Abstract:

Numerous studies show that young people in Croatia consider education and educational achievements to be very important social values, but also their skepticism about recognizing the potential of education as a factor influencing personal development and social mobility. This especially refers to rural youth whose perspectives are associated with leaving the place of residence or the one in which they are studying. The aim of this paper is to examine student perspectives on future development as well as the development of the local community or region in which respondents live and study. The research was conducted in 2017 using a survey method on a sample of 228 students at two polytechnics in Croatia - Polytechnic of Šibenik and Marko Marulić Polytechnic in Knin. In particular, the results of research on the perception of the importance of education stand out, showing that more than a third of surveyed students believe that the study they attend is well designed, but they are not sure how much they will be able to use it as future professionals. At the same time, most students emphasize that the region in which they live and study has great potential for development in natural and human resources, but they are not used in the right way. Although slightly less than half of students think that they will be employed in their profession after graduation, a quarter of them are not so optimistic, so they plan some type of study activities related to studying abroad as well as possible going abroad. Therefore, after graduation, the reasons to stay in the place where they are studying would be finding a job and being near to their family. As the most common reasons for leaving Croatia after graduation, students state the impossibility of finding a job and advancement in their profession and poor living conditions. They believe that easy finding a job in their profession should be mostly influenced by their own efforts and/or existing knowledge in the field of studies, as well as already acquired work experience in their profession and demand for the profession. Students find aggravating factors for finding a job of their profession in underestimating young professionals, lack of work experience, high unemployment rate and generally bad situation in the country. Finally, their professional goals are primarily related to finding a permanent and secure job that will ensure their existence, and creative and dynamic job in their profession that will be socially useful. On the other hand, they are least interested in doing scientific work and starting their own business, since their aspirations are mostly related to jobs in public companies, which suggests that the educational process lacks the development of entrepreneurial competencies or entrepreneurial culture among young people. In this sense, when it comes to the rural environment, the problem of the effectiveness of education arises in the context of its disconnection with the local economy or its local inadaptability.

Keywords:

Students, education, professional aspirations, local community, sociological research.