negligible impact of family on interest formation was found in the Czech Republic, Germany, Finland and Norway. On the other hand, the impact of school from the point of view of preparing students for future educational and career trajectories was found to be strong in all countries studied due to their influence on the degree of student awareness of science-related career opportunities ('science', as used in this paper, refers to the natural sciences). From the educational policy point of view, the results support the importance of career guidance.