The aim of this paper is to explore the key sustainability competencies increasing the employability of higher education graduates in Poland. Based on the results of a broad literature review on key sustainability competencies, the substantive contribution to a coherent framework of typologies of sustainability competencies will be synthesised. The developed research framework will subsequently be analysed with empirical data, collected by in-depth interviews (IDI) and focus group interviews (FGI) on the relevant employability competencies for the Polish labour market. This enables the elimination of critical gaps in the conceptualisation of the key sustainability competencies of higher education (HE) graduates related to the current and future labour market needs. The results of the analysis can make a contribution to sustainable HE graduate employability literature by exploring the links between employability and sustainability competencies. The results may be relevant to institutional support in the design and review of educational programs and training in order to foster sustainability competencies development.
The currently implemented reform of Poland’s science and higher education system extensively draws on the principles of new public management in both curricula and management. It also replicates, at times uncritically, the changes put into effect in European higher education institutions. As early as 2017, the intentions of the decision makers were made clear by the introduction of a new funding algorithm, which completely altered the existing rules of the game. This algorithm particularly affected public economics universities, which were forced to make some adaptations. In this article, we focus on ways in which economics universities adapted to two specific solutions proposed by the legislator, that is, (1) the new funding algorithm and (2) the new career path called ‘teaching professorship’. Based on an in-depth study and using the theories of new institutionalism, we explore the mechanisms of adaptation to the new provisions as they apply to public economics universities. Finally, we identify and discuss four kinds of risks resulting directly from the new public management–based assumptions adopted by the reformers, namely, (1) the invasiveness of the proposed changes, (2) the fragmentary perception of the science and higher education system, (3) the inconsistency of the actions and (4) the ostensible adaptation measures taken by the institutions.
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