International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning, 2(1), 3–23
The Assessment of Competence
in University Adult Education:
A Dynamic Approach
Andrea Bikfalvi
University of Girona, Spain
Assumpció Rafart
University of Girona, Spain
Núria Mancebo
University of Girona, Spain
The present paper aims to explore the field of adult education and compe-
tence development in university settings. An ICT-based tool was used to as-
sess three successive target groups of professionals considered adult stu-
dents. Our results have a research and practical series of implications. In-
dividuals gain self-knowledge and perception in terms of present and future
competences; furthermore, the process of self-analysis could be initiated.
Group level results are important for teachers and educators helping them
towards a student-centred teaching/learning initiative, putting emphasis on
the issue and managing diversity. Educational management can improve the
quality of teaching and design a competitive path through differentiation.
Keywords: competence; competence assessment; competence development;
change; educational leadership; adult education; learning
Introduction
Presently there is a rich knowledge base on nations’, regions’ and firms’
competitive advantage. Moving towards a more micro level approach, it is
interesting to tackle the issues of individuals. Competences can be thought
of as the competitive advantage that human beings have. Their existence
and levels of achievement can have an impact on performance. Traditional
business environments have placed special emphasis on competences, re-
sulting in a relatively rich source of knowledge in terms of models, levels
of achievement, measurement tools and methods, certification systems,
and other aspects. A great deal of discussion occurs around the topic of
educational environments, internationally at all levels of teaching/learning.
The debate is whether and up to what degree graduates should demon-
strate being competent at the end of their learning path, often synonymous
with the beginning of a professional career. It is in this framework where
competences turn into a possible outcome, a complement of the traditional
www.issbs.si/press/ISSN/2232-5697/2_3-23.pdf
4 Andrea Bikfalvi, Assumpció Rafart, and Núria Mancebo
knowledge teaching educational system. Most often competences, rather
than knowledge, represent an asset highly appreciated by future employers.
Although education has always played a key role in human development,
the competence-based educational model was stated explicitly in Europe
only after the Bologna Process began. It may have been in use in the UK
and outside Europe; however, their importance has been made explicit with
the emergence of the unique European Higher Education Area. Because
universities are structurally and organizationally complex, due to their hi-
erarchical nature, relative size and the coexistence of multiple structures,
they characteristically develop at a slower pace than businesses. Therefore,
both decision making and implementation follow a less accelerated rhythm.
On the other hand, university activities are not confined to adolescents
and young people, but should extend to adults of all ages who are starting or
changing their careers, returning to study or continuing an unfinished career.
Adult or mature students represent a special target group for analysis from
an educational, social, and professional perspective.
Adult education is often used as an umbrella term and can be defined
as the practice of teaching and educating adults. In practice it is associ-
ated with training and development, often referred to as professional or
workforce development. It can be distinguished from vocational education
(classically adult education or adult learning), which is mostly workplace-
based for skill improvement, and also from non-formal adult education,
which includes learning skills or learning for personal development. The
Commission of the European Communities (2006), in its communication
entitled ‘Adult learning: It is never too late to learn,’ defines adult education
as follows: ‘All forms of learning undertaken by adults after having left ini-
tial education and training, however far this process may have gone (e.g.,
including tertiary education).’ A broader definition of the concept can be
found in a document that is intended to provide the European terminology
for adult learning in order to facilitate common understanding and moni-
toring of the sector, namely, ‘The entire range of formal, non-formal and
informal learning activities which are undertaken by adults after a break
since leaving initial education and training, and which results in the acqui-
sition of new knowledge and skills’ (National Research and Development
Centre, 2010, 6).
The present paper has the aim of exploring an emerging trend in the field
of human resource management, namely competency modelling and as-
sessment, focusing on adult students who have an initial university career
and considerable professional experience. The paper examines empirical
evidence in this rather unexplored field. A dynamic perspective is applied,
since competences are subject to change, as well as distinguishing the
different student groups attending university education.
International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning
The Assessment of Competence in University Adult Education 5
In order to fulfil this objective the following research questions have been
formulated:
RQ1 What are the different strengths and weaknesses that adult students
perceive in their competences?
RQ2 What is their vision and attitude towards change relative to compe-
tences, in general?
The paper is structured in six main sections. After the Introduction, we
present the relevant literature about adult education and competences.
These are the two main pillars of present study, which is intended to fill
the research gap detected in previous studies. In Section 3, we describe
the methodology used. The results are presented and discussed in Section
4. Section 5 presents the main implications for research and practice, while
Section 6 concludes.
Institutional Framework and Literature Review
As regarded in the Triple-Helix innovation model, all actors – government,
academia and business – are important contributors, having often differen-
tiated structure and functioning, while still cooperating towards a common
goal. To summarize, policy-makers create the adequate institutional frame-
work and policy measures, academia generates and transfers knowledge,
while practitioners convert knowledge into real innovations.
