Social status and well-being of a student. Ecological consciousness and the problem of information

Social status is a set, a set of social. functions carried out within the framework of rights and leading to a socially significant expected result.

Types of social statuses. 1) General (universal) status (for example, the status of a citizen - if we have it, then we can get other statuses) 2) Ascritic ones are achieved without your efforts (daughter...) 3) Achievable, depend on our efforts (student...) 4 ) Formalized statuses, officially certify the status (director) 5) Informal (bridesmaids...) Modern society is based on a wide division of labor and functions of people in the process of general reproduction. In accordance with this, they differ in the place they occupy in society (status - in modern society, it covers profession, economic and gender position, demographer characteristics of people). Each status is assigned certain rights and responsibilities. They can be formal (normatively established) or informal in nature. Each person is characterized by a certain set of statuses. The most characteristic status of a person, which distinguishes him from others, is the main status. The status of a person, the cat he was born into - we attribute status. A person has many statuses, but his actual behavior is characterized by a certain set of roles. As a result, a status range arises within which a person’s behavior varies. A status set is the totality of all statuses occupied by a given individual. In a status set we can distinguish:

Basic statuses are social positions that determine the social position of its bearer; . non-basic statuses - temporary social positions, the rights and responsibilities of the bearers of which are difficult to determine. The status set includes the following elements:. main status - the most characteristic status for a given individual, by which others distinguish him or with which they identify him, by which they determine his position in society; personal status is the position that a person occupies in a small (primary) group, depending on how he is assessed by his individual qualities;

Based on origin, social status is divided into:. natural status is the position that is biologically inherited by a person from birth (gender, nationality, race);

ascribed status is a position that a person acquires from birth or that is certain to be recognized later by society or a group. Ascribed status is socially acquired;

achieved status is a position that a person receives through his own efforts, free choice, or due to luck or fortune (not related to the fact of birth);

mixed status has features of both ascribed and achieved statuses.

23.Social role. Role set.

A social role is a set of appropriate actions and norms of behavior. There are major and minor social roles; social roles can be assessed in different ways. Parsons identifies 5 main features of any role: 1) emotionality - some roles require emotional restraint, others - looseness, 2) method of obtaining - some prescribe, others conquer, 3) scale - some roles are formulated and strictly limited, others are blurred, 4) formalization - action in strictly established rules or arbitrarily, 5) motivation - for the common good, for personal profit. A set of roles (role complex) associated with one status is called a role set. Each status usually involves the performance of a number of roles. Each role from the role set requires a special manner of behavior. Each role has its own type of implementation of social relations. A role set forms a set of social relationships. Readiness and predisposition to social relations are usually called attitudes. “Role set” - all types and diversity of behavior patterns (roles) assigned to one status. Pure role behavior is a model of behavior based only on status and role prescriptions, which is not influenced by the personal characteristics of the subject or the characteristics of the situation. The real behavior of people most often does not come down to purely role behavior; it is much richer.

The social status of an individual is not only a person’s place in the system of social relations, but also the rights and responsibilities dictated by his position. Thus, the status of a doctor gives the right to diagnose and treat patients, but at the same time obliges the doctor to observe labor discipline and conscientiously perform his work.

The concept of social status was first proposed by the American anthropologist R. Linton. The scientist made a great contribution to the study of the problems of personality and its interaction with other members of society.

Statuses exist in an enterprise, in a family, in a political party, in a kindergarten, in a school, in a university, in a word, wherever an organized group of people is engaged in socially significant activities and members of the group have certain relationships with each other.

A person is in several statuses at the same time. For example, a middle-aged man acts as a son, father, husband, engineer at a factory, member of a sports club, holder of an academic degree, author of scientific publications, patient in a clinic, etc. The number of statuses depends on the connections and relationships into which the individual enters.

There are several classifications of statuses:

1. Personal and social. A person occupies a personal status in a family or other small group in accordance with the assessment of his personal qualities. Social status (examples: teacher, worker, manager) is determined by the actions performed by the individual for society.
2. Main and episodic. Primary status is associated with the main functions in a person's life. Most often, the main statuses are family man and worker. Episodic are associated with a moment in time during which a citizen performs certain actions: a pedestrian, a reader in a library, a course student, a theater viewer, etc.
3. Prescribed, achieved and mixed. The prescribed status does not depend on the desires and capabilities of the individual, as it is given at birth (nationality, place of birth, class). What is achieved is acquired as a result of the efforts made (level of education, profession, achievements in science, art, sports). Mixed combines the features of the prescribed and achieved statuses (a person who has received a disability).
4. Socio-economic status is determined by the amount of income received and the position that an individual occupies in accordance with his well-being.

The set of all available statuses is called a status set.

Hierarchy

Society constantly evaluates the significance of this or that status and, on the basis of this, builds a hierarchy of positions.

Assessments depend on the benefits of the business in which a person is engaged, and on the system of values ​​​​accepted in the culture. Prestigious social status (examples: businessman, director) is highly appreciated. At the top of the hierarchy is the general status, which determines not only a person’s life, but also the position of people close to him (president, patriarch, academician).

If some statuses are unreasonably low, while others, on the contrary, are excessively high, then they speak of a violation of status balance. The trend towards its loss threatens the normal functioning of society.

The hierarchy of statuses can also be subjective. A person himself determines what is more important to him, in what status he feels better, what benefits he derives from being in one position or another.

Social status cannot be something unchanging, since people's lives are not static. The movement of a person from one social group to another is called social mobility, which is divided into vertical and horizontal.

Vertical mobility is spoken of when the social status of an individual increases or decreases (a worker becomes an engineer, a department head becomes an ordinary employee, etc.). With horizontal mobility, a person maintains his position, but changes his profession (to one of equal status), place of residence (becomes an emigrant).

Intergenerational and intragenerational mobility are also distinguished. The first determines how much children have increased or decreased their status in relation to the status of their parents, and the second determines how successful the social career of representatives of one generation is (types of social status are taken into account).

The channels of social mobility are school, family, church, army, public organizations and political parties. Education is a social elevator that helps a person achieve the desired status.

A high social status acquired by an individual or a decrease in it indicates individual mobility. If the status of a certain community of people changes (for example, as a result of a revolution), then group mobility takes place.

Social roles

While in one status or another, a person performs actions, communicates with other people, that is, plays a role. Social status and social role are closely interrelated, but differ from each other. Status is position, and role is socially expected behavior determined by status. If a doctor is rude and swears, and a teacher abuses alcohol, then this does not correspond to the status he holds.

The term “role” was borrowed from theater to emphasize the stereotypical behavior of people of similar social groups. A person cannot do as he wants. The behavior of an individual is determined by the rules and norms characteristic of a particular social group and society as a whole.

Unlike status, a role is dynamic and closely related to a person’s character traits and moral attitudes. Sometimes role behavior is adhered to only in public, as if putting on a mask. But it also happens that the mask fuses with its wearer, and the person ceases to distinguish between himself and his role. Depending on the situation, this state of affairs has both positive and negative consequences.

Social status and social role are two sides of the same coin.

Diversity of social roles

Since there are many people in the world and each person is an individual, it is unlikely that there will be two identical roles. Some role models require emotional restraint and self-control (lawyer, surgeon, funeral director), while for other roles (actor, teacher, mother, grandmother) emotions are very much in demand.

Some roles drive a person into strict frameworks (job descriptions, regulations, etc.), others have no framework (parents are fully responsible for the behavior of their children).

The performance of roles is closely related to motives, which are also different. Everything is determined by social status in society and personal motives. An official is concerned with promotion, a financier is concerned with profit, and a scientist is concerned with the search for truth.

Role set

A role set is understood as a set of roles characteristic of a particular status. Thus, a doctor of science is in the role of a researcher, teacher, mentor, supervisor, consultant, etc. Each role implies its own ways of communicating with others. The same teacher behaves differently with colleagues, students, and the rector of the university.

The concept of “role set” describes the whole variety of social roles inherent in a particular status. No role is strictly assigned to its bearer. For example, one of the spouses remains unemployed and for some time (and perhaps forever) loses the roles of colleague, subordinate, manager, and becomes a housewife (householder).

In many families, social roles are symmetrical: both husband and wife equally act as breadwinners, masters of the house and educators of children. In such a situation, it is important to adhere to the golden mean: excessive passion for one role (company director, businesswoman) leads to a lack of energy and time for others (father, mother).

Role Expectations

The difference between social roles and mental states and personality traits is that roles represent a certain historically developed standard of behavior. There are requirements for the bearer of a particular role. Thus, a child must certainly be obedient, a schoolboy or student must study well, a worker must observe labor discipline, etc. Social status and social role oblige one to act one way and not another. The system of requirements is also called expectations.

Role expectations act as an intermediate link between status and role. Only behavior that corresponds to status is considered role-playing. If a teacher, instead of giving a lecture on higher mathematics, starts singing with a guitar, then students will be surprised, because they expect other behavioral reactions from an assistant professor or professor.

Role expectations consist of actions and qualities. Taking care of the child, playing with him, putting the baby to bed, the mother performs actions, and kindness, responsiveness, empathy, and moderate severity contribute to the successful implementation of actions.

Compliance with the role being performed is important not only to others, but also to the person himself. A subordinate strives to earn the respect of his superior and receives moral satisfaction from a high assessment of the results of his work. The athlete trains hard to set a record. The writer is working on creating a bestseller. A person’s social status obliges him to be at his best. If an individual's expectations do not meet the expectations of others, then internal and external conflicts arise.

Role conflict

Contradictions between role holders arise either due to inconsistency with expectations, or due to the fact that one role completely excludes another. The young man more or less successfully plays the roles of son and friend. But the guy's friends invite him to a disco, and his parents demand that he stay at home. The emergency doctor's child falls ill, and the doctor is urgently called to the hospital because a natural disaster has occurred. The husband wants to go to the country to help his parents, and the wife books a trip to the sea to improve the health of the children.

Resolving role conflicts is not an easy task. Participants in the confrontation have to decide which role is more important, but in most cases compromises are more appropriate. The teenager returns from the party early, the doctor leaves his child with his mother, grandmother or nanny, and the spouses negotiate the timing of participation in dacha work and travel time for the whole family.

Sometimes the solution to the conflict is leaving the role: changing jobs, going to university, getting a divorce. Most often, a person understands that he has outgrown this or that role or that it has become a burden to him. A change of roles is inevitable as the child grows and develops: infant, toddler, preschooler, primary school student, teenager, young man, adult. The transition to a new age level is ensured by internal and external contradictions.

Socialization

From birth, a person learns the norms, patterns of behavior and cultural values ​​characteristic of a particular society. This is how socialization occurs and the individual’s social status is acquired. Without socialization, a person cannot become a full-fledged individual. Socialization is influenced by the media, cultural traditions of the people, social institutions (family, school, work collectives, public associations, etc.).

Purposeful socialization occurs as a result of training and upbringing, but the efforts of parents and teachers are adjusted by the street, the economic and political situation in the country, television, the Internet and other factors.

The further development of society depends on the effectiveness of socialization. Children grow up and occupy the status of their parents, taking on certain roles. If the family and the state do not pay enough attention to the upbringing of the younger generation, then degradation and stagnation occur in public life.

Members of society coordinate their behavior with certain standards. These may be prescribed norms (laws, regulations, rules) or unspoken expectations. Any non-compliance with standards is considered a deviation, or deviation. Examples of deviation are drug addiction, prostitution, alcoholism, pedophilia, etc. Deviation can be individual, when one person deviates from the norm, and group (informal groups).

Socialization occurs as a result of two interrelated processes: internalization and social adaptation. A person adapts to social conditions, masters the rules of the game, which are mandatory for all members of society. Over time, norms, values, attitudes, ideas about what is good and what is bad become part of the inner world of the individual.

