Abstract:

Young employees need a high level of different types of skills, such as hard, soft, and digital to build a successful career in the 21st century. According to scholars, soft (also called “people”, “interpersonal”, “transferable” or “employability”) skills are intangible and more difficult to acquire. The higher education environment shapes the processes of developing and experiencing soft skills.

Leadership is one of the most crucial employability skills that could be developed at university. How undergraduate management students could enhance their leadership competencies? This paper answers the question addressing the research conducted at the LMSU Faculty of Economics (Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Economics) among management students.

The purpose of this research was to examine the dynamics of undergraduate students’ leadership competencies development. Leadership competency was measured by distinct criteria, such as encouragement and involvement, “planning” and “control” of the team’s work, taking responsibility, etc. The participants were management students (from the 1st year to the 4th year of study).

Based on the assessment data obtained from 2017 to 2022 with an annual sample of about 300 undergraduate students, the authors found negative year-to-year changes. Empirical results indicated that leadership competency was declining after the 2nd year of study for students admitted from 2017 to 2019 year and after the 1st year – for those admitted in 2020 and 2021. Overall, 1st- and 2nd-year students demonstrated better results than 3rd- and 4th-year students.

The authors describe factors affecting students’ leadership competencies development, discuss the main causes of negative dynamics (restrictions during the pandemic COVID-19, psychological factors, etc.), and propose measures to improve the situation.

Keywords:

Leadership, soft skills, managerial competencies, management education, education and research, Russia.