In this section, we describe the two main pillars of our work; adult educa-
tion, on the one hand, and competences and resulting competence models,
on the other hand. Adult education is described from an institutional per-
spective, while competences and competence models are described using
previous relevant work in the field.
The Institutional Perspective: Adult Education
The importance of training and education has always been recognized. They
are considered critical contributors to economic competitiveness, growth,
as well as social inclusion, among others. Discussion on adults as a spe-
cial community seem to have started at the beginning of the twentieth cen-
tury, for an example see the American Library Association study on Libraries
and Adult Education published early in 1926 (American Library Association,
1926). Another important era started in the 1990s, when, with the prolifer-
ation of computer and the Internet, adults rolled in specific courses in order
to gain knowledge that would further help them toward promotion or would
give access to a better job.
As understood in the present study and following current trends, such
as adults expanding and complementing their initial studies/degrees, it is
Volume 2, Issue 1, 2013
6 Andrea Bikfalvi, Assumpció Rafart, and Núria Mancebo
relatively recently – in the last decade – that important international ac-
tors (EU, OECD, UNESCO) have recognized the importance of life-long learn-
ing, creating specific communications, reports, research, organizations, pro-
grammes, and action plans for its promotion. However, universities, as adult
education providers, have contributed relatively little in practice.
In the following we describe some institutional documents that relate to
this topic.
A recent study organized under the framework of the 2007 Action Plan on
Adult Learning, (National Research and Development Centre, 2010) identi-
fies the main fields of analysis in the adult learning sector. The main di-
mensions refer to adult learning strategy, policy and legislation, adult skills
and competences, access to and participation in adult learning, investment
in adult learning, quality of adult learning, and outcomes of adult learning.
The particular dimensions of adult skills and competences include: digital
competences, learning-to-learn, skills for active citizenship and learner per-
sistence, as the main fields of analysis, while the sub-fields of analysis are
problem-solving in technology rich environments, literacy, reading, numer-
acy, and work-related skills.
Although competences are established as the main dimension of adult
education and learning, the report on adult education trends and issues in
Europe (European Association for the Education of Adults, 2006), under the
chapter titled issues and actions to take adult learning and adult education
forward in Europe, describes the following: quality and development in adult
education, recognising and validating other forms of learning, basic skills
and key competencies – emerging issues, active citizenship and adult learn-
ing, local learning centres, partnerships and decentralisation, the research
base for adult education and learning, the training and development of adult
education personnel. It is interesting to observe that the competence issue
is labelled as an emerging issue.
Conceptually, adult education is a broad topic and different documents,
both institutional and research-oriented, deal with the concept definition,
delimitation, and characteristics. The report by Powell, Smith, and Reakes
(2003) aims towards defining common issues across Europe for adult edu-
cation and it provides a historical approach to the term, as well as valuable
comments regarding definition, concepts, and a country-specific approach
regarding the term for a limited number of countries. It is interesting to re-
produce the phrase ‘there is a common understanding of adult education,
but not a common definition.’
Another recent study on the role of higher education institutions as
providers of continuous professional learning and adult education (Directo-
rate-General for Education and Culture, 2011) discusses the stereotype of
the adult student. The report states that the standard vision of adult learn-
International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning
The Assessment of Competence in University Adult Education 7
Table 1 Characteristic of Adult Students: Pragmatic Evidences
Characteristic Adult student Young student
Age >25 <25
Motive to access education Gain complementary
knowledge/degree
Gain initial
knowledge/degree
Short term objective Increase the
knowledge base
Pass final exam
Motivation to study Higher Varied
Capacity towards content understanding Higher Lower
Capacity to memorize Lower Higher
Capacity to interconnect knowledge areas Higher Lower
Study routine Lower Higher
Professional experience Higher None or lower
Availability for class attendance Lower Higher
Contribution to class discussion Higher Lower
Main barriers to learning Lack of time; Profes-
sional life, personal
life and study balance
High distraction
Lack of achievement
orientation
Competence levels Higher Lower
Study performance Equal or higher Equal or lower
ers has been based on the unfounded stereotype that adults are less ef-
fective learners simply because they are adults (Kasworm, 1990). This has
often been linked to the loss of memory and the lack of the necessary flex-
ibility to adopt new perspectives. However, this stereotype has largely been
refuted by research.
Regarding both teaching and learning, adult students are valuable from a
variety of perspectives, as they can bring valuable input to class discussion,
they make sense of new information and new situations, and their results
are no worse than those of younger students. Interestingly, one problem is
that, even if adults are not less effective learners, they may believe they are
and act upon these shared stereotypes; consequently, this may push them
away from higher education. Therefore, one important aspect is motivation
(Aramo-Immonen et al., 2011).
