Youth, labor market and expansion of higher education

Youth, labor market and expansion of higher education


Konstantinovskiy D.L.

Dr. Sci. (Sociol.), Chief Researcher, Institute of Sociology of FCTAS RAS, Moscow, Russia. scan21@mail.ru

Popova E.S.

Cand. Sci. (Sociol.), Researcher Fellow, Department of Sociology of Education, Institute of Sociology of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia. espopova@isras.ru

ID of the Article:


For citation:

Konstantinovskiy D.L., Popova E.S. Youth, labor market and expansion of higher education. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya [Sociological Studies]. 2015. No 11. P. 37-48




Abstract

Successful cooperation between social institutions is crucial for development of society in positive direction. Modern economy, especially, demand for specialists with different skills and professions to be fully satisfied; it needs a well-educated and motivated labor force. Meanwhile new requirements to employees constantly arise: he/she should be educated in such a way as to be able to improve his/her skills and be flexible according to changes in the labor market. Moreover, having only professional skills is not enough today. Modern society needs citizens who are ready to be responsible for the destiny of the country, for the destiny of their own families, for their own life trajectories. It is also crucial that young people should be given opportunities to choose their educational and professional trajectory on their own in accordance to their abilities, interests and aspirations. This is a subject of a new project, supported by the Russian Science Foundation and implemented by the Institute of Sociology, RAS. The first results of the analysis of the empirical data are described in the article. The young people aspirations for education and labor are considered, as well as an attempt to forecast chances to aspirations’ realize them is made. Attention is given to the fact that tendency of young people to enter educational institutions complies with international development trends, and their positive motivation to work is the key for the future progress and the most important value component of social well-being. It makes a great interest to see how younger generation will be able for self-realization in present-day society they enter.


Keywords
education; labor market; youth; choice of profession; social behavior; trajectories in education and profession
Content No 11, 2015