HOW FAR DO THE EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS REALIZE THAT THEIR STUDENTS FOLLOW DIFFERENT ROLE MODELS? THE COMPARISON OF STUDENTS’ HEROES ON DIFFERENT EDUCATIONAL LEVELS H. Šajgalíková 1 , L. Copuš 2 1 University of Economics in Bratislava, Faculty of Applied Languages (SLOVAKIA) 2 Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Management (SLOVAKIA) Abstract The possibility to influence and shape a person’s values depends on the person’s life period. Pupils of primary schools and students of secondary schools and tertiary education institutions are of the age when their values are still developing and may be changed even though to different degrees. As the result, the value changes in individual life periods significantly influence their future lives, both in personal as well as professional contexts. The paper deals with the findings of the research focused on identifying heroes (behavioural models, role models, idols), the values they represent and their changes in the groups of pupils of primary schools and students of secondary schools and universities. The results show that in all surveyed groups the most represented category of heroes are family members/relatives, but in different life stages there are some interesting shifts in other categories, e.g. decreasing representation of publicly-known persons as heroes and increasing number of respondents with no-hero role models. The findings open several questions about the role of education systems in pupils and students’ value evolution and its importance for their future lives. Keywords: role model, value profile, human development, HRM. 1 INTRODUCTION AND THEORETICAL BACKGROUND The sustainable growth and its attainability has been the topic of many scientific publications and strategic documents for decades (Swan, 1956 [1], Guilford, 1970 [2], van Wijnbergen, 1989 [3], and others). The documents focus on various areas through which the growth should be achieved. In most of them human resources are introduced as one of the crucial elements. Europe Strategy 2020 is one of the strategic materials considered an important milestone in the endeavour of the European Union to reach the sustainable economic growth for the better future of the whole of Europe [4]. In addition to other areas the Strategy [5] concentrates on the progress in education standards and employment rates increase as well as decrease of poverty and social exclusion. Lowering the number of drop-outs under 10% or achieving the employment rate of at least 75% in the age of 24 – 60 are among others. All the documents, however, present the goals and expectations as if the generation of pupils and students was automatically ready to fulfil them. The processes though which such expectations are communicated to people together with the behavioural models and values recognized by the culture the addressees are part of materialize within socialization. With regard to individual life phases, socialization can be divided into early socialization, socialization in adolescence, socialization in emerging adulthood and late-life socialization [6]. Each life phase as well as an individual’s development within each of them carries its specific features. It is the field of developmental psychology that covers physical as well as cognitive and psycho-social development [7]. Within socialization, individuals make sense of specific circumstances that influence their lives and attach weight to them with regard to importance they play in their lives. Within this process they create the hierarchically structured sets of values [8]. Values are acquired by individuals in early stages of life, much earlier than their cognitive processes allow them to acquire practical skills. The ratio of the acquired values gradually decreases and, on the contrary, the ratio of practical capabilities increases. In the later life phases, it becomes more and more difficult to change the value hierarchies (even though it is partially possible), on the other hand, it is much easier to change practical skills [9]. Value orientation became the subject of research primarily thanks to works of Milton Rokeach [10], who introduced one of the first tools to measure it (Rokeach Value Survey). At present there are Proceedings of ICERI2019 Conference 11th-13th November 2019, Seville, Spain ISBN: 978-84-09-14755-7 4244