Adult students have received a great deal of attention in the field of
psychology and much less in management. According to the authors’ expe-
rience and the findings of few studies detected in this particular field, we
generate a profile of the adult student. The contrast is even more interesting
when we compare this group to regular young students (see Table 1).
The Employment and Training Administration (2007) report describes
adult learners in Higher Education and makes considerable efforts to iden-
tify barriers to success and strategies to improve the results. Although spe-
Volume 2, Issue 1, 2013
8 Andrea Bikfalvi, Assumpció Rafart, and Núria Mancebo
cific to the US, the general message is valid for all countries and is formu-
lated according to the following key aspects:
•accessibility: greater flexibility and more accelerated learning options
are needed for adult learners,
•affordability: new strategies of student aid and institutional financing
are necessary to support the needs of adult learners,
•accountability: efforts to monitor quality and drive improved outcomes
must incorporate measures of adult learner success and finally
• recommendations: a plan for addressing adult learners’ needs in
higher education.
Another important aspect is institutional commitment. Universities and
governments commit to promoting life-long learning and consequently adult
education. This is formalized in the document published by the European
Association of Universities (2008), which states that universities commit
to the following lines of actuation: embedding concepts of a widening ac-
cess and lifelong learning in their institutional strategies, providing educa-
tion and learning to a diversified student population, adapting study pro-
grammes to ensure that they are designed to widen the participation and
attract returning adult learners, providing appropriate guidance and coun-
selling services, recognising prior learning, embracing lifelong learning in
quality culture, strengthening the relationship between research, teaching
and innovation in the context of lifelong learning, consolidating reforms to
promote a flexible and creative learning environment for all students, de-
veloping partnerships at local, regional, national and international level to
provide attractive and relevant programmes, and acting as role models of
lifelong learning institutions.
Still at university level, but considering the other side of the coin, the key
issue is what kind of professional is needed in adult education. At institu-
tional level, the research reported by Research voor Beleid (2010) defines
a set of generic competencies, specific competences directly involved in
the learning process and specific competencies supportive of the learning
process, as well as potential ways of using them. Among the potential ways
of making use of the set of key competences, we highlight the options of
self-assessment and evaluation, selection of training courses, assessment
of competences, and continuous professional development.
In summary, there is great institutional interest in the field of adult ed-
ucation and competencies appear to be an emerging trend. Although their
importance is recognized, relatively little research has been conducted in
the field, especially focusing on exploring the conjunction of university adult
education and competence assessment. In the present paper, we aim to
International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning
The Assessment of Competence in University Adult Education 9
target this specific field, keeping in mind the degree of complexity and chal-
lenging nature of our task.
Literature Review: Competences and Competence Models
In general, the term ‘competences’ refers to the traits, knowledge, skills,
experience, and values that an individual needs to accomplish his or her
tasks. Competences are also defined as behaviour models (Roberts, 1997),
or as hidden characteristics of personality with an effect on performance at
work (Spencer & Spencer, 1993). Based on these definitions, our rationale
is that the assessment of competences is an important means of anticipat-
ing work-role performance, and thus, competence evaluation becomes an
important instrument in several stages of human resource development.
The variety of definitions and approaches related to competence is no
less than the variety of perspectives on adult education discussed above.
Professional associations in the field, as well as research, deal constantly
with this matter. Universities have only relatively recently turned their at-
tention explicitly to competences as a way of preparing students for real
professional settings. In their work, Draganidis and Mentzas (2006) make
a review of systems and approaches for competency-based management.
We complement their table of definitions (Table 2) in order to capture the
existing variety.
Models of competence are a descriptive tool that identifies the compe-
tences needed to operate in a specific role within a job, occupation, organi-
zation, or industry. Simply stated, a competency model is a behavioural job
description that must be defined for each occupational function and each
job (Fogg, 1999). According to Shippman et al. (2000) 7 to 9 competences
are necessary for a job, often varying according to work type, position, or-
ganizational environment or culture. Competences organized according to
different criteria form competence models habitually mapping the consti-
tuting elements and the relationships established between them. For the
specific example of the present research we use the Cycloid competence
model for project management developed by Liikama (2006).
Although similar studies using exactly the same tool in adult education
context have not been conducted, there are other publications describing
the use of this Evolute platform tool in similar settings. These studies de-
scribe the cases of Tampere University of Technology at Pori in Finland (Kan-
tola, Vanharanta, & Karwowski 2005; Kantola, Karwowski, & Vanharanta,
2011), Brunel University West London in the UK (Makatsoris, 2009), en-
gineering students in South Korea (Chang, Kantola, & Vanharanta, 2007),
university students in South Korea and Finland at three different universi-
ties (Chang et al., 2009), and the University of Girona in Spain (Bikfalvi et
al., 2007).
