Abstract:

The aim of this paper is to highlight some characteristics and trends in the employment of students and University graduates and to indicate some of the factors in higher education which are influenced on these characteristics and trends.

The transition to Market model of the Russian economy devalued the experience of the education and employment, which had parents of today's students and young graduates. Major changes in the vocational education system due to changing the patterns of social and economic movements and rapid changes in view of the ruling elites on State’s role in the society and economy. On the first stage of the social transition in Russia which started in Y1992 and till Y2000 was chosen the most convenient for the ruling elite model “Movement without a State” on the basis of the market freedom. On the second stage of the social transition in Russia which started in Y2001 the process of the changes in the local higher education system can be defined as “modernization and optimization in education”.Main changes in higher vocational education which directly affect to the features of modern Russian practice of employment of students and university graduates could be described the following. Primarily high educational sphere became the sphere of the Market.

The relationship between state, operators and student’s households are defined by market laws. The socio-cultural element of the higher education system started to play a small role compared the previous time. Now demand in the higher education area is oriented on the vocational aspect. The next change in higher educational area due to a new financial structure of the higher education. Each year Federal and Regional Governments allocate the funding for the covering the tuition fees within an established quota for each public institution. In the same time the needs of the public institutions were not coved by State budget. One visible change in the field of the higher education is the transfer to new structure of the degree. In accordance with the Bologna Declaration the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees were adopted in Russia. The change of the structure of the University’s degree had the effect of the revision of the content of the educational program. Many young people from the families with the average income should start working career already at the start of the study in High School.There is the paradoxical situation for students and University’s teachers. From one side students need to work because of the payment for higher education. From other side students have no time to get the required knowledge. It means that the level of the education could be reduced and the Concept of the Modernization of the higher education has not reached its main goals yet.So obviously for the Russian labor market to invest in human capital theoretically has a high level of the return on investment. In practice the outdated structure of workplaces in the Russian economy plays a significant need for low-skilled but high-paid jobs. Low starting salaries of specialists with higher education in the regional labor market is one of the reasons for moving to high-paying jobs that do not require high qualifications. Under such socio-economic conditions investment in higher education is a high-risk investment.

Keywords:

Vocational education system, Russian education system, modernization of the higher education, employment of students, investment in education, unemployment.