People are socialized throughout their lives, and at each age stage, statuses are acquired and lost, new roles are learned, conflicts arise and are resolved. This is how personality development occurs.

Thanks to socialization, an individual joins social life, receives and changes his social status and social role. Social status -it is the position of an individual in society with certain rights and responsibilities. The status of an individual can be: profession, position, gender, age, marital status, nationality, religiosity, financial situation, political influence, etc. R. Merton called the totality of all social statuses of an individual a “status set.” The status that has a dominant influence on an individual’s lifestyle, his social identity, is called main status. In small, primary social groups, it is of great importance personal status of a person, formed under the influence of his individual qualities (Appendix, diagram 6).

Social statuses are also divided into prescribed (ascriptive), i.e. received independently of the subject, most often from birth (race, gender, nationality, social origin) and achieved, i.e. acquired through the individual's own efforts.

There is a certain hierarchy of statuses, the place in which is called status rank. There are high, medium and low status ranks. Status mismatch those. contradictions in the intergroup and intragroup hierarchy arise under two circumstances:

• when an individual occupies a high status rank in one group and a low one in another;
• when the rights and duties of one status conflict or interfere with the rights and duties of another.

The concept of “social status” is closely related to the concept of “social role”, which is its function, its dynamic side. A social role is the expected behavior of an individual who has a certain status in a given society. According to R. Merton's definition, the set of roles corresponding to a given status is called a role system (“role set”). The social role is divided into role expectations - what, according to the rules of the game, is expected from a particular role, and role behavior - what a person performs within the framework of his role.

Any social role, according to T. Parsons, can be described using five main characteristics:

• level of emotionality - some roles are emotionally restrained, others are relaxed;
• method of obtaining- prescribed or achieved;
• scale of manifestation - strictly limited or vague;
• degree of formalization - strictly established or arbitrary;
• motivation - for general profit or for personal benefit.

Since each person has a wide range of statuses, it means that he also has many roles corresponding to one or another status. Therefore, in real life there are often role conflicts. In the most general form, two types of such conflicts can be distinguished: between roles or within one role, when it includes incompatible, conflicting responsibilities of the individual. Social experience shows that only a few roles are free from internal tensions and conflicts, which can lead to refusal to fulfill role obligations and psychological stress. There are several types of defense mechanisms that can be used to reduce role tension. These include:

• "Rationalization of roles" when a person unconsciously looks for the negative aspects of a desired but unattainable role in order to calm himself down;
• "role separation" - involves temporary withdrawal from life, exclusion of undesirable roles from the individual’s consciousness;
• "role regulation" - represents a conscious, deliberate release from responsibility for fulfilling a particular role.

Thus, in modern society, each individual uses mechanisms of unconscious defense and conscious involvement of social structures in order to avoid the negative consequences of role conflicts.

Social status

A person behaves (performs an action) in one way or another, being in, interacting with different social groups: family, street, educational, labor, army, etc. To characterize the degree of inclusion of an individual in various social connections and groups, as well as positions, which he occupies in them, his functional responsibilities in these groups the concept of social status is used.

- these are the responsibilities and rights of a person in the system of social connections, groups, systems. It includes responsibilities(roles-functions) that a person must perform in a given social community (educational group), connection (educational process), system (university). Rights - These are the duties that other people, a social connection, a social system must perform in relation to a person. For example, the rights of a student at a university (and at the same time the responsibilities of the university administration towards him) are: the presence of highly qualified teachers, educational literature, warm and bright classrooms, etc. And the rights of the university administration (and at the same time the responsibilities of the student) are the requirements for the student attend classes, study educational literature, take exams, etc.

In different groups, the same individual has different social status. For example, a talented chess player in a chess club has a high status, but in the army he may have a low one. This is a potential cause of frustration and interpersonal conflict. Characteristics of social status are prestige and authority, which represent recognition of the individual’s merits by others.

Prescribed(natural) are statuses and roles imposed by society on an individual, regardless of his efforts and merits. Such statuses are determined by the ethnic, family, territorial, etc. origin of the individual: gender, nationality, age, place of residence, etc. Prescribed statuses have a huge impact on the social status and lifestyle of people.

Acquired(achieved) are the status and role achieved through the efforts of the person himself. These are the statuses of professor, writer, astronaut, etc. Among the acquired statuses there are: professionally- official, which captures the professional, economic, cultural, etc. position of the individual. Most often, one leading social status determines a person’s position in society; this status is called integral. Quite often it is determined by position, wealth, education, sports success, etc.

A person is characterized by a set of statuses and roles. For example: man, married, professor, etc. statuses form status set of this individual. This set depends both on natural statuses and roles, and on acquired ones. Among the many statuses of a person at each stage of his life, one can single out the main one: for example, the status of a schoolboy, student, officer, husband, etc. In an adult, status is usually associated with profession.

In a class society, the status set is of a class nature and depends on the social class of a given person. Compare, for example, the status set of the “new” Russian bourgeoisie and workers. These statuses (and roles) for representatives of each social class form a hierarchy according to the degree of value. Inter-status and inter-role distance arises between statuses and roles. It is also characteristic of statuses and roles in terms of their social significance.

In the process of life, a person’s status set and roles change. It occurs as a result of both the development of the needs and interests of the individual and the challenges of the social environment. In the first case, the person is active, and in the second, he is reactive, showing a reflexive reaction to the influence of the environment. For example, a young man chooses which university to enter, and once in the army, he is forced to adapt to it, counting the days until demobilization. A person has the inherent ability to increase and complicate his status and role set.

Some philosophers see the meaning of individual life in the self-realization of one’s abilities and needs, the elevation of one’s status and role set. (In particular, the above system of needs according to Maslow comes from this.) What is the reason for this phenomenon? It is due to the fact that, on the one hand, self-realization is embedded in the “foundation” of a person - in his freedom, ambitions, and competitiveness. On the other hand, external circumstances often elevate or lower people in the status set. As a result, people who are able to mobilize their abilities and will advance throughout life from one status level to another, moving from one social stratum to another, higher one. For example, a schoolchild - a student - a young specialist - a businessman - the president of a company - a pensioner. The last stage of status recruitment, associated with old age, usually puts an end to the process conservation status set.

Adaptation of a person to his age and changing social status is an important and complex issue. Our society is characterized by weak socialization towards old age (and retirement). Many find themselves unprepared for old age and defeat in the fight against age and disease. As a result, retirement, leaving the workforce for a family that was considered a secondary social group, was usually accompanied by severe stress, role conflicts, illness and premature death.

Social role

The social behavior of an individual, community, institution, organization depends not only on their social status (rights and responsibilities), but also on the surrounding social environment, consisting of the same social subjects. They expect a certain social behavior in accordance with their needs and “other-oriented”. In this case, social behavior takes on the character of a social role.

A social role is behavior that (1) stems from a person’s social status and (2) is expected by others. As an expected behavior, a social role includes a set that determines the expected sequence of actions of the subject, adequate to his social status. For example, a talented chess player is expected to play professionally, a president is expected to be able to formulate the interests of the country and realize them, etc. Therefore, a social role can be defined as behavior that corresponds to the social norms accepted in a given society.

How does a subject's social environment force him to follow certain norms that lead to the behavior expected by that environment? First of all, socialization and the education of such norms are of enormous importance. Further, in society there is a mechanism sanctions - punishments for failure to fulfill a role and rewards for its fulfillment, i.e., for compliance with social norms. This mechanism operates throughout a person’s life.

Social status and role are closely interrelated; it is no coincidence that in European sociology they are often not distinguished. "Status" in this sense of the word is equivalent to roles, although it is the latter term that is more widely used,” write English sociologists. The behavioral side of social status, expressed in roles, allows them to be distinguished: social status can include several roles. For example, the status of a mother includes the roles of nurse, doctor, educator, etc. The concept of role also allows us to highlight the mechanism for coordinating the behavior of different subjects in social communities, institutions, and organizations.

Strict fulfillment of social roles makes people's behavior predictable, streamlines social life, and limits its chaos. Role learning - socialization - begins in early childhood with the influence of parents and loved ones. At first it is of an unconscious nature for the child. He is shown what and how to do, and is encouraged for performing the role correctly. For example, little girls play with dolls and help their mothers with housework; boys play with cars, help their fathers with repairs, etc. Education for girls and boys gives them different interests, abilities, and roles.

The expected behavior is ideal because it comes from a theoretical situation. Therefore, it is necessary to distinguish from a social role actual role behavior, t.s. performance of a role in specific conditions. For example, a talented chess player may play poorly for certain reasons, that is, fail to cope with his role. Role behavior usually differs from the social role (expected behavior) in many ways: abilities, understanding, conditions for implementing the role, etc.

Role performance is determined primarily role requirements, which are embodied in social standards, grouped around a given social status, as well as sanctions for fulfilling the role. A person’s roles are significantly influenced by the situation in which he finds himself—first of all, by other people. Subject models role expectations - orientation, primarily in relation to other people with whom he is associated in the situation. These people act as an additional member of mutual role orientations. In these role expectations, a person can focus on himself (his worldview, character, abilities, etc.). Parsons calls this role expectation-orientation attributive(ascriptive). But role expectations-orientations may relate to the results of another’s activities. Parsons calls this role expectation Achievable. Attribute-achievement orientation is an important aspect of status-role behavior.

In the process of socialization, a person learns to perform different roles: child, pupil, student, comrade, parent, engineer, military man, pensioner, etc. Role training includes: 1) knowledge of one’s responsibilities and rights in a given area of ​​social activity; 2) acquisition of psychological qualities (character, mentality, beliefs) corresponding to this role; 3) practical implementation of role-playing actions. Learning the most important roles begins in childhood with the formation of attitudes (good and bad), orienting towards a certain sequence of actions and operations. Children play different roles imitate everyday behavior of others. They are aware their rights and responsibilities: children and parents, comrades and enemies, etc. Gradually, awareness of the causes and results of one’s actions comes.

Characteristics of a social role

One of the first attempts to systematize social roles was made by T. Parsons and his colleagues (1951). They believed that any social role is described by four characteristics:

Emotionality. Some roles require emotional restraint. These are the roles of a doctor, nurse, commander, etc. Others do not require emotional restraint. These are the roles of, for example, a digger, a mason, a soldier, etc.

Purchase method. In accordance with these characteristics, roles (as well as statuses) are divided into prescribed and purchased(restrained - unrestrained). The first roles (gender, age, nationality, etc.) are formed as a result of socialization, and the second (schoolchild, student, graduate student, scientist, etc.) - as a result of one’s own activity.

Formalization. Roles are divided into informal and formal. The first ones arise spontaneously in the process of communication, based on education, upbringing, interests (for example, the role of an informal leader, the “soul of the company”, etc.); the second ones are based on administrative And legal norms (roles of a deputy, policeman, etc.).

Motivation. Different roles are determined by different needs and interests, just as the same roles are determined by the same needs. For example, the role of the president is determined by a historical mission, lust for power, and an accident of birth. At the same time, the roles of “oligarch”, professor, wife, etc. can be determined by economic motives.

Introduction 2

1. Students as a social group.

1.1.The concept of students. 3

1.2. Sources of student recruitment. 5

2.Students during the period of reform of Russian society.

2.1. Moscow students during the period of reform of Russian society. 7

3. Social image of students.

3.1. Social image of customs students in the conditions of transformation 18

Russian society.

4.About the graduate labor market.

4.1. A strategy for effective behavior in the labor market of graduates in conditions of economic instability. 20

4.2. Self-determination of a future employee or how to find yourself. 22

4.3. Analysis of your own capabilities. 25

4.4. Effective ways to find a job. 26

Conclusion 30

Literature 31

Introduction.

Since I myself am a student, and for the second time, the problem of choosing a topic for an essay did not take me much time, especially since the question of the role of students in our society and, in particular, in the youth group, is very relevant for many reasons.

