The Role of Knowledge in the Education of Managers: Comparative Analysis of Poland and United Kingdom

Globalisation and internationalisation processes pose particular challenges for universities. Modern universities ought to realise the educational process supplying comprehensive knowledge which allows students to solve socio-economic problems. The present study aimed at defining the importance of managerial competencies, taking particular interest in knowledge, in students’ prospective professional career and the level which these competencies were gained to in the course of studies. On the basis of these stipulations an attempt was made to define the competence gap (perceived as the difference in the level of competencies required and gained in reality). The empirical material was collected on the basis of a diagnostic survey conducted in 2011. The survey was carried out in Lublin, Poland and Huddersfield, Great Britain. Respondents group consisted of final year students of economics and management university courses from three state universities in Lublin, namely John Paul II Catholic University, Maria Sklodowska-Curie University and Lublin University of Technology, and Business School University of Huddersfield as well. Research results revealed that among both respondent groups, the importance of evaluated competencies exceeded the level of competencies gained during studies. The level of declared managerial competencies gained during studies differs in a statistically significant manner in favour of students from Polish universities.