Abstract:

The introduction of Social Innovation Competences in the curricula of Higher Education institutions is a recent topic of discussion, that aims to address the gaps have been consistently described in academic literature about the competences that graduates students have towards those demanded by the labour market. Overall, the calls for the development of transversal competences, that correspond to many of the demands for Social Innovation competence, is a timely and generalized concern among educators, employers, students and policy makers, integrating the agendas and debates for public policies concerning the future of work and qualifications. This article described that research work that was conducted in the European project Students4Change, to refine and validate a self-assessment instrument to support the evaluation of Social Innovation competence in young graduates. The research work involved the collaboration of 5 European and 10 Latin America HEIs, from Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Costa Rica and Colombia. The data analysis yielded a model with the following transversal competences related to Social Innovation: personal, collaborative and transformational competences. We discuss the research and practice implications of using a validated instrument to assess social innovation competences among higher education students. The validation study was conducted with a large sample of Brazilian higher education students.

Keywords:

Social Innovation, Competences, Higher Education, Labour Market Transition, Young Graduates, Instrument Validation.