Career Support And Employment Of Pedagogical Higher Education Graduates In Education Modernization

Abstract

In this article, the problem of employment of higher educational institution graduates is examined. The purpose of this research is to analyze the problem of employment of pedagogical higher education institution graduates’ and development of the model of psychological-acmeological support of the process of students’ professional self-determination and career building. Resulting from this research, the main problems of pedagogical higher education institution graduates’ employment and career building were characterized. The carried-out analysis caused the need for developing the model of psychological- acmeological support of the process of professional self-determination and career building in students. The model is developed within the work of the scientific and practical center "Acmeological Center". In the article, the model of psychological and pedagogical support of career building in students is presented, basic structural components of the support are revealed, and the directions and the content of psychological-acmeological support of the activity optimizing the process of professional self-determination in modern youth are described. Within the approbation of the model, a package of diagnostic techniques is presented which is directed to identify the level of formation of a person’s career orientation by means of diagnostic techniques. The results of the research showed that realization of the model of psychological-acmeological support of career building works towards full understanding of higher education institution students’ career building support; it optimizes formation of students’ steady motivation to be a professional, readiness for professional engagement, the productiveness of employment, and in general successful career building;

Keywords: Careeremploymentstudentspsychological-acmeological support

Introduction

In the report of "Global prospects of Employment 2013" of UN International Labour Organization (ILO), pessimistic youth unemployment growth forecast is proved which in 2017 will be more than 50%, and in Spain, in Italy and Greece it will be more than 30% (the Report of the UN: jobless youth will cost much to the world, 2013). Nowadays, social consequences of its growth in the form of public discontent and mass riots is evident. Furthermore, the risk of "the lost generation" formation is predicted owing to the high speed of loss of professional potentials in conditions of restricted demand for work, and lack of financial support of measures on updating and accumulating this potential.

Social and economic globalization processes happening during this period of societal development, and in particular, education in Russia and in the world in general, caused an expressed interest in studying the phenomenon of demand/non-demand for specialists-teachers in the labour market. At the same time, it is necessary to note that the problems of this research of professional demand for graduates of pedagogical higher education institutions have complex cross-disciplinary characters. It is necessary to emphasize that at the same time, one of the most important problems of modern higher education in Russia is shown in the discrepancy of quantitative and qualitative characteristics of graduating experts to the requirements of society and the dynamics of the modern labour market (Bortnik, 2007). In this regard, obtaining reliable research data on the demand for teachers, employment assistance, and professional adaptation of graduates becomes the priority direction of the work of higher educational institutions, since the number of employed graduates on specialist profiles are key indicators of prestige and rating of higher educational institutions.

Seven Russian higher institutions with good ratings in graduates’ employment were included to the new rating of the British consulting company Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). However, none of them entered the first hundred (QS Graduate Employability Rankings, 2016).

Being a resultant index of educational activity of higher education institution, graduates’ employment is defined by a complex of external and internal factors. Among them we can find: state of the economy of the region, level of training and motivation of the professional, self-determination of applicants, compliance of educational programs to educational standards and requirements of employers, and qualification of the teaching staff. Understanding the requirements of the labour market by students, is not less important. The imbalance between expectations of employers and competences of graduates is one of pressing problems of the modern economy (Gushchina, Ovcharov, 2007). According to the research of McKinsey, about 40% of employers of different countries note failure of young specialists to show skills necessary to fill the vacancies at the initial level (Global Go to Think Tank Index Report, 2016).

Problem Statement

Transformations of political, social and economic relations in contemporary Russia caused considerable changes in all spheres of social life including education. Modernization and education system reforming caused a trend of higher requirements to the personal and professional qualities of graduates. These qualities should provide the students the ability to compete in the labour market, and, as a result, increase the effectiveness of their future professional activity (Vinokurova, Tsareva, Yashkov, 2015).

The priority task of higher education is to form professionally focused, self-sufficient, initiative, independent persons, capable of finding solutions to professional problems in constantly changing conditions of contemporary society. Besides, modern production needs experts to be able to creatively use the knowledge gained in a higher education institution in their professional activity; to master methods of creative realization in practical activities; to feel the need to update and perfect professionally significant knowledge and abilities that negates professional principles, views, beliefs, interests, desires and motives.

It is possible to claim with confidence that solution to the priority task of higher educational institutions has something in to do with the requirements of employers to the professional and personal qualities of young specialists. As fairly noted by researchers (Zeer, 1997, Klimov, 1996), this can be considerably reached if the future expert has a clear idea ("image") of career and positive relation to the profession, the need for professional activity and readiness for it are formed. Speaking in other words, within tutoring and professional and personal development in higher institutions, career building also has to be implemented.

Research Questions

In this regard, the problem of the increase in the effectiveness of professional career building and students’ employment is especially urgent for the modern theory and practice of higher education. It demands that a higher education institution should tend to the organizational, psychological and pedagogical needs of a student throughout the entire period of study. It involves an organization of career building support and employment of students in periods of their study in higher education institutions.

In modern researches, support is understood as interaction between a supporter and the supported, directed to solving urgent everyday problems of the supported. It is stated that career building is understood as the development, self-development, and self-realization of subjects of educational expanse in the course of fulfilling professional tasks, and mastering professional competences (Derkach, Zazykin, Markova, 2000). In the same breath, it is dynamic process of "expansion" of personal psychological properties and qualities which is shown in the formation of interest in future professional activities, and in mastering professionally and socially important personal qualities (Zhuina, 2013).