Scientific interest in such a social group of young people as students is determined by the fact that, firstly, in a developed society, rapidly developing sectors of the national economy, science and culture determine a further increase in the number and quality of training of specialists with higher education (in relation to other groups of students youth); secondly, the socio-economic importance of the educational and preparatory functions of university students is increasing; thirdly, students are the most important source of reproduction of the intelligentsia; fourthly, the great role played by students in the socio-political life of our country.

I would like to make a reservation right away that in this work I considered only the problems of students of higher educational institutions, since when studying the characteristics of students of secondary specialized educational institutions, many difficulties would arise when comparing their educational activities, leisure time, worldview and assessing their future role in the life of society as specialist

In philosophical and sociological literature, the problem of students began to be actively developed in the 60s. Various aspects of this problem, such as social sources of student recruitment, the characteristics of its various professional groups, higher school as a channel of social movements, were considered by such researchers as Dmitriev A.V., Ikonnikova S.N., Kolesnikov Yu.S., Lisovsky V.T., Rubin B.G., Rubina L.Ya., Rutkevich M.N., Saar E.A., Titma M.Kh., Filippov F.R. and etc.

As a basis for my work, I preferred to take the book by V.T. Lisovsky and A.V. Dmitrieva "Student's Personality". This monograph is devoted to the analysis of factors influencing the formation of a student’s personality and the preparation of a young man for the future responsible activity of a highly qualified specialist.

In my course work, I used statements from various domestic and foreign sociologists, psychologists and philosophers, whose authorship can be seen in the footnotes.

In the first chapter of my work, I tried to define the terms student and students, using excerpts from various books, including encyclopedias. Here the definition of students as a social group is given. Next, I found it necessary to consider the motivation of applicants when entering a university.

In the second chapter, I talked about Moscow students during the period of reform of Russian society.

You can learn about the social well-being and occupied status of a student from the third chapter of the course work. The political, moral, cultural and leisure interests of young people are also considered here. Young men and women of the new generation expressed their opinions about the present time and about themselves, about social justice in society, about the war, about whether they want to go abroad or whether they are quite satisfied with life in their homeland, etc.

The fourth chapter highlights the problems of choosing a particular specialty by a young person. From this chapter you can also find out the motives for obtaining higher technical education. Moreover, here is an example of a study conducted among technical universities in Bashkortostan, from which it was revealed that not all students intend to work in their specialty in the future. You can also find an answer here regarding the employment of students in the current crisis situation in Russia, about , what qualities should be present in a modern specialist. Here there is a comparison of the opinions of the employer and the student, and their views do not always coincide. Banks and commercial firms place especially high demands on their employees; The state budgetary sphere is less demanding in this regard. But most students still want to work in the private sector, seeing in it more freedom for self-realization of their professional abilities.

So, who are these students?

1. Students as a social group.

1.1.The concept of students

Students are a social group consisting of young people studying in higher educational institutions. An essential social feature of students is their closeness in the nature of their activities, interests, and orientation to the social group of the intelligentsia and specialists. This also determines the internal heterogeneity of students, not only in terms of social origin, nationality, demographic characteristics, but above all in terms of professional traits that are close to the traits of the corresponding groups of specialists. The general global trend in the context of the scientific and technological revolution is the rapid quantitative growth of students, mainly in industrialized countries. Associated with this is the democratization of higher education and the expansion of social sources of student recruitment. The rapid increase in the proportion of people from various strata of the working people led to the active participation of students in mass anti-war and other anti-democratic movements, in the struggle to solve environmental problems. Various forms of international student cooperation have emerged and are developing in these movements, as well as in sports (Universiade) and other types of social activities.

Students as a special group emerged in Europe in the 12th century at the same time as the first universities. Medieval students were extremely heterogeneous both socially and in age. With the development of capitalism and the increasing social significance of higher education, the role of students in the life of society increases. Students are not only a source of replenishment of qualified personnel and intelligentsia, but they themselves constitute a fairly large and important social group. Although the high cost of higher education and the presence of a number of other social barriers made it accessible in most cases only to wealthy segments of society, and it itself gave the people who received it significant privileges, already in the 19th century. 20th centuries The students were distinguished by their high political activity and played a noticeable role in public life.

The scientific and technological revolution entailed major changes in the position and composition of the student body. The need for educated personnel everywhere causes a rapid increase in the absolute number of students, as well as their share in the total population and especially in youth age groups. Due to the consolidation of higher educational institutions, the concentration of students is increasing, and campuses are becoming more and more crowded. The growing mass character of higher education undermines its former elitism and makes students more democratic in social origin. Certain shifts are also taking place in the gender and age structure of students, in particular the number of women is increasing.

Despite the differences in their social origin and, consequently, material capabilities, students are connected by a common type of activity and in this sense form a certain socio-professional group. Common activity in combination with territorial concentration gives rise to a certain community of interests among students, group identity, a specific subculture and way of life, and this is complemented and enhanced by age homogeneity, which other socio-professional groups do not have. The socio-psychological community is objectified and consolidated by the activities of a number of political, cultural, educational, sports and everyday student organizations.

Students do not occupy an independent place in the production system, student status is obviously temporary, and the social position of students and their specific problems are determined by the nature of the social system and are specified depending on the level of socio-economic and cultural development of the country, including the national characteristics of the higher education system.

Students play a special role in the system of social division of labor, which consists in preparing to perform the functions of the intelligentsia. While not constantly participating in the production of material and spiritual values, students nevertheless partially participate in indirect productive and unproductive labor in the form of study, the role of which is increasing in society.

Students, being an integral part of youth, are a specific social group characterized by special living, working and living conditions, social behavior and psychology, and a system of value orientations. For its representatives, preparation for future activities in the chosen sphere of material or spiritual production is the main, although not the only, occupation.

As a social group, students are an association of young people with certain socially significant aspirations and objectives. At the same time, students, being a specific group of students, have characteristics unique to them.

Students are a fairly mobile social group; its composition changes every year, since the number of students admitted to universities exceeds the number of specialists graduating.

Among the specific features of students, several more typical features should be included. First of all, such as social prestige. As noted above, students are the most prepared, educated part of youth, which undoubtedly puts them among the leading groups of youth. This, in turn, predetermines the formation of specific features of the psychology of student age.

In an effort to complete their studies at a university and thus realize their dream of obtaining a higher education, most students realize that a university is one of the means of social advancement of youth, and this serves as an objective prerequisite that shapes the psychology of social advancement.

The commonality of goals in obtaining higher education, the common nature of work - study, lifestyle, active participation in the public affairs of the university contributes to the development of cohesion among students. This is manifested in the variety of forms of collectivist activity of students.

Another important feature is that active interaction with various social formations of society, as well as the specifics of studying at a university, lead students to great opportunities for communication. Therefore, a fairly high intensity of communication is a specific feature of students.

A socially significant feature of students is also an intense search for the meaning of life, the desire for new ideas and progressive changes in society. These aspirations are a positive factor. However, due to the lack of life (social) experience, the surface in assessing a number of life phenomena, some students can move from fair criticism of shortcomings to thoughtless criticism.

1.2. Sources of student recruitment

Analysis of the social structure of students is also important in terms of social justice, since it shows the accessibility of higher education for various strata, i.e. from the point of view of “equalizing chances for everyone.”

But there is also a sociocultural aspect of this problem: in what social environment are there optimal material and cultural conditions for the formation of a set of personal qualities required for obtaining higher education? After all, in order to successfully pass the competition, develop the academic discipline of students, strive to master the subject studied well, develop their horizons, etc. Therefore, representatives of some social strata turn out to be more competitive for the higher education system (it is easier to enter a prestigious university, a prestigious faculty), while others - less competitive.

What changes are taking place in the social structure of students at the present time? What are the main social sources of replenishment? What are the most significant features of its social culture, how is its reproduction carried out?

Firstly, among the parents of students there are relatively few unemployed (unemployed, non-working pensioners, disabled people, etc.). That is, the social structure of students, in comparison with the social structure of society, looks more prosperous and is a structure of an “improved” type. Secondly, the social composition of students is quite diverse: both traditional and new strata that emerged during the reforms (owners of their own businesses, entrepreneurs) are widely represented in it. Thirdly, the dominant group are students who come from families of specialists with higher education. Fourthly, among students the proportion of children of workers and support staff has decreased significantly. Fifthly, the student body is quickly replenished with representatives of a new layer for us - young people from families where one of the parents, or even both parents, are owners of private firms in various levels of business.

An important feature of the social composition of students is the high employment of parents in the state or non-state sector of the economy. Why is this factor considered a differentiating feature among students? The fact is that people associated with the private sector have life prospects, expectations and attitudes, and standards of living that are radically different than those of the layers “tied” to the public sector. Another line of stratification of the student population ran between universities: it turned out that different universities “accumulate” students from different countries in far different ways. Of course, in the past there were universities that were distinguished by both prestige and “elitism” (i.e., a high proportion of students who came from the ranks of the Soviet elite). However, now the list of elite universities has expanded.

Along with the economic situation of parental families, from the beginning of the 90s another factor began to “work” in stabilizing the standard of living of students: additional earnings. They have become so widespread that, in fact, we can talk about a change in the way of life of students, since, along with their studies, they are becoming the second main activity of students. There is no direct connection with the standard of living of the student’s family, i.e. both those in dire need and those who have noted a high standard of living earn extra money.

Probably, additional earnings are becoming a new standard of behavior, symbolizing the efficiency and enterprise of students (i.e., they perform not only their direct function).

Studying at universities is the most important channel of social movements (social mobility) for young people from all social groups and strata. With the rapid growth in the absolute number and share of specialists in general and the layer of highly qualified specialists in particular, the last layer is in the process of expanded reproduction. It is quite clear that in conditions when the number of the stratum under consideration has almost doubled over the past decade, the problem of social sources of its replenishment requires especially careful analysis. The decisive factors determining the increasingly even enrollment of students from all social groups of society are the following two.

1. The rapprochement of social groups based on the material conditions of existence.
2. The implementation of universal complete secondary education means a major step in overcoming cultural differences among young people belonging to different social groups by birth and upbringing, living in a city or village.

Both of these historic achievements on the path to greater social equality are having an increasingly significant impact on equalizing the opportunities for higher education among the younger generation. The social composition of those entering universities and the entire student body (excluding students in evening and correspondence faculties) is consistently approaching the social composition of the population. Changes in the latter are most accurately recorded by population censuses.

The contradictory influence of various factors has created an ambiguous situation in domestic higher education. The social mechanism for replenishing students makes the university system more and more self-reproducing.

Sociologist L.I. Boyko published the following data on the social structure of students. The student body is dominated by young people whose parents have a high educational level: at least 60% of respondents come from families of specialists with higher education, and about 30% come from specialized secondary education. The proportion of those whose parents are managers of various ranks has increased significantly; Every third student has a father and every fifth student has a mother belonging to this category.

These factors predetermine the high economic status of most students.

Lately, the share of financially prosperous students has increased and amounts to almost 3/4 of those surveyed (for comparison: according to similar sociological measurements, among “adults” there are no more than 30%). Moreover, this part determines the general appearance and social well-being of students. Consequently, the student population is recruited primarily from strata that have largely successfully adapted to market relations and are well-off.

This phenomenon is an indicator that the social composition of students is asymmetrical to the social structure of society and has a very narrow social base of recruitment.

A significant stratification of students also occurs in the educational process: we are talking not only about academic performance, levels of diligence, but also differences in the motivating factors of learning.

Along with those who respond quite adequately to market impulses and, as a result, are active in acquiring knowledge, there is a large group of students with opposite aspirations. They are characterized by the absence of more or less clear guidelines, formal adaptation or alienation from the educational process, the importance of external stimuli in their studies, such as the forceful influence of the dean’s office, strict control over class attendance, etc.