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10 Andrea Bikfalvi, Assumpció Rafart, and Núria Mancebo
Table 2 Competence Concept Definition Examples
Author Definition
Wikipedia The ability of an individual to do a job properly.
Boyatzis (1982) Underlying characteristics of an individual, which are causally
(change in one variable causes change in another) related to
effective job performance.
Spencer and
Spencer (1993)
A subjacent characteristic in a person that is causally related to
performance, referred to superior criteria in a job or situation.
HR-XML A specific, identifiable, definable, and measurable knowledge, skill,
ability, and/or deployment-related characteristic (e.g. attitude,
behaviour, physical activity), which a human resource may possess
and which is necessary for, or material to, the performance of an
activity within a specific business context.
Oracle Knowledge, skills, abilities, and personal traits that an individual
should have to be effective on the job.
International Project
Management
Association (2006)
A competence is a collection of knowledge, personal attitudes,
skills, and relevant experience needed to be successful in a certain
function.
DeSeCo (N.d.) It is more than just knowledge and skills. It involves the ability to
meet complex demands by drawing on and mobilizing psychosocial
resources (including skills and attitudes) in a particular context.
University of Girona
(2006)
A complex concept linking different kinds of knowledge that an
individual acquires in different contexts, moments, and ways through
his life, with different situations or problems the individual could
front and resolve, which could have different complexity degrees.
American Job
Center
The capability to apply or use a set of related knowledge, skills, and
abilities required to successfully perform ‘critical work functions’ or
tasks in a defined work setting.
Notes Adapted from Draganidis and Mentzas (2006)
It is also interesting to consider the more specific human resource man-
agement perspective on competences. The Human Resource Management
Review dedicated an edition in 2008 to critical issues in HRM theory and
practice, and diversity management is one of the topics considered. Al-
though diversity is often linked to age, gender, race, and background (Li-
akhovitski, Stone-Romero, & Jaccard, 2008; Dencker, Joshi, &, Marocchio,
2008) – characteristics that are difficult or impossible to change – in this
paper, we focus on competence diversity, a field that is much easier to
change.
From this section, it is clear that there does not seem to be a well-
accepted unique definition of the term competence nor there is any gener-
ally accepted operational limitation for the term adult education.
Therefore, for the purpose of the present study a generic definition of
competence will be used, namely knowledge, skills and abilities as contribu-
tors in successful job performance. Regarding adult education, we also opt
International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning
The Assessment of Competence in University Adult Education 11
for a broad definition; adult education is thus understood as the range of
activities undertaken by adults to acquire new knowledge and skills.
Methodology
The process of moving towards a European Higher Education Area is meant
to offer the opportunity of high-level (superior) degree studies to those who
start out studying for medium-level (technical) degrees. It is interesting to
consider a special target group, adult professionals wishing to move from a
medium degree (Technical Architecture) to a superior degree (Construction
Engineering) by attending a 1-year additional pack of specific courses in
order to attain the higher status and recognition of the latter degree.
The evaluation method utilized in this study was developed on the
generic, Internet-based, computer application environment Evolute. The ap-
plication involves the use of self-evaluation in assessment through an ICT-
based tool adapted to the project management work role. In the application,
statements describing various aspects of project manager competences are
linguistic variables. Day-by-day situations described in the present (actual)
and in the future (desired) capture the individual’s vision through 120 state-
ments. The gap between the actual and the desired states, often called
creative tension or intentional change, shows possible fields of intervention
and motivation to learn and develop further.
In practical terms, the study was conducted using three different groups
of participants. Participants were asked to complete a self-evaluation and
a post-evaluation questionnaire. Once all statements have been answered,
the application provides an immediate result in the form of a graph or com-
petence map. Participants have the option to consider the results at differ-
ent levels of aggregation (30 competences, 6 groups of competences, or
2 main groups of competences), and a variety of graphs according to their
current level of competences (blue bar), target level of competences (red
bar), or creative tension, the gap between the present and future state.
The step-by-step description of the methodology used for the two groups
is depicted in Figure 1, which also shows the typology and role of the main
participants.
Participants were provided with a written guide describing the objective
of the evaluation, the step-by-step process, and a sample interpretation of
the resulting report of a competence map. The evaluations took place in a
regular university PC room with assistance offered during the sessions.
