The Future Competencies of Service Specialists in the Current Service Economy

Abstract

This article analyzes the relationship between the requirements for the development of specialists’ supra-professional competencies in the service activities, imposed by the dynamics development of the service economy, and the students’ opinions about the importance of their development at the university. The methodological basis of the research includes the theoretical concepts of competence management and the service economy. The main method of the research is a comparative analysis of data from a students’ survey of the International Institute of Design and Service regarding the importance, self-assessment and opportunities for developing the specialists’ supra-professional competencies on the labor market. The authors have also applied the theoretical research methods (analysis, synthesis, specification, generalization, method of analogies), the methods of graphical presentation of the results and the mathematical statistics. The authors present a model of the specialist’ supra-professional competencies in the service economy, which has formed the basis for the development of the empirical part of the study. As a result, the authors have confirmed the hypothesis of lower self-esteem indicators in comparison with the students’ opinion on the importance of developing pre-professional competencies in the labor market. The revealed fact does not depend on the presence of students of a sample of current employment. It is established that there are statistically significant differences in the students’ opinions on the importance and the possibilities of developing the supra-professional competencies at the university. The authors make a conclusion about the need to increase attention to the development of the supra-professional competencies, the list of which is supposed to be supplemented with socio-emotional and digital competencies that are important for the effective activity of the graduates in the digital service environment.