Moreover, they ignore the need for significant personal efforts to master knowledge, acquire professional

self-determination.

From this we can conclude that the social protective functions of higher education in a number of cases form the dependent positions of students.

2.Students during the period of reform of Russian society.

2.1. Moscow students during the period of reform of Russian society.

Radical socio-economic changes in our society have had a mixed impact on higher education. On the one hand, it received a powerful impetus for modernization and development. The contradictions between the new demands of society and higher education, its content, technological and organizational structures are gradually being overcome. And this certainly has a deep positive meaning. Ideological activity is prohibited in universities, their academic freedom and independence have expanded, specialties and their nomenclature are being modernized (albeit slowly). The production of specialists in critically shortage professions is increasing: economists, lawyers, sociologists, etc. Paid forms of higher education have appeared (which generally encourages healthy competition between universities).

Sometimes these processes are not painless, since this causes restructuring within higher education: the prestige of some universities and specialties increases sharply, while for others it decreases, social stratification increases both within the student body as a whole and between students (which is especially important) of different types of universities, faculties and specialties. And these are the inevitable consequences that accompany the modernization of higher education.

On the other hand, the lack of a clear state policy in the field of education, the necessary investments in it, and unfulfilled hopes for the commercialization of universities lead to devastating dysfunctional consequences for higher education. One might say that it is being “bleded out.” This includes a sharp reduction in the number of teachers and university researchers, caused by catastrophically low salaries, falling living standards, loss of once high social prestige, and aging personnel; gradual destruction of their work motivation, erosion of social status and professional standards of behavior. The material components of the educational process are in unsatisfactory condition: educational buildings, equipment, library funds.

Thus, the contradictory interaction of positive and destructive processes creates a complex and even dramatic situation in Russian higher education.

Revealing the social appearance of students, one should also take into account the profound changes that have occurred in society itself: the transformation of its main institutions, stratification characteristics, and basic meaning-forming values. All these processes (both in society as a whole and in higher education) are refracted in their own way in the life of students. New features are visibly manifested in the lifestyle of students, the value system, and the social origin of students. The relationship between students and the state is changing (the lack of demand for many specialties, the lack of mandatory assignment and “work placements” after graduation, etc.), with teachers, and with parents. This leads to the fact that modern students are becoming more and more heterogeneous. Diligent students (“nerds”) coexist peacefully with those who remember studying only before exams; “entrepreneurial” people, whose part-time jobs give them the opportunity to live comfortably already in their student years - with “romantics”, for whom creative self-realization is important; The type of social activist student has almost disappeared.

Therefore, researchers, higher education leaders, and student trade unions face questions: how is the reproduction of student youth carried out, from what strata; What financial opportunities do students have to study? What changes have occurred in students’ educational activities and in their motivation?

The object of our research was the Moscow student population, which is especially interesting because the processes occurring in it, as a rule, are ahead of the Russian average. The study “Moscow Student: Problems and Moods” was conducted in 1995, commissioned by the Department of Family and Youth of the Moscow Government, by a team of teachers from the Department of Sociology and Psychology of the Moscow Aviation Institute.

To show more clearly the depth of changes within the Moscow student body, we will use the results of other studies conducted by the department.

Reproduction of student youth: new trends

The problem of reproduction of student youth can be considered in various aspects. Since the student body is formed from young representatives of various strata, during periods of transformation of the social structure of society it can serve as an indicator of these processes.

It itself is also an active participant: after all, higher education performs the function of individual and/or group social mobility and reproduction of layers engaged in highly skilled and complex labor.

Analysis of the social structure of students is also important in terms of social justice, because shows the accessibility of higher education for different strata, i.e. from the point of view of “leveling the chances for everyone”.

But there is also a sociocultural aspect to this problem: in what social environment are there optimal material and cultural conditions for the formation of a set of personal qualities required to obtain higher education? After all, in order to successfully pass the competition, develop the academic discipline of students, strive to master the subject being studied well, develop their horizons, etc. a sufficiently high level of individual aspirations, the prestige of intellectual work, the values ​​of professionalism, motivation to achieve academic success, etc. are necessary. Therefore, representatives of some social strata turn out to be more competitive for the higher education system (it is easier to enter a prestigious university, a prestigious faculty), while others are less competitive.

Thus, the higher education system acts as one of the main links in the social mechanism of reproduction, primarily of the “middle” and “higher” classes.

The theory of the reproductive function of education was proposed in the 60s by French sociologists P. Bourdieu and J. Passeron, and then developed within the bosom of the anthroponymic school (D. Berto and others). Then P. Bourdieu came to the conclusion that in France “the son of a high official has 24 times more chances of entering university than the son of an agricultural worker, 40 times more than the son of an industrial worker, and his chances are also twice as high as the son of an average official." True, in the next three decades, higher education in Western countries became widespread and accessible, but, nevertheless, the social structures in them changed little and turned out to be inert. This is evidenced by the results of empirical studies by L. Duberman (USA), J. Goldthorpe and F. Beavin (Great Britain), J. Marceau (France).

Of course, education is one of the means for upward social mobility, a kind of “social elevator” (P. Sorokin), but much less often and to a lesser extent than is commonly believed.

The “slow mobility” of social structures is explained by the fact that the elite uses a more flexible strategy of self-reproduction than before. The decisive role in it belongs to the symbolic capital of the individual, and not just economic, that is, educational and cultural capital, which, according to Bourdieu, includes linguistic and cultural competence. By educating their children in privileged educational institutions, representatives of the elite painlessly carry out social selection there and lead to key positions of control in the economy and politics, first of all, “their own”.

The elite’s “endowment” of their children with symbolic capital and education, rather than simply transferring ownership of economic capital, is due to a number of reasons. This includes the professionalization of management, the separation of ownership from management, the complexity of the latter; this is also the growth of democratic sentiments in society, the demand for equality of educational opportunities.

For the “middle classes” and, especially, for the “new middle classes”, which include representatives of medium and small businesses and knowledge workers, higher education also turns out to be a means of maintaining and passing on their status to their children. That is why the social structure of the student body is, to an incomplete extent, a “cast” of the social structure of society, the latter being asymmetrically represented in the student body. In its structure there are “fluxes” towards people from the upper and middle strata. Unlike secondary education, which is mainly an agent of general civil socialization, higher education performs the functions of professional socialization of the individual. Therefore, universities feel the influence of transformations in the system of market economy institutions more deeply than secondary schools, when, for example, the need for new specialists arises. The desire of the upper classes to provide their children with opportunities for a first-class education is understandable. After all, it is the main condition for them to inherit leading positions in society.

In the 60s, Soviet sociologists also began to study problems of the social structure of society, the role of higher education in social movements, and the study of the life plans of young people and their implementation. In the works of M.N. Rutkevich, F.R. Filippova, N.A. Aitova, O.I. Shkaratan, based on empirical research, relatively high social mobility was shown, due to the availability of higher education for the general population. Now research on this issue is receiving a deeper theoretical understanding through the prism of the features of the Soviet stratification system and its transformation.

What changes are taking place in the social structure of students at the present time? What are the main social sources of replenishment? Does it remain fairly egalitarian or does it tend towards elitism? Let us consider these questions using the example of Moscow students. What are the most significant features of its social culture, how is its reproduction carried out?

Firstly, Among the parents of students there are relatively few unemployed (unemployed, non-working pensioners, disabled people, etc.). Only 4.6% of the students surveyed included their fathers in this category, and 14.4% - their mothers, i.e. the social structure of students, in comparison with the social structure of society, looks more prosperous, is a structure

Diagram of the social composition of the students surveyed (as a percentage of respondents; belonging to the stratum was determined by the occupation of the father). Selected strata:

ordinary workers in the service sector; 2) workers, support and technical personnel of the public and private sectors; 3) engineering and technical workers, economists, employees of industrial and agricultural production enterprises; 4) specialists from state and non-state scientific, educational, medical, cultural and other institutions; 5) military personnel, law enforcement officers, justice agencies, etc.; 6) specialists: employees of administrative authorities (central and local; ministries, state committees, prefectures, etc.); 7) senior managers of industrial, agricultural enterprises, farms, scientific, cultural, educational, and healthcare institutions; 8) heads of state administrative departments at the federal, regional, city, municipal levels (ministries, committees, prefectures, etc.); 9) farmers; 10) persons engaged in individual entrepreneurial activities (traders, artisans, “individuals” (“shuttle traders”), etc.); 11) owners, co-owners, managers of private production financial, trade, educational, medical and other private centers and firms; 12) others of the “improved” type. Secondly,(see diagram), the social composition of students is quite diverse: both traditional and new strata that emerged during the reforms (owners of their own businesses, entrepreneurs) are widely represented in it. Third, the dominant group are students who come from families of specialists with higher education (over 60%). And this is natural. The experience of former socialist countries shows that when restrictions on the admission to universities of “persons of non-proletarian origin” were lifted, the share of these strata in the student body increased sharply. Fourthly, among Moscow students the proportion of children of workers and support staff has decreased significantly: it is 19.3%. This, of course, is much less than in the “pre-perestroika” era, when the state maintained a certain balance of layers in the social structure of students. For comparison: by the 80s, children from families of workers and support staff made up approximately 35-45% of the total number of students (data for the USSR)2. Fifthly, the student population of Moscow is quickly replenished with representatives of a new layer for us - young people from families where one of the parents, or even both parents, are owners of private companies in various fields of business. The share of students whose fathers have their own business is 4.5% (and taking into account “mother-owners” it increases to 6-7%). It seems that this social group is “represented” in the student environment, at least in proportion to its size. The number of entrepreneurs-owners in the active population was 3.2% by 1995, but a number of researchers believe that in reality their share is much higher.

An important feature of the social composition of Moscow students is the high employment of parents in the state or non-state sector of the economy. Let us clarify that when speaking about the non-state sector, we mean individuals engaged in individual entrepreneurial activities; larger owners, (co)owners of their own business, as well as employees of private enterprises. We did not include the parents of students employed at enterprises that were very recently state-owned and are just turning into joint-stock partnerships in this sector, since these enterprises, which appear as non-state enterprises from a legal point of view, remain organized as state-owned enterprises according to all social characteristics. According to our data, 29.4% of the respondents’ fathers are employed in the non-state sector (66% in the state sector), and 19.2% of mothers (66.4% in the state sector). In general, the share of students who have at least one parent employed in the non-state sector is 37-38%. This is already a considerable amount. Why do we consider this criterion to be a differentiating feature among students? The fact is that people associated with the private sector have life prospects, expectations and attitudes, and standards of living that are radically different from those of the layers “tied” to the public sector. Another line of stratification of the student body ran between universities: it turned out that different universities “accumulate” students from different strata differently. Of course, in the past there were universities that were distinguished by both prestige (attractiveness) and “elitism” (i.e., a high proportion of students who came from the ranks of the Soviet elite). However, now the list of “elite” universities has expanded.

Among the universities surveyed, along with Moscow State University and the Academy of Law, it included new “favorites”: the Medical Dental Institute and the Commercial Institute. These universities have become more attractive to young people who come from “rising” strata (i.e. those who are increasing their social and material status), while in other universities there are significantly more young people from social groups who have not yet fully adapted to the market economy.

To understand these processes, as the study of correlations has shown, the ratio of the proportion of students whose fathers are workers and support staff and the proportion of students whose fathers are owners of private firms is essential. It is this indicator that differentiates the financial situation and mood of students at different universities to the greatest extent (see Table 1).

