COMPETENCES FOR SOCIAL INNOVATION: AN INTERNATIONAL EXPLORATORY STUDY

Social Innovation is a key element in the development of modern societies that is motivating a number of calls for the development of new and adequate approaches for education and training. The characteristics of social innovation projects call for the qualification of individuals for the engagement in collaborative forms of organization, in order to address social needs in a sustainable manner. This context is triggering changes in Higher Education Institutions (HEI), which play an important role in the development of core competences, and are leading to important changes in the curriculum of their programs. This paper presents the results of an exploratory study focusing on the identification and characterization of competences associated with the qualification for Social Innovation. This works corresponded to a preliminary fieldwork phase aiming at the development of a measurement scale, targeted to young graduates, to the evaluation of their perceived levels of social innovation competences. The study involved an extensive literature review and interviews with experts that allowed for the identification of three dimensions of competences that are relevant for social innovation and transformation: personal, collaborative and transformational competences. The development of the instrument, including the specification and validation of competence statements and the collection of data, was conducted under the scope of the Erasmus+ project "Students4Change", involving both European and Latin America HEIs. Data collected from international students was used for the refinement and validation of the proposed competence dimensions, involving 128 questions, corresponding to 32 social innovation and entrepreneurial competences, covering the dimensions of personal competences (16), collaborative competences (10) and transformational competences (6). The data collected also allowed for a preliminary characterization of the social innovation competences' profile for the sample of international students in the study. The aim of this study is to contribute to the body of knowledge on personal, collaborative and transformational competences, developing tools and measures useful to develop education and training responses to meet the demands of the labour market in this perspective of social innovation.