PROFESSIONAL CAREER, SUCCESS AND HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE VALUE SYSTEM OF REGIONAL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS (BASED ON THE SOCIOLOGICAL SURVEY MATERIALS)

The relevance of studying the ideas of the regional university students about professional success, career, and the role of education is due to the fact that the choice of professional journey, building a future career in the educational process among modern students remains rather low. At the same time, the problem of personnel outflow in the regions of Russia is regularly discussed at all levels of government bodies and in the scientific community. The purpose of this article is to study the ideas of modern students of a regional university about professional success, career and education. The authors suggest that the research data can help clarify the ideas about the value orientations of modern student youth, study various aspects related to the career of young people, and contribute to the construction of career strategies for young people. Since it is young people who play the main role in the professional reproduction of society, the study of the career strategies of young people can make it possible to develop career guidance work at school and university. The given article considers some questions of the survey conducted in November - December 2020. 111 students of humanities field, 65 – natural science field and 80 – technical field were interviewed. Selection criteria were faculty (humanitarian and technical) and course (3-4 courses of bachelor's degree). The research was carried out by the method of group questioning in classrooms. The survey involved young men (41.8%) and girls (58.2%), aged 18-19 (10.9%); 20-21 years old (82.8%); 22 years and older – 6.3% of respondents. We were interested in the question of the motives for choosing a profession by students. Having analyzed the motives, we were able to identify those factors that influence the choice of a particular profession by applicants. Overall, the results turned out to be quite predictable: in the first place were good wages, well-being (58.6%); personal inclinations, abilities (53.5%); demand in the labor market (39.1%) and career opportunities (39.1%). It is also worth noting that some respondents indicated their ideas about professional activity as a mission in society as a determining factor. One of the questions asked the respondents to express their opinion about such an instrument of success as having a higher education. 44.1% of respondents do not consider having higher education a guarantee of success in life. Most likely, there is an understanding in Russian society that other components are also needed to achieve success. One cannot but agree with a number of researchers who believe that “... a career is perceived by students in a vague and rather broad sense of the word.” This thesis is confirmed by the data of the question “What, in your opinion, is most important in assessing the work?” Income is the most important for respondents when assessing work, this opinion is shared by 69.5% of respondents, for 51.6% – good working conditions (safety, cleanliness, convenient schedule, etc.), professional self-realization (the opportunity to show one's abilities, business qualities) – 44.9%, career growth – 41.0% of students. The choice of respondents is predictable, there are slight differences in the areas of study. To the open-ended question “What does it mean to be a successful person in the professional environment that you have chosen?” the respondents in their answers put the criterion of achievement in the first place, the most often in their answers were: “recognition, help people, having feedback”, “authority”, “know your business 100%”; in second place was the level of wages; further – the position held: “to hold senior positions and do their job perfectly”; then comes the career advancement “to climb well up the career ladder, to have a good command of the relevant competence”, and career mobility “permanent business trips abroad”. The study showed that for the respondents, career growth means activities in the form of achievements, for example, “... do their job well” (students of the humanities), “self-realization in the professional sphere” (students of natural sciences), "the opportunity to show their professional skills" (technical students). So, a modern employer is interested in highly qualified specialists, therefore, today higher educational institutions are faced with the task of professional training of graduates in accordance with those competencies that will not only correspond to the labor market, but even outstrip the requirements of the market. The conducted survey allows us to investigate the perceptions of respondents at a given time stage. The result of such a study can be designed career guidance work, starting with school, with the involvement of employers of city-forming enterprises and the administration of universities.