In the last few decades, globalization has affected almost all public policies, including education. Its implications are evident in the increasing endeavours of national education systems to raise global citizens who will be able to deal with the challenges of the modern globalized world (Majewska, 2022). Sälzer and Roczen (2018) explain that while, as a concept, global competence has been used in common language for several decades (e.g. Lambert, 1994), it is a relatively young scientific construct and is mostly studied in the Western context (e.g. Boix Mansilla & Jackson, 2013). Skinner (2012) adds that very little academic research has yet been carried out in the field of global education in Slovenia nor in the wider Central Eastern European region. Šterman Ivančič and Štremfel (2022) reveal that PISA 2018 presents the first assessment of students’ global competencies in Slovenia. The student questionnaire items covered students’ attitudes and dispositions regarding their: awareness of global issues; self-efficacy regarding global issues; interest in learning about other cultures; respect for people from other cultures; ability to understand the perspectives of others; cognitive adaptability; attitudes towards immigrants; awareness of intercultural communication; global-mindedness; and teachers’ discriminatory behaviour (OECD, 2020). The first results of the PISA 2018 data showed that, compared to their peers in OECD countries, Slovenian students reported somewhat lower levels of global competencies and as such indicate the need for further research in this area. This is especially important since the research also shows that student participation in global education programmes is positively associated with a range of learning outcomes, including academic achievement. There has been found positive associations with students' academic achievement, regardless of their individual background (gender, ethnicity, SES) (Ahmed and Mohammed, 2022) and positive associations of participation in global learning programmes with students' personal development, autonomy and sensitivity towards people from other cultures (Klump and Nelson, 2005).

Considering these findings, this study aims to investigate the associations between the global competence of Slovenian students and their achievement on PISA literacy scales. This is important since the results from past PISA cycles in Slovenia show that there are significant differences in the achievement of students according to different groups, especially between students that attend different educational programmes. For example, the difference in average reading achievement between students in secondary general and vocational education programmes of medium duration is 159 points (Šterman Ivančič, 2022), which is equivalent to 2 PISA levels of reading literacy, and as such represents a great concern. For this reason, the research questions we aim to address in this study, are i) are there significant differences in the global competences of Slovenian students according to the educational programme; ii) are global competences a significant predictor of PISA achievement on reading, mathematics and science literacy scales; and iii) which dimensions of global competences that are the most significant predictors of PISA reading, mathematics and science literacy.

Taking into consideration the OECD PISA 2018 results and their contextualisation in Slovenia, the article with its original empirical scientific contribution fills the research gap in the field and provides an understanding of the role of students’ global competence in fostering students’ academic achievement and the possibility of reducing the achievement gap between students from different educational tracks.

For the purpose of the data analysis, we used the data from the PISA 2018 survey, which in Slovenia includes students aged between 15 years and 3 months and 16 years and 2 months. Sampling in the PISA survey is multi-level and stratified. In Slovenia, the sample includes all secondary education programmes and a few randomly selected primary schools and adult education institutions. 6401 male and female students participated in PISA 2018. For the analysis, we excluded from the sample 15-year-olds who attended vocational education programmes of short duration, as these students did not fill in the questionnaire on global competence attitudes and dispositions. The final sample in the analysis includes a representative sample of 6241 15-year-old male and female students, of which 2054 (34%) students attended secondary general education, 2578 (42%) technical education programmes and 1442 (24%) students attended vocational education programmes of short duration. In PISA 2018, the student questionnaire was used to identify the effects of different background factors on student achievement. From the 2018 questionnaire, we used separate scales addressing students’ awareness of global issues; self-efficacy regarding global issues; interest in learning about other cultures; respect for people from other cultures; ability to understand the perspectives of others; cognitive adaptability; attitudes towards immigrants; awareness of intercultural communication; global-mindedness; and teachers’ discriminatory behaviour. All scales showed good internal consistency in the PISA 2018 sample of Slovenian students, with coefficients ranging from α = .83 to α = .93 (OCED, 2021). For the analysis, we used the standardized values of indices for Slovenia from the PISA 2018 database for all the above-mentioned scales. First, we used descriptive statistics to compare the average values of indices between different education programmes and to the OECD average within the programmes. Since we were interested in the effects of students’ global competencies on students' academic achievement in reading, math and science, we used the linear regression procedure to further analyse the size effects. To avoid multicollinearity between the variables, we also checked for Pearson correlation coefficients prior to undertaking regression. Data were analysed using the statistical programme IEA IDB Analyzer (Version 4.0.39), which, in processing data due to two-stage sampling in the study in addition to the use of weights for individual students (W_FSTUWT), also allows us to use sample weights to properly assess the standard parameter errors in the population using the Bootstrap method.

The results of the study show that there are significant differences in global competences between students from different educational programmes in Slovenia. The largest differences were observed between the secondary general and vocational education programmes of short duration, where students from secondary general education programmes reported significantly higher attitudes and dispositions on all global competence scales, also compared to the OECD average. Furthermore, the results show that global competences significantly predict reading, mathematics and science achievement on PISA test in Slovenia. Across all three types of achievement, students' perceived discriminatory behaviour by teachers had the largest negative effect, and perceived self-efficacy regarding global issues, students' awareness of intercultural communication and respect for people from other cultures proved to have the largest positive effects. These results are in line with the research (e.g. Demaine, 2002) which points out that global competence could be a significant indicator of differences in knowledge between different groups of students, where some disadvantaged groups have reduced access to global information. Such differences bring to the fore the issue of the compensatory role of schools in equalizing these differences, by providing all students, especially deprived students who do not have the opportunity to develop them in the home and out-of-school environment, with equal opportunities to develop global competences (Dijkstra et al., 2021; Hoskins et al., 2017). The research provides so far missing empirical and internationally comparative data on the attitudes and dispositions of Slovenian pupils in the field of global competences, with the main focus on the relevance of strengthening the global competences of all pupils, especially of the disadvantaged groups. The findings of the paper are critically examined in terms of providing implications for the European Union Citizenship Education as well.

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