Formation of human capital in the digital era: gender specifics

Abstract

Under the influence of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the skills need of current and future employees are also changing. In an environment where people work with machines and digital technologies, it is essential to develop the organization's new skills and competencies in order to remain competitive. Terms such as eskills, digital skills, or technological skills are often used in the context of human capital formation, and become an important part of it for organizations in the digital technology environment. The European Commission, which evaluates the DESI index every year, includes a human capital dimension, where according to the digital skills ranking, many European countries do not even reach 50 points out of 100. From the perspective of companies, jobs require a certain type of technical and digital skills. Gender research points to a significant gap between men and women in the field of IT, as well as in the current level of skills. However, the theory lacks more insight into gender specifics in a generation that will only come to the labour market in the coming period. In our original research, we decided to examine a selected generation Z, young people who are in their final years of high school and are considering the future direction of their education and potential career. This generation, unlike the previous ones, is specific in that it has grown up in many new technologies and encountered them in recent years. The aim of the research was therefore to examine gender differences in generation Z in terms of the perception of different types of skills as an important part of the human capital formation for future. And further take a deeper look at their behaviour in terms of education and career decision-making impulses. The research was conducted on 755 students in Slovakia and Czech Republic and pointed to a significant difference in the perception of the importance of technological and ICT skills between men and women, as well as their external influence on decision-making. The results of the unique research provide basis for the possibilities of setting up education and development of young women in the topic of digital skills, through which it would be possible to reduce this significant gap between men and women in the researched area.