COMPETITIVENESS AND DEMAND FOR GRADUATES FROM MODERN RUSSIAN UNIVERSITIES

Ивашова В.А.¹, Дуб Г.В. ², Хохлова Е.В.³, Тунина Н.А.⁴

¹Кандидат социологических наук, ²научный сотрудник, ³кандидат педагогических наук, ⁴кандидат юридических наук, Ставропольский государственный аграрный университет

КОНКУРЕНТОСПОСОБНОСТЬ И ВОСТРЕБОВАННОСТЬ ВЫПУСКНИКОВ СОВРЕМЕННЫХ РОССИЙСКИХ ВУЗОВ

Аннотация

Подготовка компетентного специалиста, способного в короткие сроки приспосабливаться к реалиям и требованиям рынка труда становится ключевой задачей вузов. В статье дана общая характеристика возможных конкурентных преимуществ личности выпускника вуза, емкость и перспективы трудоустройства различных профессиональных групп на российском рынке труда. А также практический опыт Ставропольского ГАУ в исследовании требований работодателей на примере отдельного направления подготовки.

Ключевые слова: конкурентоспособность личности выпускника вуза, востребованность специалистов на рынке труда, трудоустройство, профессиональная подготовка, требования работодателей.

Ivashova V.А.¹, Dub G.V.², Khokhlova Е.V.³, Tunina N.A.⁴

¹Candidate of Sociological Science, ²Researcher, ³Candidate of Pedagogies, ⁴Candidate of Law Science, Stavropol State Agrarian University

COMPETITIVENESS AND DEMAND FOR GRADUATES FROM MODERN RUSSIAN UNIVERSITIES

Abstract

The training of a competent professional capable to quickly adapt to the realities and requirements of the labor market becomes a key task of universities. The article gives a general description of the possible competitive advantages of the individual high school graduate, capacity and employment prospects for professional groups in the Russian labor market. It also shares the practical experience of the Stavropol State Agrarian University in the study of the requirements of employers on the example of a separate field of study.

Key words: competitiveness of an individual graduate of the university, the demand for professionals in the labor market, employment, professional training, employers' requirements.

The issue of the competitiveness of and demand for university graduates is undoubtedly a very important and urgent now. One of the parameters that determine the competitiveness of the university in the educational market is the level of demand for graduates in the labor market.

So, now one of the tasks of a high education establishment is the training of a competent professional capable to quickly adapt to the realities and requirements of the labor market. Employability of graduates is one of the performance criteria a not only in higher education, but also in the economy as a whole.

The successful employment of young specialists is influenced not only by the knowledge, competences, achieved at the university, but also the own personality of a graduate. According to B.D. Parygina competitiveness includes the own resources of a person, such as psychological and physical health, age, appearance, ability, talent, intelligence, energy levels; as well as moral aspects: the hierarchy of values, belief system, the presence of the prohibitions and restrictions of a personal [5].

Talking about the competitiveness of an individual, it is necessary to consider not only the high quality of the results of his work, but also his ability to win in the competition. Andreev V. I.  among the many qualities that determine the competitiveness of an individual, highlighted the main, namely: 'the clarity of objectives and values, hard work, creative attitude, ability to take risks, independence,  ability to be a leader, striving for continuous self-development, stress resistance, commitment to continuous professional development to the high quality of the final product of his labor " [1]. This model reflects only the personal characteristics, without taking into account the level of training that will undoubtedly be also important.

Authors Shilova M.I.  and Belikh I.L ., taking into account the concept of the competitiveness of the individual, give the following definition of the competitive expert : "a specialist capable of achieving his goals in different, rapidly changing situations using a large group of methods of solving professional problems and the presence of certain personal qualities " [6]. This concept considers the competitiveness on the part of just one person. There is also a concept that is based on relativity.

In this approach, a term “competitive graduate”  refers to the ability to overcome other applicants  in the labor market for a "good" job employment ,  corresponding to the obtained education , due to the fact that he is the best to  suit  the  requirements of the workplace and the subjective preferences of employers with his level of training and personal characteristics .

According to many authors, the formation of competitiveness of graduates is the output of the current employment situation of young people.

It is also important to highlight that the subjective preferences of employers form the requirements for the personal characteristics of the graduate and the formal parameters of his qualifications fixed in the estimates of the diploma.

From the perspective of university relevance and adaptability,   the competitiveness of a graduate is reduced to its compliance with the requirements of state educational standards prescribed for a particular type of education. The problem is that they often run counter to the expectations of employers who employ young professionals.

Thus, today there is a gap between the higher education market and the labor market.