Although this ICT-based tool, available through regular Internet connec-
tion, permits self-assessment conducted outside the university setting, we
prefer a guided and assisted session, gathering participants and providing
them with the necessary information and explanations. This ensures that
the participants know and understand all the issues related to the exer-
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12 Andrea Bikfalvi, Assumpció Rafart, and Núria Mancebo
Educator Student Administrator Task
Step 1 Conduct self-evaluation
Step 2 Step 2 Detect and send functioning and/or content error
Step 3 Step 3 Prepare and send a list of participants
Step 4 Step 4 Explain method and provide documentation
Step 5 Reserve PC rooms
Step 6 Step 6 Communicate the date and place of evaluation
Step 7 Create ICT platform users
Step 8 Conduct self-evaluation
Step 9 Interpret individual results
Step 10 Show and comment aggregated group/class results
Step 11 Step 11 Deliver post-evaluation questionnaire
Step 12 Step 12 Deliver filled in post-evaluation questionnaire
Figure 1 Step-by-Step Methodology Applied in the Project by Roles and Tasks
(adapted from Bikfalvi et al., 2007)
Table 3 Post-Evaluation Questionnaire Constructs’ Cronbach Alpha Values
Constructs Cronbach alpha Cronbach alpha if item deleted
Professional experience, a contributor
to competence development
0.745 0.751 (Social skills)
Education, a contributor to competence
development
0.786 0.804 (Self-knowledge)
Need for change 0.678 0.702 (Self-knowledge)
Intention to change 0.781 0.828 (Self-knowledge)
Subjective validity of the tool 0.736 0.793 (Self-knowledge)
cise. Once the students had been fully informed about the process and
the purpose of the study, they participated voluntarily in the experiment.
No specific incentive was provided; howver, their curiosity to conduct self-
evaluation providing immediate results in the form of a ‘competence map
picture’ made students participate actively.
The framework for conducting the competence evaluation of adult stu-
dents is called ‘Development of organizational behaviour for health and
safety.’ A total of 202 subjects filled in the evaluation and afterwards 116
completed the post-evaluation questionnaire. Before data analysis and re-
finement, we conducted a reliability analysis (Table 3). The most widely used
reliability coefficient is Cronbach’s coefficient alpha with an acceptance level
at least 0.7 (Nunnally & Bernstein, 1994). Coefficient alpha is estimated
as an indication of how the sample of items performs in capturing the con-
struct. In the majority of the considered constructs, the coefficient alpha
values exceeded the conventional minimum demonstrating fair internal con-
sistency and hence reliability of the scale used.
International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning
The Assessment of Competence in University Adult Education 13
Table 4 Methodological Summary of the Research
Item Year 2009/2010 Year 2010/2011 Year 2011/2012
Framework subject for conducting
competence evaluation
Development of organizational behaviour for health
and safety
Present degree Technical Architecture (3 years study)
Future degree Construction Engineer (4 years study)
Target population 88 78 70
Valid competence evaluations 52 43 36
Response rate 59.1% 55,1% 51,4%
Valid post-evaluations 47 38 31
Self-evaluation During
December 2009
During
October 2010
During
October 2011
Those who stated that they had no experience in the field of project man-
agement were asked to consider their student career as a project that they
were managing, and relate their responses to that. Table 4 is a summary of
the methodological aspects of the study.
Results and Discussion
This section presents the results compiled in the framework of the study,
and they are organized as follows. First, we describe the profile of respon-
dents in order to gain insights on the characteristics of the analysed adult
student group. Second, we present the results of the self-evaluation phase,
which reflects competence levels grouped in perceived strengths and weak-
nesses. Third, we show outputs of the post-evaluation phase which col-
lected opinions, intentions, and willingness to change.
Profile of Respondents
In total more than half of the students registered in the course completed
the self-evaluation phase and more than 80% of those filled in the post-
evaluation questionnaire. The main descriptive features of respondents are
presented in Table 5. In general, we highlight the large proportion of adult
students combining studies with full time work. Two thirds have more than
5 years of work experience. One third are women and their overall mean
age is approximately 33 years. This characteristic is entirely in line with the
general characteristic of the entire population (Technical Architecture gradu-
ates) where in all courses considered since its first edition academic course
1999/2000 male graduates exceed female ones in the proportion of two
thirds. We believe that the sample obtained is an accurate representation
of the population, except for their higher motivation and commitment to all
types of exercises and activities, as demonstrated by their willingness to
engage actively with the present study. No important differences can be ob-
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14 Andrea Bikfalvi, Assumpció Rafart, and Núria Mancebo
Table 5 Profile of Adult Students as Project Managers
Item Total 2009 2010 2011
N % N % N % N %
Actual study and/or working situation
Full time student 9 7.8 3 6.4 3 7.9 3 9.7
Studies and work – part time 21 18.1 5 10.6 9 23.7 7 22.6
Studies and work – full time 76 65.5 37 78.7 25 65.8 14 45.2
N/A 10 8.6 2 4.3 1 2.6 7 22.6
Total 116 100 47 100 38 100 31 100
Actual working experience
Non-existent 2 1.7 0 0.0 0 0.0 2 6.4
Some to 5 years 34 29.3 15 31.9 13 34.2 6 19.4
More than 5 years 80 69.0 32 68.1 25 65.8 23 74.2
Total 116 100 47 100 38 100 31 100
Gender
Female 40 34.5 18 38.3 14 36.8 8 25.8
Male 76 65.5 29 61.7 24 63.2 23 74.2
Total 116 100 47 100 38 100 31 100
Age
Mean (years) 33.1 33.3 32.6 33.3
served between the population taking the degree and those in the sample.
