Digital competences of generation Z in the area of work and professional development

Purpose: The aim of the paper is to elaborate the structure of the concept of functional digital competences for young adults in the area of work and professional development, and to develop a tool for measuring it. Design/methodology/approach: Based on theoretical assumptions (Klimczuk et al., 2015; Nikodemska, 2016; Tarkowski et al., 2015) as well as empirical verification, the author elaborated a five-factor model of digital competences and a special questionnaire for measuring this concept was prepared. Author used such statistic methods as the EFA, the CFA, the Mann 12 Whitney U test, the Student’s t-test for independent samples, the Spearman’s rho correlation. Findings: The elaborated tool and model was validated and, in the majority, the socio 14 demographic factors (such: age, gender, education level, employability) affecting functional digital competencies were also statistically significant. Research limitations: the study include a relatively small research sample as well as its geographic scope was narrow – the research was conducted at a university of economics in Poland among a group where the school-to-work transition occurs smoothly, and the periods of education and work often overlap. The findings could also be affected by the situation related to the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting major shift of the entire society to online activity. Practical implication: The results show the areas of competency deficiencies in Polish Z generation and could help, by special developing programmes, make them more competitive on the European young people's labour market. Social implication: The development of a society’s digital competences is crucial because in an information society they are the ticket to a successful career and a comfortable, high-quality life. Originality/value: The paper presents the new model and a dedicated measuring tool to assess digital competences of generation Z in the area of work and professional development. It’s addressed to educators, employers, and specialists elaborating programme of society’s digitalization.

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Opracowanie rekordu ze środków MEiN, umowa nr SONP/SP/546092/2022 w ramach programu "Społeczna odpowiedzialność nauki" - moduł: Popularyzacja nauki i promocja sportu (2022-2023).