Student Cooperatives

The aim of this paper is to reconstruct the knowledge and approach of young people to the issue of social entrepreneurship as an area of activity important for shaping key competences in the New Economy. The additional aim of the paper is to describe the feeling of readiness of young people to act as an agent, both in relation to society and this economy. Design/methodology/approach: To achieve this goal, a diagnostic study was carried out (based on the so-called task catalogue) with a group of over 500 students studying at vocational schools, high schools and technical colleges in Greater Poland, as well as 3 workshops with students representing particular types of schools. Findings: The research established that students are aware of the possibility of participation in the social world through the broadly understood social entrepreneurship and activity in the third sector. It was also established that they are very aware of the possibilities and the need for agency in this area. The discussed resources of students translate into competences necessary in the New Economy. Research limitations/implications: Contemporary research with adolescents requires taking into account a number of factors that may affect their course. In more extensive research, these issues will certainly be worth considering already at the stage of conceptualization of the research and construction of research tools. Practical implications: Social entrepreneurship of young people is constantly transforming and although its subject is changing (from activities related to shared management to activities related to social solidarity and civic attitudes), it invariably refers to joint activities on the border of economic and social reality. The approach of young people to the implementation of socially useful tasks is also changing. Young people see them as an opportunity both to solve social problems and to meet the challenges related to changes in the postmodern world. Social implications: The competences gained by young people make them more aware and engaged citizens, but also more aware and responsible future participants of the New Economy. Originality/value: The paper reconstructs the resources, approach and attitudes of young people towards the possibilities of agency offered by social entrepreneurship. The collected knowledge was analysed on the basis of the competence challenges posed by the New Economy for the New Generation project.

Purpose: Paper is an attempt at theoretical and practical answer to the question about the economic preparation of young people for Economy 4.0. Design/methodology/approach: The paper consists of a literature study relating to research findings on multicompetence vs specialization of youth attending secondary schools and a review of own research with young people carried out as part of the project "New Generation in the New Economy" carried out at the Poznań University of Economics and Business in 2021-2022. Findings: The results confirm high correlations between competencies. Authors calculated also the Competencies Index, as the arithmetic mean from normalized results of all measured competencies. This lead to the recognition of inconstant variabilities of competencies along the Competencies Index results. The variability of competencies levels is much bigger among students with average lower multicompentecies index. Research limitations/implications: The results of the conducted own research seem worth carrying out on subsequent groups of respondents and on a larger population of them. Particular attention should be paid to the research sample-panel studies taking into account cultural differences, age, gender and the type of school attended by the respondents seem particularly interesting in the future. The undertaken research topic is undoubtedly worth exploring and more extensive research. Practical implications: As indicated by literature research, the competences analyzed in the paper are the subject of interest of various stakeholders (including scientists, institutions and organizations responsible for education or the future of the labor market). Originality/value: The novelty of the paper comes from unique research consisting all the most important competencies. This allowed to measure the relations between them, calculate the multicompetencies index and check if inter-competency differentiation is different in the group of people well prepared for Economy 4.0 and in the group of people with worse preparation.

Purpose: Paper is an attempt at theoretical and practical answer to the question about the economic preparation of young people for Economy 4.0.
Design/methodology/approach: The paper consists of a literature study relating to research findings on multicompetence vs specialization of youth attending secondary schools and a review of own research with young people carried out as part of the project "New Generation in the New Economy" carried out at the Poznań University of Economics and Business in 2021-2022.
Findings: The results confirm high correlations between competencies. Authors calculated also the Competencies Index, as the arithmetic mean from normalized results of all measured competencies. This lead to the recognition of inconstant variabilities of competencies along the Competencies Index results. The variability of competencies levels is much bigger among students with average lower multicompentecies index.
Research limitations/implications: The results of the conducted own research seem worth carrying out on subsequent groups of respondents and on a larger population of them. Particular attention should be paid to the research sample-panel studies taking into account cultural differences, age, gender and the type of school attended by the respondents seem particularly interesting in the future. The undertaken research topic is undoubtedly worth exploring and more extensive research.
Practical implications: As indicated by literature research, the competences analyzed in the paper are the subject of interest of various stakeholders (including scientists, institutions and organizations responsible for education or the future of the labor market). Originality/value: The novelty of the paper comes from unique research consisting all the most important competencies. This allowed to measure the relations between them, calculate the multicompetencies index and check if inter-competency differentiation is different in the group of people well prepared for Economy 4.0 and in the group of people with worse preparation.

The aim of this paper is to reconstruct the knowledge and approach of young people to the issue of social entrepreneurship as an area of activity important for shaping key competences in the New Economy. The additional aim of the paper is to describe the feeling of readiness of young people to act as an agent, both in relation to society and this economy. Design/methodology/approach: To achieve this goal, a diagnostic study was carried out (based on the so-called task catalogue) with a group of over 500 students studying at vocational schools, high schools and technical colleges in Greater Poland, as well as 3 workshops with students representing particular types of schools. Findings: The research established that students are aware of the possibility of participation in the social world through the broadly understood social entrepreneurship and activity in the third sector. It was also established that they are very aware of the possibilities and the need for agency in this area. The discussed resources of students translate into competences necessary in the New Economy. Research limitations/implications: Contemporary research with adolescents requires taking into account a number of factors that may affect their course. In more extensive research, these issues will certainly be worth considering already at the stage of conceptualization of the research and construction of research tools. Practical implications: Social entrepreneurship of young people is constantly transforming and although its subject is changing (from activities related to shared management to activities related to social solidarity and civic attitudes), it invariably refers to joint activities on the border of economic and social reality. The approach of young people to the implementation of socially useful tasks is also changing. Young people see them as an opportunity both to solve social problems and to meet the challenges related to changes in the postmodern world. Social implications: The competences gained by young people make them more aware and engaged citizens, but also more aware and responsible future participants of the New Economy. Originality/value: The paper reconstructs the resources, approach and attitudes of young people towards the possibilities of agency offered by social entrepreneurship. The collected knowledge was analysed on the basis of the competence challenges posed by the New Economy for the New Generation project.