2 Calculated according to table 2 given in .

The study also revealed other features of the social stratification of Moscow students. The fact of “hereditary commitment” to the professions of their parents among a noticeable part of students was confirmed. Thus, in technical universities there is a higher proportion of students from families of engineering and technical workers; at the State Law Academy - from families of military personnel and law enforcement officers; etc. and so on. This result clearly demonstrates the role of higher education in the mechanism of reproduction of social strata (which, generally speaking, is one of the conditions for self-organization and ensuring the stability of society).

So, what conclusions follow from the above facts and patterns characterizing the social structure of Moscow students?

1. The rejection of special state regulation of the student structure has led to the fact that it is formed under the influence of self-regulation mechanisms, intensively and extensively replenished by people from the “middle” and “higher” (in our conditions) layers of specialists with higher education, high-level managers , business owners.

2. This leads to their predominance over people from layers of less skilled labor (workers, support staff). So, in some respects, the structure of Moscow students is approaching the “Western” type, i.e. characteristic of industrialized countries.

3. It is still difficult to say what form the higher education system in Russia will take in the 21st century: it will become elitist or will retain its accessibility as it is now. One thing is clear that even in our conditions we cannot refuse various forms of search, selection and support of talented young people from any segment of the population.

4. The criteria of social differentiation that we chose turned out to be closely related to the level of financial situation of students. Therefore, we will move on to a more detailed description of the standard of living of students.

If the analysis of the social structure of students is the first aspect of the problems of reproduction of this social group, then the second aspect is its standard of living, around which so many myths have developed. Table 2 gives a clear picture of the standard of living of students.

As can be seen from the survey results, 52.3% of Moscow students come from families with a satisfactory standard of living, the remaining 16.5% have excellent parental families. Consequently, almost 70% of Moscow students, by the standards of the transition period, are well off. These data also correlate well with indicators of students’ personal consumption in clothing, food, entertainment, summer vacation, etc. And it is this mass of students that largely determines the general appearance and social well-being of students. But the financial situation of 25-30% of students (critically low, plus a low standard of living) can be assessed as unsatisfactory: it is alarming, and for almost 8% the situation is simply catastrophic, they live from hand to mouth, not to mention other needs.

Table 1

Distribution of the share of students whose fathers are workers (in the state and non-state sectors) and, accordingly, owners, directors, entrepreneurs (as a percentage of respondents)

table 2

Distribution of answers of students and teachers of Moscow universities to the question about their standard of living (in% of respondents)

The following fact turned out to be somewhat unexpected: there is no direct connection with the standard of living of the student’s family, i.e. Both those in dire need and those who have noted a high standard of living earn extra money.

Probably, additional earnings are becoming a new standard of behavior, symbolizing the efficiency and entrepreneurial spirit of students (i.e., they perform not only their direct function).

What is their social effectiveness? For 14% of respondents they are very important, because... allow you to achieve at least a basic standard of living, for 40% - allow you to have “pocket” money. So, for 54% of Moscow students, part-time jobs stabilize their financial situation. And only for 5% do they provide a high level of well-being (much higher than “necessary”). These students actually turn into “correspondence students”, since their work takes precedence over their studies.

So, today we are witnessing processes of transition from the Soviet social structure to a structure corresponding to market economic relations, therefore, both the “rising strata” and those who have not yet adapted to the new social conditions are significantly represented among students. But as a result of the action of self-regulation mechanisms, the social structure of Moscow students is increasingly becoming a structure of an “improved type.” It confidently represents the non-state sector, company owners, heads of ministries, and no non-working pensioners.

As a result, his financial situation looks more optimal than the consumption structure of many other strata, with the exception of the most prosperous. Replenishing to an increasing extent from the “rising strata,” from strata that were able to effectively adapt to new economic relations, they determine the general appearance and social well-being of Moscow students (optimism, confidence in the future, hopes for personal adaptation).

At the same time, students represent a deeply differentiated mass (by social origin, financial situation, type of university, etc.). It seems to be “split” into separate groups, between which there is often no mutual understanding. What some people care about turns out to be

indifferent to others. This seriously undermines the conditions for the formation of group-wide attitudes and slows down the formation of the “We” feeling. It is no coincidence that most students do not have the desire for collective action. Only 15.4% of respondents agreed with the statement: “whether society will care about creating acceptable conditions for studying - this largely depends on whether students themselves will actively and unitedly defend their own interests.”

These, from our point of view, are the main characteristics of the reproductive processes that characterize Moscow students.

Students' educational activities

The “social portrait” of Moscow students would not be complete if we lost sight of the problems of educational activity. They've recently gotten a new perspective. If in the 80s the interests of Russian sociologists in this area focused primarily on studying the professional socialization of students (the dominant motivations for educational activities were determined, the dependence of academic performance on them, etc.), now the emphasis is placed differently, which is due to a different social context. This is the establishment in the public consciousness of a system of liberal values, the psychology of “self-made”, and the problem of the unpromising nature of many specialties, and the difficult state of public sector enterprises, and much more.

The emergence of private sector organizations has expanded the types of careers available to graduates, not only as employees, but also, for the more ambitious and enterprising, as business owners. But often this involves abandoning the specialty and profession acquired at the university. For example, of the 1993 MAI graduates we surveyed, 6-8 months after receiving their diplomas, out of 89% of those employed, more than half (56%) were employed in the private sector and successfully advanced there, 9% became entrepreneurs; 43% left the engineering profession. Therefore, the problem of educational activity is now acquiring special interest: what influence does the new social situation have on it?

But here we will consider in more detail the impact of only some factors: a) value orientations of students; b) the quality of educational services of the university.

One of the most important regulators of educational activity is the value of higher education, its position in the system of value orientations of the individual, as well as its “conjugation” with professionally significant or intellectual-cognitive motives.

In our research, studying the value orientations of students, we asked them about the factors of success in life. Correlating it with answers about academic performance and preparation for classes, we have repeatedly been convinced that the higher the place in the system of value orientations the value of quality education occupies, the more important it is as a guarantee of success in life, the more effective educational activities are.

Table 3

Distribution of student answers to the question about the most important factors of life success for them*

*The sum of the answers exceeds 100%, since when answering, a choice of one to three options was allowed.

However, when we asked questions about the factors of life success in the course of previous studies to students from the CIS countries (1992 N = 1877 people); students of Moscow State University (1992 N = 1075); MAI students (1994 N = 1036); then the 1st and 2nd places in the hierarchy of values ​​were taken by “connections, support of influential persons” and “enterprise”, and “quality education” and “prospects of the specialty”

"fell" to 5th - 6th places. Factors such as “luck, fortunate coincidence” received a high rating. This made us feel pessimistic. But can you blame the students for this? At that time, the “adventuristic” syndrome with its characteristic anticipations of dividends from shares, enrichment... covered wide sections of society. But now, finally, a study of Moscow students has documented a change in priorities (see Table 3). After many years of “oblivion,” Moscow students put “quality education” in second place, although “support of influential persons” remains the leader.

There are other favorable changes: the factors “hard work, conscientiousness” and “promising specialty” have risen to 5-6 places. In general, this speaks in favor of the fact that students, apparently, are gradually beginning to develop a conviction in the need for professionalism and competence to achieve success. This is especially true for students who come from families of top-level executives, military personnel, specialists in education, science, culture, as well as children of entrepreneurs.

What does changing priorities mean in terms of studying? It directly affects the student’s performance of his social role. Thus, among those for whom “quality education” is a priority in life, 46% use additional literature when preparing for classes (in the overall sample 32%; an increase of 1.8 times), among them only 8.2% of such students who do not study at all during the semester (according to the sample, this figure is much higher - 17%). Students with an “adventurous” streak, for whom the most important thing in life is to show “enterprise and resourcefulness” on time, who rely on “luck”, prepare for classes much worse, only 24-25% study with full effort, much more among them those who “serve their number” by studying only during the session. But, despite the increasing prestige of higher education, a “pragmatic” attitude towards educational activities is widespread among students, i.e. fulfilling their educational duties without going beyond what is required by the teacher and the university.

Today in Moscow, only every third (33.2%) student studies in a semester with full dedication, using both mandatory and additional literature. Another 29.3% prepare within the compulsory literature, notes, without resorting to studying additional literature. Thus, 61.5% of respondents are distinguished by full-fledged forms of independent training. The rest, and this is a noticeable proportion of students, do not study in the best way (20.1% look through lecture notes in special subjects, and do not prepare for special subjects in the semester; 17.4% begin studying only during the session). In universities, the picture is generally varied, but not brilliant, especially in technical universities, where the bulk of students are trained according to manuals.

The nature of self-study is also negatively affected by students’ regular additional earnings. Let us remind you: 22% of all respondents have regular part-time jobs. Among these students, the share of those who actually do not study during the semester reaches 23-24%, and among those who do part-time work from time to time - from 12 to 14%, i.e. It is precisely regular forms of part-time work that cause significant harm to studies.

The prevalence of inferior forms of independent preparation of students leads them to corresponding results in terms of academic performance: academic performance with grades of “good” and “satisfactory” prevails, only “satisfactory” (47%) and with grades of “satisfactory (but retakes are not uncommon)” 4- 5%, which totals more than half (52%). 12% achieve “excellent” grades; 35.6% - “good” and “excellent” (48% in total). How to evaluate these results? I think they are generally average. Thus, in a number of universities - Moscow State University, Moscow State Technical University, and the Commercial Institute, the proportion of students with excellent and good academic performance is noticeably higher (56-72%). At the same time, from 22 to 42% of students study at technical universities without C grades; the comparison, as they say, is not in their favor.

To a certain extent, students can be understood: a pragmatic attitude to study is a kind of compromise between the value of higher education, on the one hand, and the fact that many graduates will not be able to take full advantage of the educational potential that they have received.

And it must be said that students react quite sharply to the quality of educational services offered by universities. Thus, Moscow students give a rather critical assessment of the quality of training and the prospects of the specialty in the current conditions (see Table 4). Only 1/3 of respondents expressed satisfaction with these education parameters. The highest assessments of the level of training at their university were given by students of the Agricultural Academy (81.7%); Moscow State University (71%); MAI (65.4%); MSTU (64.1%); the lowest - Commercial Institute (29.9%); Institute of Public Utilities (15.4%). In terms of the prospects of the specialty, the leaders, as one would expect, are the Academy of Law (96.8%); Commercial Institute (95.3%);

Medical Dental Institute (85%); Institute of Public Utilities (75.4%); humanities faculties of Moscow State University (73.6%).

Table 4

Assessment by Moscow students of the level of educational training and the prospects of the specialty being acquired

Let's say a few words about what serious deformations the organization of the educational process in universities, and the “technology” of education itself, is beginning to undergo. This is also one of the aspects of the quality of educational services of universities. More than 2/3 of respondents (71%) expressed the opinion that the educational process is not provided with the necessary equipment and computer technology, and the necessary literature in libraries. 72% noted that the classrooms are dirty and disorderly.

Students of the Medical Dental Institute, the Academy of Law, and the Academy of the Food Industry are extremely dissatisfied with the fact that the educational process is not supported materially and technically; MGK, MSTU, MAI, Pedagogical Institute, and Commercial Institute are more prosperous in this regard. A relatively favorable situation was revealed by such indicators as: 1) the rhythm of the educational process, the absence of disruptions and postponements of classes; 2) the level of professionalism of teachers - how much they command respect from students with their knowledge and ability to clearly express their thoughts. There are negative assessments, but in Moscow as a whole they do not exceed the level of 26%.

The students’ answers about how interested and dedicated the teachers are are alarming. 33% of respondents expressed their dissatisfaction with this factor, and although the situation varies among universities, in general it can be said that there are 1-2 leaders and a large group of “middle peasants” in this indicator. Students at Timiryazevka consider their majors to be the most unpromising (only 27.1% of the students surveyed consider their major to be promising), followed by the MAI (45.6%) and the Pedagogical University (47.9%) with slightly better grades.

