Economic competencies as part of 21st century skills and their relevance to predicting the choice of a study program

Bibliographic Data

ID12737483
AuthorsMichael Jüttler (0000-0003-1803-3671, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland, corresponding author), Stephan Schumann (University of Konstanz), Nicolas Hübner (0000-0003-3528-8086, University of Tübingen), Benjamin Nagengast (0000-0001-9868-8322, University of Tübingen)
Year2025
Volume24
Issue2-3
Pages182-214
Publication date2025-03-13
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCitizenship Social and Economics Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2047-1734 • E-ISSN: 2047-1734
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/14788047251314814
PMID41332925
OpenAlexW4408406771
LanguageEN
References cited83

The debate surrounding skills that young people will need in the future to master current national and global challenges is subject to a continuous, controversial process. A consensus has resulted in what are known as twenty-first-century skills. These skills aim to enable learners to form well-founded opinions and be educated to become responsible citizens. In this context, significant weight can be attributed to economic competencies, but it remains unclear what role economic competencies play in predicting study program choices. This paper provides a comprehensive discussion of economic competencies as a part of twenty-first-century skills and as a predictor for program choices. To achieve this, we analysed the economic competencies of 1397 Swiss students in different study programs. Based on multinomial regression models, our findings show that students in economics disciplines score higher in terms of economic knowledge and skills. However, considering motivational-affective dimensions of economic competencies, students in several other study programs have similar scores to those of economics students. This paper makes an important contribution regarding economic competencies as part of twenty-first-century skills and their domain-specificity when transitioning from secondary education to university

Economics education · Mathematics education · Political science · Primary education · Relevance (law · Sociology · Higher Education and Employability · Higher Education Research Studies · Labor market dynamics and wage inequality · Psychology