school graduates began to choose their own university and take a gap year more often

Over the past 30 years, the number of “thoughtful” school graduates in Russia has been growing, choosing a university and a profession on their own, and not under pressure from their parents. Such a conclusion can be drawn from the results of a sociological study conducted by the educational company “Netology”. The authors also note the popularity of the gap year idea — a one-year break between graduation from school and entering a university (however, this option does not seem available for boys due to being drafted into the armed forces from the age of 18). Experts interviewed by Kommersant believe that a year of break is most often a “forced measure”, and it is too early to talk about a conscious choice of graduates.

The educational company “Netology” analyzed the “trajectories of choosing a life path” among school graduates. Experts interviewed 1,200 Russian residents aged 16 to 45; the oldest graduated from school in the mid-1990s, and the youngest this year. They were asked with what grades they graduated from school, how they made decisions about further studies and profession, and whether they were satisfied with the choice. The study was conducted in August 2023 on the Anketologist online panel.

The results of the survey (available to Kommersant) show that more than half of Russians (48%) were guided by their personal interests when making a decision about further studies. Moreover, this indicator was consistently high from year to year: among graduates who graduated from school before 1999, there were 54% of them, and in 2023 – 55%. But the share of those who listened to the advice of their parents has decreased markedly – from 39% in 1999 to 6% in 2023.

“The fact that graduates make their own choices shows that a generation of thoughtful young people is growing who are willing and able to take responsibility for their own decisions,” says Oksana Aprelskaya, head of the Higher Education department at Netology. She explains this not only by the personal qualities of graduates, but also by the fact that there are more interesting offers for them: “Higher education programs are becoming more diverse, covering a wider range of interests and needs of both the labor market and the applicants themselves.”

“Choosing according to one’s preferences cannot be considered completely independent and independent,” argues Ekaterina Pavlenko, junior researcher at the Center for the Sociology of Culture at the National Research University Higher School of Economics. “What schoolchildren find attractive is formed under the influence of social and cultural factors, including parents, environment, teachers, friends, significant figures, and even literary or film characters. The choice of specialty is built into a more general idea of ​​how to live and what to strive for.” Ms. Pavlenko believes that career guidance can contribute to independent choice, but “not in the sense in which it is most often understood – when a person is tested, and then the results are compared with the requirements of various professions and specialties.” “Modern vocational guidance is career education,” explains Ekaterina Pavlenko. “That is, mastering the ways of constructing one’s career, life in the conditions of modern society. Mastering the skills to make decisions, understand situations and use information.

Interestingly, not all respondents immediately decided what to do. The study showed that approximately 3% of graduates of different years took a gap year – a break between graduation from school and enrolling in another educational institution. Moreover, after 2020, this practice began to gain popularity: 5% of graduates took a pause in order to better understand themselves and relax. More than half rate such a break extremely positively (53%), another 38% rated it neutrally and noted that they did not manage to rest properly. But 9% of graduates considered the gap year a negative experience.

Tatyana Egorenko, head of the Department of Educational Psychology at MSUPE, notes that this practice is much more common abroad: “In Russia, a gap year is more of a forced measure. Its reasons are a low USE score for admission or an average mark of a certificate, an unsuccessful entrance test, or health-related problems. The expert adds that gap years in Russia are more often chosen by college graduates or freshly minted bachelors. “There are a number of positive examples in which the gap year contributed to the personal and professional self-determination of a person,” notes the psychologist. “However, there are also negative ones, such as immersion in the FOMO state (Fear of Missing Out, the syndrome of lost profits.— “b”). This is the feeling that life is passing by: when your former classmates share new impressions, experiences, successes, but you don’t have such feelings and have nothing to share.

Ms. Yegorenko also notes that during the break, “a person may lose some academic skills, which subsequently leads to difficulties in adapting to a university or college, or even lose interest in learning.” The expert adds that in order to effectively pass the gap year, you need to approach it consciously – identify your specific goals and develop an action plan for their implementation. “Internships, volunteer projects, educational courses and personal development will help you get through this period with benefit,” she says.

Professor of the National Research University Higher School of Economics, Academician of the Russian Academy of Education Viktor Bolotov recalls that in Russia for men from the age of 18 there is a mandatory draft into the army, so most of them will not be able to take a year of pause after finishing grade 11 to rest and think about future prospects: “This makes such a practice is unpopular in Russia, at least for boys.”

Separately, the authors of the study note that the number of excellent students among the surveyed graduates of Russian schools has increased markedly. Until 1999, they were only 3%, and in 2023 already 27%. It was not possible to obtain official statistics from the Ministry of Education at the time of publication. However, Vsevolod Lukhovitsky, chairman of the Teacher interregional trade union, notes that before the introduction of the Unified State Examination, the certificate played a big role in entering universities, so it was more difficult to “graduate with red” – they approached grading with more rigor and took into account many factors when deriving the final mark. With the advent of the Unified State Examination, according to Mr. Lukhovitsky, interest in an excellent certificate has decreased among both children and parents, and in schools, grading in the certificate has become “much more formal.” However, “in recent years, they began to pay attention to grades again” those graduates who decided to continue their studies abroad, because “they look at the certificates”. Recall that recently the Minister of Education Sergey Kravtsov announced the accrual of three additional USE points for a silver medal and five points for a gold one. Nevertheless, Mr. Lukhovitsky believes that this will not raise the prestige of the certificate, “because these points are too few.”

Polina Yachmennikova