This dissatisfaction of students shows with particular clarity the contradiction between the needs of the emerging labor market and the discrepancy between the structure of universities according to their profile, and it is by no means harmless. Reflecting in the system of value orientations of students, in their professional plans, it gradually “corrodes”, destroys educational activities, and reduces the results of the educational process.

We have established that both the nature of students’ independent preparation and their academic performance strongly depend on assessments of the prospects of the specialty. Thus, among those who recognized it as promising, the share of students with excellent and good academic performance (passes exams without C grades) is 54%. Among those who were disappointed by both the quality of education and the specialty, the share of such students is 32.6%. The number of students who generally “study only during the session” increases from 13 to 42%. It is quite natural that by connecting their future lives, their hopes for success with activities in their specialty, students study much more seriously, more responsibly, and more purposefully.

These and other data convincingly show, as an external contradiction of higher education, its “inconsistency” with the needs of society.

1. Social image of students.

3.1. Social image of customs students in the context of transformation of Russian society.

The study of the social appearance of modern youth is one of the most important tasks of Russian sociology. Youth and students determine the fundamental characteristics of the future Russian society. Going through the stage of socialization, this social community is distributed among various status and prestigious groups. With each new generation, the process of social differentiation is renewed. The desire of some to maintain their status at all costs clashes with the desire of others to break into the upper reaches of the social pyramid. On this path there are serious collisions: social mobility is limited by the isolation of the main social groups; deepening differentiation negates the former homogeneity of society. Not all financially secure students are distinguished by their talents and hard work. If you do not study and remove the real contradictions that have accumulated in the student environment, then you can expect either serious upheavals or a repetition of the so-called “stagnation phenomena” that demoralized the students of the 60-80s of the 20th century.
Since 2002, the St. Petersburg branch of the Russian Customs Academy has operated a research program to study the sociocultural image of a modern customs student.
The specific objectives of the study are determined in the direction of identifying the characteristics of the social appearance of modern students, trends in its change in the conditions of establishing new social relations. It is obvious that our problem is not only regional, but also nationwide. It belongs to the so-called systemic ones. Students come from certain social groups. At the same time, students are also an independent social group. Specific youth problems include socialization, starting a family, acquiring a profession, and acquiring social status.
It is known that social and stratification structure is understood as a multidimensional, hierarchically organized social space in which social groups and layers differ from each other in the degree of possession of power, property and social status. By social layers (strata) we mean all socio-economic groups that have different places in the structure of the global social system, between which there is inequality.
Social stratification can also be defined as a structured system of social inequality in which individuals and social groups are ranked according to their social status in society. The study was also based on textbook provisions on social mobility, which has two types: vertical and horizontal. Vertical mobility is a change in the social position of an individual, accompanied by an increase or decrease in his status. A person's transition to a higher class position is called upward social mobility. Horizontal mobility is a change in an individual's social position that does not lead to an increase or decrease in his status. In society there is individual and group mobility. Prescribed status is related to inherited factors such as family background, age, gender, race, place of birth. The prescribed status is different from the achieved one.
An important role in the study is played by the operational definition of concepts, that is, the identification of their totality into which the main concept is “decomposed”. Such a category as “social image of students” can be differentiated according to the following criteria: citizenship; nationality; occupation; economic status; religious affiliation. In other words, the social appearance of a student is not limited to purely property characteristics. The concept of “economic status” of a student includes a set of such components as: sources, amount and structure of income; amount and structure of expenses; social status of parents and so on. To reveal each of these concepts in detail, it is necessary to highlight the corresponding indicators. Thus, the amount of student income can be determined using such characteristics as: salary, parents’ income, investments and dividends on them, the student’s real estate, income from commercial activities, scholarship amount, dean’s bonuses.
Even greater specification of the picture of the financial situation of students is provided by the use of such markers as: average per capita income, material environment, debts and savings, type of housing, size of housing, degree of dependence on parents, types of parental assistance, assessment of one’s financial situation, comparative assessment of one’s material provisions, desired amount of cash receipts, desired items, and so on. The indicator systems developed by us do not repeat the generally accepted ones in their specifics.
In the case where we analyzed the social status of the students of the Branch through the social status of their parents - fathers and mothers, the indicators were such answer options as: employee of a state, joint-stock enterprise, employee of the state, municipal government system, employee of a private enterprise, employee of the education system, health care, culture, businessman (“has his own business”), unemployed. We understand that the listed markers will not provide information about the position of parents on the career ladder or the positions they occupy. But, in our opinion, they allow us to address the problem of changes in the social system of modern Russian society and their reflection in students.
Information about the financial situation of parents was given to us by such indicators as: the presence of a state, privatized, cooperative apartment, private house, cottage, dacha, garden plot, computer, car. During the study, an incorrectness we made was revealed, which is very indicative of the transitional state of Russian society: our respondents did not understand the difference between a dacha and a garden plot. The structure of students' expenses in general was revealed by such items as food and housing, attendance at entertainment events, foreign tours, purchase of modern information materials, and fashionable clothing. Our respondents deciphered some of these articles by answering questions such as: what countries of the world have you traveled to, what sports do you play, do you have enough time and money for entertainment... and the like.
Data from a sociological survey of students at the Branch lead us to a number of conclusions.
The social inequality of students is obvious. 14% of students, according to their estimates, have enough money only for the essentials, while 40.2% note that they can afford a lot.
Most students have the funds necessary to study.
The results of the survey give, in our opinion, reason to assume that students, who come from the basic and middle class of society, constitute the majority in the Branch. Since our questionnaires did not contain questions about the positions held by the students’ parents or the type of their professional activities, the assumption follows from indirect data, in particular, from student assessments of their financial situation. These estimates, with all their relativity, indicate, in our opinion, that it is above the subsistence level. If our assumption is correct, then it should be recognized that the level of vertical mobility in society is low, and therefore, we can make a prediction about the presence in society of a tendency towards the formation of closed social groups.
The survey confirmed the well-known observation: among senior students, the desire for self-sufficiency is intensifying, and the percentage of working students in all faculties of the Branch is high.
The comparison we made gives grounds to conclude that the social appearance of the students of the Branch in modern conditions fits well into the all-Russian picture. The same processes unfold in customs students as in society. Our research confirms the process of transformation of the social structure unfolding in Russian society, the emergence of new social elements and groups, primarily entrepreneurs-owners.

4.About the graduate labor market.

4.1. A strategy for effective behavior in the labor market of graduates in conditions of economic instability.

In the current conditions in the labor market, specialists over 35 years of age have begun to be in great demand. The time of the young is gone, if not forever, then for several years for sure.

Before the crisis, companies purposefully worked on programs employment of university students and graduates. People under 25 were seen as promising for the company, and they could be paid less than experienced specialists. It was impossible to predict the crisis, so just a year ago this age group was literally spoiled by the attention of employers.

What is happening now can be called the process of natural selection. Companies are primarily focused not on the future, but on surviving today. Therefore, experienced people are needed - those who will benefit the organization right now. At the same time, it is important that a person adequately evaluates himself and does not have illusions about the high payment for his work.

Therefore, modern senior students and graduates need an understanding of changes in the market situation and the ability to adapt to them. Reduce your ambitions. It is also important to look around and monitor changes in the labor market. In other words, flexibility and willingness to work, for example, in a related profession, and sometimes not in your specialty at all, are important. If there is no work in your profession, look for yourself in more in-demand industries.

But about half of university graduates in June 2009 will join the growing camp of the unemployed, predicts HSE Rector Yaroslav Kuzminov. The government has adopted a program to support the employment of graduates, but experts consider it ineffective.

The situation on the labor market does not bode well for former students. By the beginning of February 2009 The total number of unemployed in the country amounted to 6.1 million people, or 8.1% of the economically active population, as calculated by Rostrud. This is higher than in the European Union (7.6%) and the United States (7.6%), although lower than, say, in Spain (14.8%) and Latvia (12.3%). According to Igor Nikolaev from the consulting company FBK, the level of real unemployment in Russia by the end of the year will be 11.2-12%, or 8.5-9 million people, and Russia risks being in first place in this indicator.

According to recruitment agencies, most client companies have suspended recruiting, including Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble, Mars, Philips, Severstal Resources, etc. “It is more important for us to retain our employees,” explains a member of the board of directors of Wimm- bill-dann” Marina Kagan. About 53% of employers plan to reduce staff, according to a survey of 50 large companies by Human Capital Solutions.

“It will be difficult for a graduate without work experience to compete with dismissed specialists,” says NES Rector Sergei Guriev. An employer in Russia spends an average of 1-1.5 months on retraining a graduate, so in 2007, companies spent more than 500 billion rubles on personnel training, adds Kuzminov.

The government knows that current graduates will have problems finding employment. About 100,000 graduates across Russia will not be able to find work, says Vladimir Miklushevsky, deputy minister of education and science. Kuzminov is more pessimistic - about 50% of all graduates will be like this. According to calculations by the Ministry of Education, the hardest time will be for graduates of economic faculties (30% of the total number of unemployed), humanities majors (11%) and teachers (7%). And the director of the Institute for Educational Development of the State University Higher School of Economics, Irina Abankina, believes that graduates of regional universities will find themselves in a more difficult situation - in Moscow and St. Petersburg there are more opportunities to apply their efforts.

In the current situation, the labor market places particularly stringent demands on graduates. And in order to meet them and find “your place,” you need to actively work on making plans to develop your career while still a university student.

Despite the obviousness of the answer like “Now even specialists with work experience can’t get a job, let alone me,” there are employment options for students. There are not as many of them as before, but the need of employers for young personnel has not disappeared completely. Moreover, a crisis is the best period to start and build your career. The best - because the situation is constantly changing and you need to keep your nose to the wind so as not to miss your chance. Right now we need to look for opportunities to prove ourselves and get out of the crisis in a new status. Even if the search process may seem difficult at first.

4.2. Self-determination of a future employee or how to find yourself.

The issue of professional self-determination is the most important and decisive in the future prospects of finding a job. Given that work is such a big part of a person's life, the realization that you're doing something that's not your job can have devastating consequences.

In many of the human resources motivational studies conducted by organizations, the issue of career choice is largely avoided: this is not surprising, since it reveals some complex and controversial issues for both employees and employers. According to our research, the majority of graduates, when choosing a specialty, were guided by the prestige of the chosen specialty or university

Thus, it is obvious that there are a large number of people who believe that they have chosen the wrong type of activity in life. Others have doubts about the choices they have made. Many people feel that their education—both in school and after graduation—has not been useful in preparing them for professional careers.

It is believed that employees who receive positive emotions from their work are more motivated and their work is more productive. Others find it difficult to show enthusiasm and may be less productive. This survey explored issues related to education, training, career choice, and career change. They are the result of a comprehensive worldwide study conducted by Kelly Services in early 2008.

The Kelly Global Workforce Survises survey took into account the views of approximately 115,000 people in 33 countries in Europe, Asia-Pacific and North America, working in a variety of fields, including engineering, information technology, science, and finance.

Survey results

The main results of the survey are as follows:

• On average across 33 countries, 49% of respondents said their school education prepared them well for work.
• About two-thirds, or 65%, of respondents said the education they received after leaving school prepared them well for work.
• The vast majority of respondents (69%) expressed the opinion that their post-school/vocational education should be “more practice-oriented rather than theory-oriented.”
• Some 69% of respondents worldwide said they should study more.
• About 63% of respondents expressed the opinion that they should study more intensively.
• About 45% of respondents said they needed to study something completely different.
• About 18% of respondents worldwide said they had chosen the wrong career.

We conducted a sociological study of senior students and university graduates in the Rostov region. The research took place at the university and through the social network vkontakte. Interviewers were asked to answer a series of questions about self-determination, activity in relation to building a career and ambitions regarding the desired place of work. Below and further in the work the results of this study will be presented.