Minor differences arise in the case of the last group analysed compared
with the previous two groups, which are more similar. We detect a minor
increase in the proportion of full time students, as well as the proportion of
those with no work experience.
Competence Evaluation
The aggregated results (all professional students) are presented in Table 6.
The information is extracted from the detailed 30 level competence map.
Competences are ordered based on decreasing creative tension. This order-
ing is helpful in order to determine perceived strengths and weaknesses.
The results indicate that the highest creative tension is perceived for
stress tolerance (defined as the ability to handle unfavourable, tiring and
stressful matters and situations and strong emotions), language proficiency
(ability and courage to use foreign languages), and communication (sincere
listening and sending messages), irrespective of the course considered.
These are complemented with relationship building (establishing, maintain-
ing and developing beneficial relationships and unofficial networks) and in-
novativeness (natural and open attitude towards new ideas, views and infor-
mation) in the first period considered, with understanding others (perceiving,
considering and understanding other peoples’ emotions and views) and de-
International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning
The Assessment of Competence in University Adult Education 15
Table 6 Status of Competences and Competence Groups
C
om
pe
te
nc
es Weaknesses Stress tolerance
Language proficiency
Relationship building
Communication
Innovativeness
Language proficiency
Stress tolerance
Communication
Understanding
others
Decision quality
Stress tolerance
Language proficiency
Self-assessment
Communication
Management
Strengths Trustworthiness
Initiative
Emotional awareness
Collaboration
Commitment
Conflict management
Trustworthiness
Initiative
Commitment
Self-confidence
Trustworthiness
Developing others
Emotional awareness
Initiative
Collaboration
C
om
p.
gr
ou
ps Strengths Self-knowledge Self-knowledge Empathy
Weaknesses Motivating oneself
Empathy
Social skills
Self-control
Cognitive capability
Motivating oneself
Social skills
Empathy
Self-control
Cognitive capability
Self-knowledge
Motivating oneself
Social skills
Cognitive capability
Self-control
cision quality (making decisions based on high principles, goals and values)
in the second period, and self-assessment (understanding one’s own weak-
nesses and strengths) and management (management focusing on matters)
in the most recent evaluation.
Conversely, professional adult students feel themselves to be strong in
initiative (perceiving opportunities, seizing opportunities and ability to create
new opportunities) and trustworthiness (honesty and following professional
ethics).
Table 6 also groups the 30 competences into 6 groups of competences.
The results show major development opportunities in cognitive capabilities,
a competence group that includes analytical thinking, conceptual thinking
and language proficiency followed by self-control. These results are in line
with the fact that adults are willing to undertake new learning and they
perceive their being (again) in an educational centre as an opportunity.
The purpose of this section was to provide an overview of the personal
vision of adult students in relation to competences through self-evaluation.
In the following section, we present the results that reflect the opinions and
attitudes collected through the post-evaluation questionnaire.
Competence Post-Evaluation
The post-evaluation questionnaire gathers data grouped under the following
main areas of interest: the contribution of education to competence de-
velopment compared with professional experience, willingness to improve,
subjective validation of the tool, factors hampering competence develop-
ment, and demographic characteristics of the respondent (age, gender, pro-
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16 Andrea Bikfalvi, Assumpció Rafart, and Núria Mancebo
Table 7 The Contribution of Education and Professional Experience
to Competence Development
Competences Self
control
Self
knowledge
Empathy Motivating
oneself
Cognitive
capability
Social
skills
Prof. experience 5.1 4.8 4.9 5.1 5.0 5.2
Education 3.7 3.8 4.1 4.5 4.6 4.6
Table 8 Need for Change and Intention to Change
Competences Self
knowledge
Motivating
oneself
Self
control
Social
skills
Empathy Cognitive
capability
Necessity to change 3.7 3.9 4.2 4.3 4.3 4.4
Intention to change 4.7 4.9 5.1 5.0 4.8 5.1
fessional experience). This last group of data has already been discussed
in the opening of this section.
If competences are knowledge in practice, we believe that education and
professional experience are the main contributors to competence develop-
ment. We asked adult students to assess whether education and profes-
sional experience are relevant in competence development, and if they are,
to what extent. The responses (see Table 7), rated on a standard 7 point
Likert scale of agreement, show that irrespective of the competence groups
considered, professional experience is seen as a stronger contributor than
formal education. In the view of adult students, education contributes to
the development of social skills, cognitive capability and motivating oneself,
while professional experience develops self-control, self-motivation and so-
cial skills. There was stronger consensus around the role of professional
experience.
