Translated material
Study and - study
Higher education in Russia is difficult, but retains its prestige. Despite all the efforts of the government. Research of sociologists
Photo: Gleb Shchelkunov / Kommersant
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The Laboratory of the Future Novaya Gazeta and Levada-Center* in a joint project conducted a survey of the Russia's adult population at the end of August. Asked two questions. One concerned what education would be necessary to have to succeed in Russia in the near future?
The answer “Higher” came to the first place quite predictably. On average, almost half (49%) of the audience gave such an answer, and the response “average special” (with clarification: “production”) gave almost a third - 32%. Less than one tenth (9%) collected the response “average special” with the clarification of the “service sector”. According to these data, which averages the opinions of certain categories of respondents, we can conclude that higher education continues to be considered in society as the most valuable social capital, a resource for moving up the status staircase (in domestic language - for success).
A lot said, including from the very top, that with the higher education we have an excess of people, that the economy needs personnel with secondary. And society does not heed. Those who are currently studying, most often other groups of the population give priority to higher education (60%), and the secondary production industrial leaves the least of all (17%). (True, they complain of secondary education for working in the service sector slightly higher than on average throughout the array: 12%.)
A significant priority of higher education over secondary specialized exists not only among those who receive this higher (52% for higher against 31% and 8% for these options for secondary education), but also among the owners of secondary professional (respectively, 47% for higher, 34% and 10% per secondary). Specialists and leaders - owners of university diplomas - expressed a similar opinion (55–56%for such as they have, almost half as much (29-30%) for the average production, 5-10 times less (5–9%) for the average for the service sector).
A lot - 52% - for the importance of higher education is given in Moscow. Of course - the capital, a lot of “educated people”, many universities. But the Russian village, where such “educated” minimum, the faith in the importance of the university diploma expressed even more than 53%: come on, son/daughter, do not live, like us, go to the city, enter the university! It is at the university, not to college, not to the technical school, if in the old way.
But there are those who believe more than others in the career potential of secondary vocational education: these are employees.
They gave a maximum of votes for secondary education with a minimum for higher (40% for higher, almost the same - 39% for secondary production and another 8% for the secondary special for the service sector). Entrepreneurs expressed a similar opinion (respectively, the same minimum of 40% for higher and many - 33% and 15% for these options for the average special). 15% for the prospect of education for work in the service sector - a maximum in all categories of respondents. It was businessmen who felt that both in the world and our service economy are going to rise. But the industrial Urals does not respect the secondary education for the service sphere (6%), does not really complain of higher (46%), but more actively (40%) agitates for the average professional for the production sphere. “The supporting edge of the state,” they say in the Urals about themselves.
Further, during the study, we asked the question: what professions will be the most prestigious in Russia in the near future? And they offered a choice of 9 professions.
This is how the answers were distributed.
The most promising in the sense of prestige (about a third of the answers or more) respondents considered the following five professions:
What professions will be the most prestigious in Russia in the near future?
Doctor / 51%
Military / 49%
Worker / 40%
Teacher / 33%
Engineer / 32%
Less prestigious (fifth of the answers and less) were the professions of different ministers of the law:
What professions will be the most prestigious in Russia in the near future?
Special services employee / 20%
Lawyer / 19%
Police / 19%
Official / 12%
Given the role of the relevant institutions in our lives, one could expect great hopes assigned to these outsiders in a career plan. But since the study did not show this, it is necessary to assume that people want to think that our life in the future will be arranged differently, and there will be less power influence on society in it.
In some age groups, the profession of “special services employee” was considered particularly prestigious almost 30% (respondents 25–39 years old), in others twice as less (16%, people over 55 years old), but in none of the groups above the sixth place it did not rise. The same can be said about the profession of a policeman and lawyer.
As for the Officer option, it turned out to be in the last place in people of any age, not gaining more than 12%. It seems that, refusing bureaucracy in prestige, people mentally accounted for him, who became with us “middle class”, overtaking all the rest in growth.
In the answers of almost all categories of surveyed in the first place either “doctor” or “military”. Only among the poorest groups of the population, the “worker” received first place (41%), a little overtaking the “doctor” (40%). (Among the most prosperous profession of the worker, 40%were also called, but “military” and “doctor” are named a lot more often - 55%and 53%.)
It can be suggested that the Russian society has survived the injury of Pandemia Covid and therefore remembers the significance of the role of doctors for society. And everyone puts the “doctor” in first or second place. Then it is logical to believe that followed by a trauma from the fact that it was better not to call with your name, which did not end and unknown when it ends. And therefore it seems to people that the profession of a military man will remain prestigious in the future. And it is precisely those who will most of all live in the future - young - most often (70%) call the profession of a military prestigious in the future. In the elderly, in the first place, which can be understood, a doctor (48%), and a military man in third (41%).
The profession “teacher”, no matter how the teachers themselves complained about the fall of its prestige and status, in second place among young (34%), in third place in many other categories, starting with “students”.
There were times in Russia when the word "engineer" denoted a very high status. Then the engineers began to push other professions. And this can be seen according to our data-the “engineer” does not rise above the 4th place. But nevertheless, in our study, about a third of the surveyed in almost every category, and therefore, in all hierarchies, the “engineer” remains in the first five, is stored in our study.
Researchers, asking people about the future, offered them the nomenclature of professions from the past. To the delight of those who numeria and us all in the conservatives, it turned out that it was difficult to answer only 5%, offered their options as much (6%). And the rest of the mass of 89% took this unchanging look, as they accept (87%) this unchanged power.