Figure 1. What guided you when choosing your specialty or university?

At the same time, 86% of respondents believe that full-time education is of great importance and 14% do not pay attention to it.

How to make the right choice

Personal inclinations and goals, the state of affairs in the industry, brand recognition, corporate culture, the company’s training system - experts advise taking these factors into account when choosing a place to work. But how can yesterday’s student do this?

1. Listen to yourself

Most students don't know what they want. A coaching session or conversation with a successful person in your career can help. Listen to yourself during the interview. It can be useful to ask yourself how sincere you are in this conversation. If a person cannot openly tell the employer about his professional expectations and intentions, he has a serious reason to wonder whether he really needs this job.

2. Stepping into “fast water”

A typical recommendation from recruitment agency consultants is that it is better for ambitious young people to look for a job in a company operating in a dynamically developing market, where there are more opportunities for growth.
In general this is true, but a lot depends on the specialty. If it is tied to the specifics of a particular industry, then the choice is generally small. To find out which industry is developing dynamically, you need to read the forecasts of professional analysts that are published in the business media.

3. Outside and inside the brand

Many graduates are attracted by the brands of well-known employers. But if you do not have “highly leading” connections in a large structure, then you will have to start from the very bottom.
This is why a young, fast-growing company may be more suitable for healthy adventurers. The employer's reputation won't tell you anything about your prospects.

4. Rules of the game

Even a great specialist may not fit into a company due to a mismatch with its corporate culture. Everyone claims great working conditions, but to find out if this is actually true for you, look to other sources. It is best to contact people who are currently working or have worked in the company before. You can try to find them using Yandex, the website odnoklassniki.ru or through friends. But to fully know a company, you need to work in it yourself. And here, of course, it is difficult to overestimate the importance of internships.

5. What you can grow on

Does the company have training programs for young professionals? Do rotations happen often? Don’t be shy about asking your employer these and other similar questions. Correlate the answers to these questions with the fact that there are two ways to grow professionally: participation in complex projects and work under the guidance of a professional manager

6. About the main thing without illusions

The main thing is to give up the illusion that there is an ideal place to work. No employer is able to satisfy all the desires of the applicant. There will be pros and cons to any choice. For example, some agree to work for less money in order to gain valuable experience, others move to a distant region, wanting to accelerate their career growth. It is necessary to decide on the most significant criteria and act.

7. Salary

One of the most common mistakes made by students without work experience or with experience but not in their specialty is inflated salary expectations that are not supported by market offers.

In the city of Rostov-on-Don, salary expectations for graduates are as follows:

Based on the results of the study, we can conclude that respondents in the Rostov region, when choosing a location, give preference to the following criteria:

4.3. Analysis of your own capabilities.

For many students and future graduates, especially those who closely study the effects of the global financial crisis in the business media, there may be a feeling that the time of youth is over. Not only analytical publications, but also government officials speak about this, but there is a polar opinion that many employers, after reducing staff, in order to minimize costs, replace fired people with new ones - they invite graduates with low salaries compared to experienced specialists to take starting positions requests. In this situation, the position of graduates is very advantageous.

But whatever the opinions of analysts, one fact remains - the labor market needs strong, active, competitive young employees who are ready to develop themselves from their student days. Since the current situation in the labor market can be given a name - “The strongest will win!”

An important stage in building a future career for a graduate should be a real and sober analysis of their capabilities, potential, as well as areas in which they can advantageously present themselves to an employer. The time of dry resumes listing the facts of the work biography has passed and now the employee needs nothing more than to “sell himself profitably.” But supply is falling, and employers are being picky. That is why it is necessary to realize the value of the education received and the theoretical foundations that are given at the university, as well as the practical skills that a student can obtain by undergoing all kinds of trainings, consultations, and internships in companies. By participating in open round tables and public speeches, a future potential employee will learn much more information not only about the specifics of the work of a particular organization, but also about its policy regarding the labor market for young specialists, special programs and conditions. Anyone can find out information about these types of events on the Internet.

Summing up the results of the first two stages can be reflected in the results of graduates’ answers to the question: Have you decided on the choice of profession (area of ​​labor knowledge)?

4.4. Effective ways to find a job.

Currently, there is a difficult situation in the graduate labor market. If just a year ago many companies were ready to invest resources in the development of a promising employee, now everything has changed dramatically. All responsibility for the effectiveness of the job search strategy falls on the shoulders of the young specialist and directly depends not only on knowledge, resume, work experience, but also on the activity, awareness and focus of the graduate.

According to the study, graduates are practically unaware of the situation on the labor market and have not outlined a possible way to find a job.

Figure 5. How often do you look at websites, newspapers, job advertisements?

1. Career center at the university

The university career service can be very helpful. She has a database of vacancies and internships, where there are interesting options. In addition, some centers help you create a resume, test for professional preferences, and simulate interviews.

2. Company presentations and job fairs

Job fairs are held at Russian universities in the fall and spring. First, company representatives give presentations or conduct business games, and then you can personally communicate with them in the lobby. Business games are especially useful in terms of employment - often after one day of working in a team, you are immediately offered an interview.

A similar opportunity exists at company presentations. Try to attract the attention of company representatives with your interest, fill out an application for company vacancies - and then you will have a better chance of getting a job.

3. Acquaintances and classmates

The most effective way to find a job is to ask people you know, according to research from Kelly Services. Periodically ask friends and classmates about job openings. With the help of friends and acquaintances, about a third of Russians find work, and some companies (both large and small) hire people only on the recommendation of an employee or partner of the company. Searching for a job through friends, Kelly Services found out, is more effective than through print media and direct contact with the company; searching for advertisements on the Internet is still in fourth place in terms of efficiency. It is also interesting that there are professional specifics: for example, with the help of friends and acquaintances, lawyers (36.59%) and financiers (32%) are mainly looking for work.

4. Media

The second place in job search efficiency is occupied by the media. Business newspapers and magazines (“Vedomosti”, The Moscow Times, “Elite Personnel”, SmartMoney, “Finance”, “Expert”) publish vacancies in each issue or on special days, including for young professionals and students. Most newspapers and magazines have online versions, where not only editorial materials are posted, but also information about vacancies. By looking through them, you can understand the “seasonality” of recruitment by the most attractive companies and assess what you need to get hired. Many business newspapers have a section dedicated to building a career. It explains the intricacies of working in various companies. And of course, business media are an indispensable source of information about various companies and markets - by reading newspapers and magazines, you can find out who is who in the market and choose the company you want to work for.
In newspapers with large circulations (“Work for you”, “Work and Salary”) the bulk of offers relate to the HoReCa (leisure and entertainment industry) or retail trade. Basically, they do not require special training from applicants.

5. Employer websites

Many companies' websites contain the latest job listings, internship or GRP application forms. After sending your resume and cover letter (why you want to work for this particular company in this position) by email, call the company’s HR department to check whether your letter has been received. True, not everywhere you will be happy to answer this question - the competition for vacancies in large well-known companies reaches 100-500 people per place.
The companies' websites also contain information about their presentations and other recruitment events; you can register for them immediately.

6. Internet

About 78% of job seekers do this via the Internet, but in terms of effectiveness this tool is still inferior to friends, the media, and company websites. The most popular resources for finding a job are headhunter.ru, job.ru and superjob.ru, according to a study by the recruiting company Avanta Personnel.

Internet search is most often used by sales professionals, and newspaper advertisements are most effective for attracting candidates in the service sector, manufacturing and finance, HeadHunter shows. In England, according to a study by The Times newspaper, 98% of university graduates use the Internet during employment. Our Internet efficiency is not so high yet.
For university graduates and young professionals with a good education, the websites www.hh.ru, e-Graduate.ru, career.ru, jobfair.ru, www.staffwell.ru, as well as industry resources www.bankjobs.ru (for bank employees) are suitable. , www.adverto.ru (for advertisers), etc. (for more details, see the table). On some sites you can find not only a list of vacancies, but also a description of the job descriptions of a particular specialist (www.vedomostivuz.ru). For those who would like to work remotely, there are several freelance vacancy sites: www.kadrof.ru, www.free-lance.ru, www.weblancer.net. Social networks, such as odnoklassniki.ru or vkontakte.ru, despite their high popularity, are not yet very effective for finding a job. It is much better to do this in professional online communities (www.moikrug.ru, www.linkedin.com). They can also find former and current employees of your dream company who can reveal important details about working for that company.

7. Recruitment agencies

The employment of young specialists (along with the selection of more highly qualified employees) is carried out by such agencies as “Anchor”, GRP-Service, FutureToday, e-Graduate, “Agency Contact”. At the same time, having at least a year of work experience and completed higher education, you become attractive to other recruitment agencies.

8. Virtual company management

This path is not the shortest and not the easiest, but one of the most exciting for sure. Virtual company management is a competition between teams from all over the world, which is organized by some companies (Danone, L’Oreal, Shell or the Academy of National Economy with the support of the Russian government - the Business Battle game). Teams of students compete with each other in remote control of the company. Typically, the final of the regional round of the competition is held at the company's office or production site. Players have the opportunity to get acquainted with the technological process (tour of the plant) and even with one of the top managers. The best players are offered work - but only a few.

Social networks in Russia are actively developing. In "Odnoklassniki" people look for acquaintances, in "My Circle" they establish business contacts. But such a function as job search did not take root in them, despite the numerous efforts of the creators. This is especially true for top personnel, who, as a rule, do not visit such sites at all. Therefore, on social networks, especially those that are only entertaining in nature, it makes sense to look for summer part-time or part-time work. In addition, participation in social networks can play a cruel joke on an employee if he writes something “unnecessary”, believing that his profile is his personal space.

10. Emergency exits

If you don't need to look for a job right now, you can try qualifying for a graduate recruitment program - often called a Graduate Recruitment Program (GRP). Some companies continue to recruit for these special programs, in which the graduate works for six months or two, depending on the company, in turns in several departments and by the end of the program takes a managerial position. But now the conditions for participation in them have changed - the young man will not be paid a salary during his studies. “The employer will make the most of the situation,” warns Zuev. His fears are confirmed by mailings from career sites and university employment centers, in which companies specify as a separate condition “willingness to work overtime” and “no remuneration provided.”

Thus, it is possible to rank the most effective ways to find a job according to experts.

1st place - friends and classmates

2nd place - mass media 3rd place - employer websites

4th place - Internet

Results of a survey of graduates of Rostov universities:

Figure 6. The most popular methods of finding a job among graduates of the Rostov region

Conclusion

In a market economy, even at the stage of crisis, which can be viewed not only from a negative side, but also as an opening up of new opportunities in the economy, there are distribution mechanisms through which labor resources are consumed in the reproduction process. The Soviet graduate distribution system, which has proven to be ineffective, is not acceptable in modern conditions. Therefore, it makes no sense for graduates to hope for the help of a “good uncle” - in the person of local authorities or the state, but need to “row” in the direction of their career peak.

In conclusion, I would like to once again provide a brief description of the behavior strategy of a modern graduate in the labor market:

Ask yourself: what do you want? Self-determination is a particularly important step in developing a career.

The world opens up for those who know where they are going! Be active, don’t give in to difficulties and look for all kinds of ways to gain knowledge and experience, this will benefit your resume and give you some basic knowledge. And also explore all the resources offered that contain databases of vacancies.

Determine your real cost. Soberly assessed skills, abilities, knowledge will give a real picture of your capabilities, as well as prices and values ​​as a future specialist.

Don't be afraid to do something you haven't done before. In this time of limited supply, there is no room for excessive ambitions for rapid career growth and high position. You need to start with the basics!

And again, work on building your career!