Another interesting point is the degree of consensus on the need for
change and the actual intention to change. The pattern of results show
consistency in terms of the gap between these two items, with the obvious
trend that respondents assign higher levels of agreement to the intention
to change. The results in Table 8 are arranged according to a decreasing
perceived need for change. It is interesting to observe that adult students
express the greatest need for change and the strongest intention to change
in relation to cognitive capability. This may, to some extent, be described as
motivation to learn.
It is interesting to observe that intention exceeds necessity to change.
A strong intention towards change is synonymous with high disposition and
immediate action implementation as a contributor to competence develop-
ment. This represents a very positive starting point of the complex process
of competence development. However, it should be complemented with a
clear action plan formulated by the student and agreed with his/her tutor or
teacher.
International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning
The Assessment of Competence in University Adult Education 17
Gender issues 9
Geographical distance 57
Family duties 91
Economic problems 102
Schedule issues 107
Lack of time for education 123
Figure 2 Barriers for Competence Development
Table 9 Subjective Validity of the Tool
Competences (1) (2) (3) (4) (5)
Empathy 3% 9% 30% 29% 30%
Self Knowledge 6% 13% 20% 29% 32%
Motivating oneself 5% 10% 19% 37% 28%
Cognitive capability 5% 7% 23% 33% 32%
Self control 5% 10% 18% 38% 29%
Social skills 3% 10% 15% 30% 42%
Notes (1) strongly disagree, (2) disagree, (3) neither agree nor disagree, (4) agree, (5)
strongly agree.
Once necessity and intention to change are assessed, it is interesting to
tackle whether a specific circumstance acts as a barrier or hampering factor.
Arranged from more to less importance in Figure 2, the lack of time for
education, schedule issues, economic problems and work-life balance are
the main difficulties for competence development. Geographical distance
and gender issues are less relevant.
Since the present study introduces a new tool for competence self-
assessment, it is important to assess the degree to which respondents
consider the tool to be valid. The results shown in Table 9 indicate substan-
tial levels of agreement in all considered competence groups. The lowest
level of agreement (as a sum of the agree and strongly agree options) was
58% in the case of empathy, followed by 61% for self-knowledge, 64% for
motivating oneself, 65% for cognitive capability, 67% for self-control and
finally 72% for social skills.
Discussion of Implications
Our research has a series of possible implications both for research and
for the practitioner community, which are detailed below.
Research Implications and Originality/Value
The Human Resource Management Review devoted two Special Issues in
2009 to the discussed issue; namely, one to collecting emerging trends
in the field and the other to highlight critical issues in HRM theory and
research. It stated that research involves extending previous work by a)
Volume 2, Issue 1, 2013
18 Andrea Bikfalvi, Assumpció Rafart, and Núria Mancebo
using a different subject population, b) using a different operationalization
of one or more variables, c) including different levels of a variable than were
studied previously, d) simultaneously examining two variables that have in
the past only been studied independently, e) including potential mediating
and moderator variables, or f) extending previous work in a variety of other
ways.
Accordingly, we first explore an emerging field of HRM – competence as-
sessment and development. Second, we bring valuable empirical evidence
provided by a special subject population, adult students who have consider-
able professional experience in a field characterized by project-based work.
They return to university to achieve a higher education degree. Third, we
manage examined individuals’ visions of competence from a global, aggre-
gate, and group perspective.
Complementarily, this study has a series of practical implications which
will be discussed briefly in the following.
Practical Implications
The practical implications of the study are various, according to the actors
and institutions involved.
Individuals, adults in this case, gain knowledge and visual representa-
tion of their own perception of their level of competence necessary to per-
form project management. The results of self-evaluation are immediate and
easy-to-understand. They represent a possible starting point towards a pro-
fessional development plan. Once self-evaluation has been formally per-
formed, students become more aware of possible development gaps and
they may become more committed to change. Active managing of the learn-
ing process is part of the same student-centred learning model. ICTs offer
a wide range of tools in the educational area – digital content, knowledge
sharing platforms, communication – and they also generate positive atti-
tudes. In the case of our specific study, we believe that students show a
rather proactive attitude towards the competence aspect of their curricula.
Group level results are important for teachers/educators in order to ori-
ent their regular activity towards more innovative student-centred teach-
ing/learning that takes into account the diversity of learners. This is consid-
ered a critical issue in recent HR management trends. Developing compe-
tences has become an important complement to regular teaching/learning.
