Motivation of applicants of the city of Belgorod in choosing a future specialty



Today, in our country, the problem of choosing a university and a specialty for applicants for higher education is particularly acute. Since the quality of education, in general, over the years for non-unitary (medicine, journalism, cultural specialties) disciplines falls (the scientific base of universities lags behind scientific and technological progress and the needs of the time), applicants face a particularly acute problem of choosing a university and specialty. According to statistics, 88 percent of high school graduates plan to get a higher education, but the motivation for choosing them is at least inexpedient, because after studying, which is four or more years, they often do not get a job. After all, as mentioned above, almost 30 percent of university graduates work in their field and are satisfied with their position. That is, only 29 percent of all young people, who are the long-term basis for the existence of the state and its welfare, were able to meet their ambitions. As a result of the wrong choice of direction of study, students lose their years of life, the means (their own or state), perhaps some of them are psychological problems associated with self-esteem and, as a result, low purchasing power due to poorly paid and unskilled work. Because of the above, we can assume that current applicants have a weak, unreasonable motivation when choosing a university and a specialty or not at all. This is facilitated by the lack of reliable information about any specialty, the lack of vocational guidance in schools and the incorrectly formed picture of the current situation on the labor market. Also, progress, which moves in huge steps, makes the current tasks of specialists of various profiles change.

The method of data collection.

When studying the motivation of applicants in Belgorod, this method of data collection was chosen as a survey (questioning).

The questionnaire, designed to study the motivation of applicants, consists of the following parts: introduction, main part and requisite part (passport). The goal of the introduction is to briefly and in an accessible form explain the purpose of the study, convince respondents to take part in the survey by emphasizing the importance of their participation in it, the anonymity of the survey and express thanks in advance for their assistance. The main part is the most important for the interviewer; she reveals the research topic, serves as a source for obtaining all the necessary information from the respondent.

Results of questioning.

150 respondents participated in the survey, of which 69 people (46 %) were young people and 81 people (54 %) were girls.

Currently, it is difficult to get a high-paying job without a diploma of higher education, so almost all students plan to enroll in a university, thereby at least formally paving their way to receiving prestigious work. The evidence of this is the evidence obtained from the study: 94.7 % of respondents plan to receive higher professional education, 4.7 % do not yet know, and only 0.7 % will not enter the university.

Thus, the majority of respondents want to get a higher education, because they believe that it is necessary in life (47.3 %). 40 % want to get more knowledge on the specialty that interests them, 36.7 % want to become graduates. 3.3 % cited other reasons, among which:

– Improve your social status;

– Work in a highly paid firm;

– Receive a reprieve from the army;

– receive a scholarship;

– Get a good job after graduation.

Regarding the reasons for the desire to get a higher education, the opinions of young people and girls were homogeneous (Table 1).

Table 1

Differentiation of the reasons for obtaining higher education depending on the gender of the respondents

The reasons for obtaining higher professional education	Number of respondents	Man	Women
I want to become a graduate	55	20	35
I want to get a diploma of a prestigious university	24	6	18
I want to get a specialty like parents	3	3	0
I want to get more knowledge on the specialty that interests me	60	24	36
The opportunity to meet people and get connections that will help in life	42	14	28
In life, higher education is necessary	71	35	36
Other	5	4	1

Consider the question regarding the criteria for selection of applicants of the university. We present the data in the form of a table in order to analyze the differentiation of answers depending on the sex of the respondents (Table 2).

Table 2

Differentiation of the criteria for selection by university applicants depending on the gender of the respondents

Criteria for choosing auniversity	Number of respondents	Man	Women
Interesting specialty	120	52	68
Highly qualified teachers	52	21	31
Free study opportunity	75	32	43
Location of the university	61	23	38
Opinion about the university of my friends	14	7	7
Friends study in this university	13	8	5
Parents studied in this university	4	4	0
There is a military department	20	20	0
The university has a good technical base	25	19	6
The opportunity to further study abroad and immediately receive 2 diplomas	36	14	22
Learning more than 1 foreign language	36	9	27
State university	65	26	39
The provision of hostel	17	7	10
Other	2	1	1

As in the question regarding the reasons for obtaining higher education, and in the question of the criteria for choosing a university, the opinion of young people and girls was quite homogeneous. However, it is important to note that 27 girls noted the study of more than 1 foreign language as one of the important criteria, while young people noted another criterion: the presence of a good technical base at the university (19 people) and, of course, the military department (20 people).Let's present the generalized data in the form of a diagram (See. Figure 1).

Fig. 1. “Differentiation of criteria for applicants to choose a university”

80 % of respondents cited the presence of an interesting specialty in an institution of higher education as the most important criterion, and then there is the possibility of free education (50 %) and accreditation of the university (43.3 %). An important criterion was also called the location of the university (40.7 %). As it turned out, applicants give preference to objective criteria (specialty, location, accreditation, free tuition, and teachers’ qualifications) than subjective (opinion of friends — 9.3 %, parents studied at this university — 2.7 %, friends study at this university 8.7 %).

Among 150 people, surveyed 56 people are pupils of 9th grade and 94 persons — 11th grade. Only 39.3 % of ninth-graders and 69.1 % of eleventh-graders decided on the choice of university.

In order to choose the right educational institution, applicants need to obtain the most complete, high quality and reliable information about universities of interest. There are now a sufficient number of sources of information. Consider in this connection which of them are the most popular among the applicants.