To summarize, we can say the following: Firstly, changes in the composition of the student body by social origin and standard of living (and they are quite closely related) indicate increasing differentiation, heterogeneity, and differences in the student body among universities, faculties, and professional groups. Gradually, priority in the formation of students is moving to layers more adapted to the economic realities of our society. If this process continues to develop, access to higher education for the poorest will be greatly hampered. Secondly, the stabilization of the reproduction of student youth shows that interest in higher education has been preserved, which is also reflected in the “rise” of its value in the hierarchy of instrumental values ​​of students. However, the contradictions that arise between the institution of higher education and various other segments of society lead to increasing dysfunctional consequences. They are diverse in their manifestations and can be seen, in particular, in students’ dissatisfaction with the quality of the training they receive and the deformation of individual layers of the educational process. But most importantly- there is a steady decline in the main result of the functioning of higher education - the education of students, the level of their professional competence.

In addressing issues of employment of graduates, emphasis should be placed on increasing the self-activity and initiative of young professionals so that they can become real subjects in the labor market. The task of the university in this regard is to ensure their earlier and more thorough inclusion in this system. Interaction between enterprises and organizations interested in qualified specialists, on the one hand, and universities, on the other, should become closer and less formal, and university education should become more differentiated and adapted to the interests of organizations.

Unfortunately, the problem of obtaining a humanities education is not covered much now. The self-determination of young people and their inclusion in economic life has always been a serious social problem. The importance of its study will increase even more with the development of market relations, the spread of unemployment, and the growing level of economic differentiation of the population. Perhaps both lawyers and economists will always be in value, but we should not forget the spiritual and moral heritage of society.

So, young people strive to obtain a higher education, believing that “there is nowhere without it in modern times,” but we should not forget that a diploma ceases to be a guarantee of employment and makes its owner dependent on supply and demand in the labor market.

List of used literature

1. Lisovsky V. T., Dmitriev A. V. - Student personality. - L.: Publishing house Leningr. University, 1974.
2. Students // Osipov G.V. Russian sociological encyclopedia. - M.: 1998, p. 544.
3. Rutkevich M.N. Sociology of education and youth: Selected (1965 - 2002). - M.: Gardariki, 2002.
4. Boyko L.I. Transformation of the functions of higher education and social positions of students // Sociological studies. - 2002. -№3.
5. Youth at the beginning of the 21st century: basic values, positions, guidelines: Materials of the All-Russian Student Conference. November 21 - 22, 2002 (Samara State Economic Academy, etc.). - Samara: SGEA, 2002.
6. Alma Mater, 1993, No. 3, p. 20.
7. Scientific potential of Russian higher education: problems of preservation and development. M, 1994.
8. Efendiev A.G. Teacher at Moscow university. M., 1996, p. 26-27.
9. Kovaleva L.I. Crisis of the education system. Sociol. research 1994, no. 3, p. 29-35.
10. Bourdieu P. L "ecole conservatrise. // Rev. fr. de sociol. 1996.
11. Bourdieu P. Sociology of politics. M. "Socio-Logos", 1993, p. 75.
12. Rutkevich M.N., Filippov F.R. Sociological movements. M., 1970.
13. Shubkin V.N. Sociological experiments (Methodological issues of social research). M., 1970.
14. Radaev V.V., Shkaratan O.I. Social stratification. M., 1996.
15. Chernysh M.F. Social mobility 1986-1993 Sociological Journal, 1994, No. 2, p. 131.
16. Soviet intelligentsia and its role in the construction of communism. M., 1983, p. 200.
17. Graduate of MAI-93 in the conditions of transition to the market. Research report. Team of authors. M., MAI, 1993.
18. Open library of scientific collections (socio-humanitarian building). www.utopiya.spb.ru

1. L.S. Surayegina, Yu.E. Chernysheva, Southern Federal University, Faculty of Economics, Department of Personnel Management, 3rd year

Rutkevich M.N. Sociology of education and youth: Selected (1965 - 2002). - M.: Gardariki, 2002, pp. 138 - 145.

Boyko L.I. Transformation of the functions of higher education and social positions of students // Sociological studies. 2002. No. 3. Page 81.

Youth at the beginning of the 21st century: basic values, positions, guidelines: Materials of the All-Russian Student Conference. November 21 - 22, 2002. - Samara: SGEA, 2002, pp. 104 - 105.

5N = 1286 2nd and 4th year students from various universities in Moscow. Sampling is two-stage, quota. At the first stage, 12 most typical Moscow universities were selected: classical universities (MSU); technical universities (MSTU, MAI, Moscow Civil Engineering University, Moscow Academy of Food Industry. Moscow Institute of Public Utilities); medical universities (Moscow Dental Institute), economic institutes (Moscow Commercial Institute), law universities (Moscow State Law Academy), pedagogical universities (Moscow Pedagogical State University), cultural institutes (Moscow Art and Industrial Institute), agricultural universities (Agricultural Academy . Timiryazev). Then, at each university, such a number of students were surveyed that their share in the sample corresponded to the share in the general population.

In the near future, the political mood of young people, as well as which politicians they will associate their expectations with, will largely depend on their social status, sociocultural attitudes and values. Hence the need to study its most diverse groups, layers and orders. However, so far different social groups of young people are being studied unevenly by sociologists. The main attention is paid to high school graduates and students of pedagogical universities, and many other professional groups of students, as well as young university graduates, are much less represented in the research.

The study was conducted in the spring of 1995 among university students in the Sverdlovsk region. The questionnaire survey method was used to study such problems of student life as financial situation, level of professional and social self-determination, political activity, free time, and relationships with various student organizations.

The choice of 3rd year students as the object of study is due to the fact that by this time the adaptation period is completed, the influence of pre-university factors is less significant, professional interests and long-term life plans are updated.

Social status and well-being of the student

When considering the status position of students, the emphasis is usually placed on the “transitivity”, “marginality” of the group engaged in activities to prepare for highly qualified mental work, distinguished by special forms of social activity, characteristic not only of students, but also of those groups of the intelligentsia that they join preparing at the university.

Domestic works do not always take into account that the student years are a completely independent stage of a person’s life, during which he has and forms his own development environment, participates in activities that today act as personality-forming factors and determines the model of social behavior of this society. groups. Among the indicators of student status, one can distinguish a group of descriptive (gender, place of residence before university, parental education) and acquired, achieved by a person to the present moment of his life.

The distribution of students by gender has remained almost unchanged for many years. In this study, 43% are boys and 57% girls: this is their average share in a university. Naturally, there is a predominance of boys in technical universities and girls among future humanities scholars. The process of feminization of higher education remains “spontaneously stable,” although the situation of social filling of unemployment (the majority of the unemployed are women with higher education) has long required regulation.

As the study shows, in technical universities the influx of students from their hometown has become greater than before. On the one hand, their “starting position” is in many ways more advantageous: there is a closer connection with family, there is no need to experience the difficulties of living in a hostel, and it is easier to decide on a future place of residence. From a social point of view, this part of university youth turns out to be less dynamic and independent; their status remains dependent for a long time on the position of the parental family. And in self-determination through a university, the element of personal initiative appears a little later.

Students from small and medium-sized settlements, as a rule, return to their native places, although at present this can be considered a forced action. The desire to gain a foothold in more developed types of settlements, identified in previous studies, is today not ensured by job guarantees. Hence, there is an increase in the future migration mobility of young people, not only due to the need for higher education, but also due to the need to acquire a more stable social position in the future.

It is very difficult to talk about the social status of students depending on the social affiliation of their parents in the conditions of recomposition of the entire social structure. In the studies, one characteristic was taken - education, the connection of which with the factor of choosing a university was always strong.

More important are those status characteristics that develop during the period of study at a university. It is at this stage that differentiation of students occurs, associated with their own activity in educational, scientific research, socially useful, and economic activities. The study of this differentiation is important because its structure partly determines the future social status of specialists and is a prototype of the distribution in the social structure of the population group with higher education. It is clear that traditional and new layers of Russian society are already being reproduced with the participation of these youth.

A feature of modern students is that the process of their inclusion in public life occurs not only through educational activities and professional training, but also through the formation of independent material and living conditions, new forms of manifestation of their own activity and through the choice of forms of social interaction. The process of formation by young people of a financial, property and housing status independent of their parents has two “nodal points”: 16-17 years old, when more or less mass inclusion in adult economic life begins, and 21-22 years old, when the first experience of realizing material wealth is accumulated. everyday intentions of students.

How successful are the attempts of modern students to gain their own material and living status? The main source of income for students is still assistance from parents and relatives. 6% of the students surveyed do not have family support at all, and one in five, without denying the presence of it, simply do not consider it significant. The second most important source is a scholarship, but its size is such that only 1/3 of students can name it as the main source of livelihood (the differences between universities are insignificant here).

A very significant source is wages, which 13% of students have today. Construction brigades are losing their importance as a source of livelihood. Their role today has become comparable to profits from the resale of goods, shadow business and other “new” types of income, although officially every tenth student is recognized as having one-time income.

There are significant differences by gender. Every fifth person has additional income, but among boys it is 27%, and among girls it is 14%, i.e. half as much. Various earnings in addition to scholarships, benefits, and help from relatives help support, on average, a third of students, which is typical for 52% of boys and 21% of girls. Unlike in previous years, when summer work in a construction team could provide funds for several months of a normal life, today the main thing for young people is to find a permanent income already during the university period and maintain employment relationships during the period of study.

In order to remove the negative consequences of the necessary disconnection from study to earn money, you can pay attention to the connection between additional work and the training received at the university. Half of the “part-time” students do not have such a connection. Only 11% of respondents clearly indicate the opportunity to work in a related specialty; another 12% use their professional knowledge partially. It is interesting that in those universities where students go for “extra jobs” less often, they are more consistent with their future profession.

Students' expenses are naturally associated with satisfying primary needs, which include: food, recreational activities, and purchasing clothing. For every fourth student, the bulk of their funds goes to paying for housing, and for every fifth student, the bulk of their funds goes to purchasing educational supplies. At the same time, the trend of admitting local youth to universities results in the fact that 2/3 of students do not need to spend money on housing, purchasing durable goods, or financing summer vacations, because they rely on the support of their parental family.

It is difficult to unambiguously identify and evaluate such expense items as “for leisure” and “for vacations”. Without a special analysis, it is not clear whether this is due to the content of the leisure activity program or to the fact that free time is spent not on entertainment, but mainly on extra money, which is indirectly confirmed by a significant number of those students who have no expenses at all for free time.

The development of the material and everyday status of students is associated with their attitude to the objective and material world, which is always significant in the self-awareness and well-being of students.

Judging by the results of the study, every fifth student already has his own housing (apartment, private house). This is natural, because half of the respondents live with their parents, having the right to housing, and another 7% are direct owners of housing.

To the question about “private property”, more precisely, about the presence at one’s disposal of certain items - durable goods, acting in this case as “signs of status”, the following answers were received: from among the prestigious things that symbolize the status of an individual in the modern youth subculture, The presence of a car, video and television equipment, and a computer was noted. Young people have not been spared new forms of “investment of capital”: half of the students at classical and pedagogical universities have securities and jewelry (expensive jewelry, etc.), which are considered by more than a third of all students to be a necessary attribute of material status. A number of universities use credit cards when receiving scholarships through bank deposits.

The fact that the material and living status of a student is in the process of formation and formalization is obvious. With purely youthful egoism, the student is focused only on himself. This is evidenced by the fact that such an item of expenditure as assistance to parents is at the bottom of the scale.

At the same time, self-determination in the everyday sphere for some students is associated with having their own family. Student families (that is, families in which at least one spouse is a student) need support - this is an indisputable fact.

The poor social well-being of a significant part of students is caused by unsolvable social problems. The level of anxiety among female students is significantly higher than among male students. Everyone is equally concerned about their poor financial situation. But in terms of prospects - possible unemployment, poor care for leisure time, for each other - the mood of girls is noticeably worse than that of men, who, in turn, are more concerned about additional income.