Employment of young professionals supports their success in the competition, but does not guarantee the lifetime employment. It is important to continue to be competitive also after the employment.  In this sense three basic criteria of competitiveness of an expert are adopted:

• amount of time they need to adapt to the working environment;
• number of related areas in which graduates can work without spending a great deal of time and effort to their development;
• willingness and ability to develop their education to a higher level.

The Stavropol State Agrarian University has considerable experience in monitoring the requirements of employers to the content of training of graduates of the higher professional education [2]. There is a specialized unit – the Department of Sociological Research and Marketing in the structure of the Center of the Quality Management in Education in the University. The information obtained during the study of the regional labor market and the views of employers become the basis of the improvement of educational programs at the University. For example, the results of the expert survey with the major in “Veterinary medicine" (in 2013 surveyed 76 major leading experts – veterinarians of agricultural enterprises of the South of Russia) revealed profoundly positive attitude of the professional community to their profession and professional education. That is confirmed by the following facts: the majority of the surveyed participants have a higher education in veterinary medicine, have on average  15 years or more of work experience in this area, the vast majority are graduates of different years of SSAU are satisfied with education (91.7%); the key motives of the vocational choice for the modern professional community of veterinarians are : the interest to the profession (51.4%) and family tradition (29.7%); professional community of veterinarians, for the most part, is open to new knowledge, the need to obtain additional education, undergoing training courses (73.5%). I.e. in a professional environment in which graduates will get a degree on veterinary medicine, it is highly cultivated the idea of learning throughout life; the third of the experts, specialists in the field of veterinary medicine, believe that you must have an additional related specialization [3].

The professional community of veterinary doctors of the South of Russia notes the highest quality of training of graduates in higher education with the major "Veterinary medicine". The quality of graduates of secondary and especially primary vocational education is significantly worse. Therefore, the training of graduates of institutions of higher education should take into account the fact that in their professional activities they will perform not only their directly duties, but also will have to solve the problem of personnel, including those related to the need to transfer knowledge, the formation of the missing skills of graduates of secondary and especially primary vocational education.

The employment of experts with the major "Veterinary medicine" is associated primarily with the recommendations of relatives, friends and acquaintances, i.e. the important role is given to social networks in issues of the job search. In addition, the search for work is carried out on the basis of the analysis of announcements of available job openings. A small proportion of employment is carried out through connections of educational institutions and enterprises.

The areas for improvement of training of the universal professional competencies have been identified: strengthening of the educational program in the content of subjects and the educational process aimed at the formation of abilities to allocate possible operational problems, developing solutions and evaluation of their effectiveness, using of modern technical equipment, positively accepting criticism, organizing the performance of industrial activities and jobs. Speaking about special professional knowledge and skills, experts note the need to strengthen the practical training of graduates. The availability of fluent skills of graduates in Software Excel, Microsoft Word, veter is highly important too [4].

Thus, the study has given a modern interpretation of the concepts of employment and competitiveness of university graduates, presented statistical data regarding the needs of the Russian labor market and analyzed the possible difficulties with finding an employment for graduates. As an example, the study reviews the professional community of veterinary doctors of the South of Russia, conducted in the course of monitoring of the preferences of employers, given the area of improving the individual areas of training in agricultural universities.

References

1. Andreev V.I. Pedagogies of the creative self-development. – Kazan, 1996.
2. Evaluation of the teacher's activity in the system of management of the University quality / Е.V. Galeev, Е.V. Khokhlova, О.N. Fedisko, V.А. Ivashova, Т.V. Fedkova // AGRARIAN SCIENCE – TO THE NORTH-CAUSACUS DISTRICT . 75-th scientific- practical conference . 2011. p.  600-604.
3. Knowledge management in the system of quality of an educational establishment / Е.V. Khokhlova, О.N. Fedisko, V.А. Ivashova, Т.V. Fedkova // AGRARIAN SCIENCE – TO THE NORTH-CAUSACUS DISTRICT . 75-th scientific- practical conference . 2011. p. 619-625.
4. Personnel processes of the branch in the evaluation of the regional agrarian elite /Е.V. Khokhlova, О.N. Fedisko, V.А. Ivashova, Т.V. Fedkova// AGRARIAN SCIENCE – TO THE NORTH-CAUSACUS DISTRICT . 75-th scientific- practical conference . 2011. p.   611-619.
5. Practical work on the social- psychological training / edited by B.D. Parygin, Saint Petersburg, 2000.
6. Shilova М.I., Belikh I.L., Formation of the University graduate competitiveness // TGPU Gerald. 2010, №4, p.39-45.