The issue of tools and technologies to be used by higher education institutions in the course of working to alleviate the problem of graduate unemployment is also urgent.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the present research is to analyze the condition of the problem of employment of pedagogical graduates and develop a model of psychological-acmeological support to the process of students’ professional self-determination and professional career building.

Considering relevance of the declared problem, we based on the scientific and practical center "Acmeological Center" functioning at the Faculty of Psychology and Defectology of the Mordovia M. E. Evsevyev State Teacher Training Institute. We developed the model of psychological-acmeological support of the process of professional self-determination directed to activation of personal internal psychological resources, development of personal professional opportunities, formation of professional and personal mobility so that in any given professional activity a person could find full self-realization in the profession and flexibly react to its possible changes in case they happen (Zhuina, 2015).

Research Methods

As research methods, theoretical analysis, statistical data analyses, methods of questioning and modeling were used.

Findings

According to the research plan we conducted a survey of pedagogical institute students (615 people). Based on the research, the main problems in the sphere of employment experienced by graduates of pedagogical institutes were revealed. Among the main problems and difficulties, senior students note similar problems as the researchers: change towards the European education system (bachelor), lack of work experience, low demand for the profession in labour markets (insufficient amount of vacancies).

Search for effective measures directed to successful employment of graduates caused the need to create the model of psychological-acmeological support of the process of students’ professional self-determination and formation of their professional career. The model is developed within the work of the scientific and practical center "Acmeological Center" functioning at the Faculty of Psychology and Defectology of MSPI.

Within the research, the model of psychological and pedagogical support of students’ career building is developed and approved and it includes 4 components:

• Target - In this component, we set a plan, involving optimizing the process of psychological and pedagogical support of higher education institution students’ career building.

• Contensive - In this component, we gave characteristics of the structure of psychological and pedagogical support of career formation in higher education institution students, and also described conditions for effective organization of psychological and pedagogical support. Such directions of support as diagnostic, exploratory, advisory and projective, pragmatic and reflexive, act as the main structural components. The work of psychological and pedagogical service and material and information resources of the organization belong to the main conditions of effective organization of the support.

• Organizational and developing component, in which the work on realization of psychological and pedagogical support of higher education institution students’ career building is presented.

• Evaluating and resulting component directed to synthesize the work of psychological and pedagogical service on support of students’ career building in the conditions of higher educational institution environment.

In the course of specially organizing the solution of the considered problem, we defined the directions and the content of psychological-acmeological support of activities, to optimize the process of professional self-determination in modern youths. It included; analytical activities, work with applicants, interaction with organizations (employers, centers of employment assistance, job-centers, etc.), organization of students’ temporary employment, adapting university graduates to labour markets, active forms of work with the youth correspondents (presentations of companies and graduates, job fairs, master classes and education seminars, etc.), information and advisory support for students concerning problems of professional self-determination and employment, organization of students’ practices, and information and advertising activities.

For identifying the level of formation of career orientation in students, we created a module of diagnostic techniques for studying the structural components of personal career orientation: career potential, career orientations, career image and motivation to work. For this purpose a complex of psychological diagnostic tools was created: questionnaire - "Career anchor" by Schein,Moll's questionnaire "Career purposes", Maralova's technique "Composition about my life in 10 years", Senin's technique "Questionnaire of terminal values" (FATHER-2), the technique of Noe, Noe, Bakhuber "Motivation to career" (Mogilevkin's adaptation), “Diagnostics of Motivation” test, Sh. Richie and P. Martin's technique "Studying personal motivational profile" (Klimov's adaptation), and Mogilevkin’s technique "Factors of career progression" (Zhuina, 2014).

This diagnostic complex forms the basis for forming an individual route of for career creation, organization of psycho-educational training, developing, correctional, and advisory work in higher institutions.

Within psycho-educational and developing work, we used the technology of professional career planning which is a summation of documents in paper or electronic option reflecting all achievements of a student (academic, educational, and personal) – a career portfolio.

Defining a complex of special abilities necessary for mastering a profession, detection of personal features preventing the design of full-fledged professional career is used as a preventive measure against students’ professional inconsistency with the chosen specialty or direction of preparation, compensation of one professionally important quality by another, or formulation of correcting strategy of some personal features.

Analysis of the results of Evsevyev MSPI 2016 graduates’ employment showed that 63.2% were successfully employed , 8.6% were called up for military service , 18.9% continued training on a master’s program, 5.4% continued training in a postgraduate course, 2,5% are on child care leave, and 1.45% are recognized as unemployed.

One of the research problems was the assessment of graduates’ readiness for professional activity. Questioning of educational organizations heads (147 people) was carried out for this purpose. Employers, the heads of educational organizations of municipality of Saransk and the Republics of Mordovia, assessed MSPI graduates’ readiness for professional and pedagogical activity, their professional knowledge and abilities, and availability of professionally important personal qualities of young specialists (4.14 of 5 points).

Conclusion

Thus, the analysis of MSPI graduates’ employment during the last 3 years proves positive dynamics of this process.

1. The number of graduates who have found a job and are recommended to work by various organizations grew from 35% to 56%.

2. The number of graduates who have found a job in the region reached 82%.

3. The number of higher education institution graduates who found jobs on their specialty within three years after graduation from a higher education institution increased by more than 5%, and reached 65%.

The results of the research showed that realization of the model of psychological-acmeological support of career building facilitates complex understanding of higher education institution students’ career building support; it allows for the increment of students’ competence; it facilitates the formation of students’ steady motivation to personal professional development, readiness for professional activity and professional personal self-development, and in general to productive employment and successful career building.

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