Abstract:

Higher education is a field that simultaneously ensures the preparation of highly qualified specialists in the sectors needed in the labor market, the development and renewal of human research capital, and the formation of a knowledge base, which is an essential condition for the creation of new knowledge, technologies, and innovations and the design of a sustainable economic system.

In the UNESCO roadmap "Education for Sustainable Development 2030," it is stated that to shift to a sustainable future, education and other social actors need to rethink what, where and how we learn to develop the values, skills, knowledge, and attitudes that empower to make responsible decisions and take individual and collective action on local, national and global urgencies.

This statement reveals the importance of competencies not only in education but also in a global context. Therefore, in recent years, international organizations such as UNESCO have given them great importance, discussing them from cognitive, socio-emotional, and behavioral dimensions of learning.
Considering the rapid technological progress and global sustainability challenges, university students need creativity, critical thinking, initiative, and collaborative and networking skills to develop knowledge transfer and co-creation. All of the above can be promoted by developing innovative competence.
Students are also essential sources of knowledge, and understanding and analyzing their educational experiences, aspirations, achievements, and reflections can help research the innovation competence and the challenges and opportunities of acquiring it in higher education.

The study aims to reveal notions of bachelor's (n = 442), master's (n = 161), and doctoral (n = 43) level students from seven Latvian universities about innovative competence in the study process in five sub-competencies and its structures.

To achieve the aim of the study, the following research tasks were set:
1. Analyze the scientific literature on innovative competence and its main definitions.
2. Find out the notion of university students about innovative competence and its indicators in the study process.
3. Collect and analyze data using the method of descriptive and inferential statistics.

Students’ innovative competence was measured by survey that consisted of 63 Likert scale statements (7-point). The results indicate that students have evenly developed their innovative competencies and results in different sub-competencies are similar. Students has evaluated their teamwork as the highest sub-competence and networking as the lowest innovative sub-competence. The results indicate that the masters’ students have better innovative competencies than bachelor's students, while the mean value of evaluations of doctoral students does not differ significantly from those of the masters’ students. Employment is an essential factor that influences students’ perception of their innovative competencies. Students who are active in the labor market have self-assessed their innovative competencies higher than students who are only studying at the university.

Keywords:

Innovative Competence, Higher Education, Innovations, Innovative skills.