Abstract:

The functioning and developing of vocational education is aimed at realizing both the needs of society, the state, business in preparing for successful work of highly skilled professionals and personal goals, the orientation of universities’ graduates. The degree of coincidence of public and individual wants can be different, which is determined by a combination of external and internal factors affecting the work choice of universities’ graduates. On the one hand, employers are interested in employing young professionals who are ready to be actively engaged in continuous innovative activity. On the other hand, young professionals have their own system of values, the value of the desired work, which does not always coincide with those that are significant for the employer. In this regard, the issue of studying the factors affecting the choice of future work by young specialists is a key one. This was the major objective of our research.

Methodology:
The study was conducted at five universities in Yekaterinburg, the Middle Urals, in 2016. Yekaterinburg is one of the largest industrial, scientific, cultural regions of Russia. The research methodology combined both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The primary data was collected using questionnaires and in-depth interviews. 2814 students who finish their studies in two months, getting a bachelor's or master's degree were questioned on the basis of quota sampling. In-depth interviews with 10 experts were conducted in order to identify key issues of students’ choice of their future work.

Results and discussions:
We have found that both objective (such as an opportunity to realize professional knowledge and skills, career progression, respectable wages, to be promoted, etc.) and subjective factors (such as respondents’ interest in the field of their future work, employability, etc.) affecting the choice of future work were demonstrated by the Russian students.

The study has revealed that Russian universities’ graduates in choosing their future work are not guided by the requirements of potential employers, but are guided by the idea of where it is profitable in terms of materiality to realize their abilities. At the same time, they are willing to work on a related specialty or even the one that does not correspond to the existing knowledge, in the presence of a substantial wage.

The research has found that in modern Russia there is a need to create an effective system of interaction between higher education institutions and employers. This is due to the fact that future specialists in the process of studying must acquire those competencies and knowledge that are in demand both by the employing enterprises and by the innovative economy.

Keywords:

Universities’ graduates, factors, choice of future woks, employers, higher education system, Russia.