If educational centres promote a competence culture, teachers should be
their voice. They might experiment with important changes in both work-
ing methods and material provided to students. An illustrative example is
Spanish students’ relatively low level of English language knowledge. This is
reflected in the competence assessment map, where language proficiency
is detected as a desired priority development area. Students are often ret-
International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning
The Assessment of Competence in University Adult Education 19
icent about reading and handling tasks based on the material provided in
a foreign language. Once both students and educators are aware of the
development areas and they share the common objective of improvement
through learning, a new situation is created. It generates commitment on
all sides; the achievement of the goal is made more probable. Another is-
sue concerns individual tutorial activity. The guiding role of teachers can be
adapted to personal competence specificities and needs, consequently, a
more customized system of tutoring is possible. This later could turn into
better student results and greater student satisfaction.
Educational management or committees in charge of improving the qual-
ity of teaching can enrich their inputs with competence-base knowledge.
Overall, competences can be considered a measure of superior work per-
formance. It is the aim of any educational institution to provide competent
graduates to the labour market, and to improve the levels of those who
are already in the labour market. Students’ work performance is a result
of their previous educational experience and evaluation of competences
is important from this point of view. Competence assessment, or in its
more advanced form, university competence certification (as in the case of
some UK universities) can make the difference between competitors. An-
other strategic argument is that competence development of students is a
relatively new area of intervention for teaching staff. Specific training, tools
and methods should be provided at this early stage in order to ensure, first,
a positive attitude on the part of teachers/educators towards the topic, and
second, that appropriate actions are taken to handle this new scenario.
Conclusions
In the new era of education based on student-centred teaching/learning,
didactic approaches are increasing in importance. Managing student diver-
sity, responding to their particular needs, cooperating with them, and hav-
ing common objectives are some of the principles of modern universities.
Competence assessment and development is a relatively recent issue that
needs to be considered alongside older concerns, and research in the field
of university competence development is still at a very early stage.
This article has explored the results of a self-evaluation of project man-
agement competences by a group of adult students. Linking regular teach-
ing with competence development is a challenging task. Universities devel-
oped the framework, designed the strategy, formulated the objectives and
ICT makes it feasible in practice. Although regular teaching has standard
performance evaluation systems, at this stage, we still lack measurement
tools to evaluate competence performance.
In this article we have presented a web-based tool to evaluate compe-
tences. We have illustrated its use and provided empirical evidence of its
Volume 2, Issue 1, 2013
20 Andrea Bikfalvi, Assumpció Rafart, and Núria Mancebo
perceived validity. The choice of competence assessment tool is of vital im-
portance in evaluating outcomes. In our view, the most important issue in
the evaluation is the detection of development gaps and the generation of
awareness regarding these gaps. Intention and motivation towards change
are also stimulated. The tool presents reasonable acceptance levels and it
has a series of advantages for the different communities involved.
Generating knowledge and learning on a continuous basis should be a
priority for both individuals and organizations. Universities, by their nature,
provide a good example of this notion. Adult individuals represent a rela-
tively neglected target of the universities. Traditional business concepts,
such as competences, innovation, and service-orientation, call for higher
quality and, consequently, radical changes in the system. This paper at-
tempts to combine all these elements and test them in a middle-sized,
non-elite higher education institution in Spain. It is likely that there will be
parallel developments, and the results may be applicable, in many similar
organizations worldwide.
Future research should address the extension of the present results,
broken down by gender, as well as the application of more sophisticated sta-
tistical approaches. It is important for universities to expand and diversify
their target population, while international comparisons and detailed analy-
sis of some specific competences (like innovation or initiative) are planned
future priorities.
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Andrea Bikfalvi is a Lecturer at the University of Girona (Spain). She holds
a degree in Business Administration and a PhD in the same area. Her main
research interest concerns innovation management in business, education
and public administration. She participated and coordinated various regional,
national and international research projects in the field of technological and
organisational innovation, resulting also in specific international publications
and reports. andrea.bikfalvi@udg.edu
Assumpció Rafart is a PhD student at the University of Girona, Spain. She
carries out intensive teaching in various areas of economics at the Polytech-
nic School. She has been regularly involved in research related to leadership
styles, competence assessment, and development in higher education and
the public sector. Her aim is to carry out a doctoral thesis on competence
development bringing valuable evidence from all Triple-Helix participants in
academia, business, and government. assumpcio. rafart@udg.edu
International Journal of Management, Knowledge and Learning
The Assessment of Competence in University Adult Education 23
Núria Mancebo is a Lecturer of Human Resource Management at the Busi-
ness School and Health and Safety Management at the Polytechnic School
of the University of Girona, Spain. She holds a PhD degree in Industrial Engi-
neering from the University of Girona. Her main research interests are human
resource management and health and safety management, gender relations
at work and public sector industrial relations. She is currently involved in
several research projects developing and validating the tools to assess the
performance of organizational innovations. nuria.mancebo@udg.edu
This paper is published under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0)
License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/).
Volume 2, Issue 1, 2013