Scientific Journal of KubSAU

Among other reasons restraining the renewal of education, we can mention its evident irreciprocal and disharmonious character, when instead of gaining the complete social and cultural experience, students in fact get only a part of it – its knowledge component. Nowadays such an approach seems to be insufficient. Our society needs graduates who are further capable of making successful careers and taking various socially meaningful activities. We need citizens who are ready and able to cope with the challenges that they come across in their lives and professional spheres. This sort of ability owes much not only to the bulk of knowledge and skills one can obtain, but to those extra qualities and traits to define which we use the terms of “competence” and “competency”. In some respect, these terms are more appropriate to comprehend the modern goals of education. With reference to various approaches to defining the category of “professional competence” and to the description of its structure and contents, as well as on the grounds of the previously depicted peculiarities of the specialist’s activities, we have formed the concept of “professional competency of a specialist in economics”. Under this term we understand a complex integral entity comprising: cognitive and activity constituents (implying knowledge, abilities and skills developed well enough to perform professional functions in accordance with the norms and regulations of economic affairs), moral and ethical constituents, motivational constituent, rich cultural background, civil maturity and allegiance, tolerance, skills of professional communication, competitive ability, and – due to the dynamic character of economic activities – demand for and ability of continuous education