The most popular source was the Internet; 74.7 % of respondents preferred it, which was a result of the increasing penetration of the worldwide network in Russia. 59.3 % of applicants plan to find out information about universities of interest by visiting the Open Days, which will allow getting this information directly from students and teachers of the university. 45.3 % gave their preference to reference books for entering universities. The least popular sources of information were advertising in transport (0.7 %) and newspapers (10 %). Thus, universities to attract applicants should pay more attention to the quality of information contained on the Internet, reference books for applicants, as well as the organization of the Open Doors so that future students can get the most complete information about the university they came to.

32.7 % chose an exceptionally budget form of education. This fact can be explained as a reluctance to pay for education, and the inability to do so due to low family income (22 % of respondents have household income per person less than 10 thousand rubles). 57.3 % will try to enter the budget, but if they fail, they will be trained for a fee. This is because the applicant may not gain the required passing score on the exams and he will have to agree to a paid form of study, especially since the number of budget places tends to decrease every year. Only 10 % of respondents agree to study for a fee, more than half of them have a family income of more than 30 thousand rubles, which allows them not to even try their hand at entering the budget form.

The overwhelming majority of respondents (84.7 %) plan to study full-time, because It is the full-time form that allows you to get the most complete and high-quality education. 9.3 % chose an internally-correspondence (evening) form and 8 % correspondence.

40.7 % of respondents said that they are willing to pay 20–30 thousand rubles per semester for tuition, i.e. the most minimal amount. It is important to note that in all universities every year there is an increase in the cost of education and 20–30 thousand is not enough to pay. Because the majority of applicants and expect to enter the budget form due to the inability to pay tuition. 24.7 % of respondents are willing to pay 31–40 thousand rubles, which is the average cost of tuition for a semester, at least in Belgorod universities. The maximum amount presented in the questionnaire, i.e. more than 55 thousand rubles can be paid by 10.7 % of respondents, which is explained by a rather high income in their family.

63.33 % do not know about the cost of education in the university, 66.7 % of which are ninth-graders and 22 % plan to enter the budget form.

26 % expect to receive 21–25 thousand rubles after graduation, which is quite true, because employers are not willing to pay high salaries to graduates, especially if they do not have work experience. 23.3 % expect to earn 26–30 thousand rubles, and, oddly enough, 13.3 % of respondents indicated an amount of more than 55 thousand rubles, which is likely to be quite an overestimated amount for a graduate.

A quarter of respondents chose such a field of knowledge as management (25.3 %). This is followed by the economy — 17.3 % and jurisprudence — 14 %. For several years now, the majority of applicants, considering them as the most profitable, prestigious, and in demand has chosen these areas. Even appeals to the media that at present production is in dire need of specialists in technical areas, builders, painters, etc. no effect on applicants. Most likely, this is because the respondents consider these specialties to be low paid. Therefore, they are still making their choice in favor of economics, management and jurisprudence.

However, 14.7 % and 13.3 % of respondents want to gain knowledge in the field of computer science and engineering, respectively, which is a positive trend at the moment, because it is in these areas that there is a lack of qualified personnel.

These data confirm the information received about the selected universities: MIET and MGADA have all the listed specialties.

Let us now consider which areas of knowledge the respondents (Fig. 2) chose.

Fig. 2. “Rating of areas of knowledge selected by respondents”

Conclusion

In the course of writing this article, a sociological study of the educational services market was conducted in order to determine the motivation of applicants when choosing a higher educational institution. The first chapter provides an analysis of secondary information on this market. To collect primary information, respondents (students in grades 9–11 of the city of Belgorod) were asked to answer the questionnaire. After that, all the data obtained was reduced to a more compressed form and analyzed in the second chapter. As a result, the following conclusions were made on the basis of this study:

– There is a very high demand for higher education: 94.7 % of respondents plan to enroll in higher education institutions;

– The main reason for receiving higher education is that respondents consider it necessary in life;

– The most important criteria when choosing a university were an interesting specialty, the possibility of free education, the presence of state accreditation at the university;

– Internet, reference books for university applicants, Open Doors — the most popular sources of information for applicants, the quality and completeness of information in which schools should pay more attention to ensure maximum awareness of applicants;

– Due to a decrease in the number of budget places and a slight increase in family incomes, 57.3 % of respondents who fail to enter the budget department will be trained for a fee;

– The majority of respondents chose for admission MIET and MGADA, which meets the criteria for an interesting specialty, state accreditation, free education opportunities;

– When choosing a university, applicants for the most part rely on their own decision and the opinion of their parents;

– 40.7 % of respondents are willing to pay only 50–60 thousand rubles for a semester of study at an institution of higher education, which is quite a small amount, considering that the cost of education at universities in Belgorod is, on average, 80 thousand rubles;

– The majority of respondents would like to study in such areas of knowledge as management, economics, computer science, law, despite the fact that there is currently a surplus in these specialists.

Thus, this work vividly illustrates the current state of information support for applicants, the criteria for choosing an educational institution, determines the degree of influence of various factors on school graduates and many other indicators considered in this study.

The results obtained in the course of this study can be used for a more detailed study aimed at studying the motivation of applicants both within the Belgorod Administrative District as a whole and in each region in particular, and in nearby villages.

References:

1. Rychenkov M. V., Rychenkova I. V., Kireev V. S. Research of factors which impact on the choice of a higher education by admissioners at different stages // Modern problems of science and education. — 2013. — № 6