Skills of Tomorrow – Competencies of the Future.
An interdepartmental development program for students at the University of Lodz (editions 2024-2025), designed and implemented in cooperation with Xpert-In-Processes and based on real decision-making challenges.
BRIDGE
The “Skills of Tomorrow – Competencies of the Future” program was created as a response to the growing gap between academic education and the real challenges young people face when they enter the labor market. The university provides directional knowledge, while the modern professional world primarily verifies the way of thinking, decision-making, cooperation and dealing with ambiguous situations.
For this reason, the program was designed as an interdepartmental activity, open to students of different majors and years. Its goal was not to prepare for a specific profession, but to develop universal competencies of the future that remain relevant regardless of career path.
EXPERIENCE
Each edition of the program lasted three months and took the form of intensive, practical classes based on experience rather than lectures. Students worked on real scenarios taken from business, projects, teams and crisis situations. The program featured more than a dozen developmental topics and numerous exercises and simulation games, including communication, cooperation, decision-making, problem-solving, working under pressure and team responsibility.
The classes were conducted in a formula that engaged participants in action: case studies, decision-making simulations, team games and working on dilemmas that students will encounter in their professional lives much sooner than traditional study programs provide. The key was not to provide “ready answers,” but to confront participants with the consequences of their choices.
LEGITIMATE
The program was implemented in two editions in 2024-2025 at the University of Lodz and received very high evaluations from both students and university authorities. The Dean’s plenipotentiary for cooperation with business, Dr. Agnieszka Stawikowska-Marcinkowska, confirmed the highest quality of the implementation of the classes, the completeness of the didactic documentation and the high level of satisfaction of the participants, as expressed in student surveys.
As a result, the Department is considering expanding its collaboration with Xpert-In-Processes in future semesters in joint research and teaching activities.
This was not just another academic class.
It was a conscious preparation of students for the reality that is yet to come.
