Abstract:

A specialist’s development does not directly deal with his \ her inclusion in the vocational work environment. The initial stage of this process is higher education. The intensity of the socio-economic development of society depends on the success of students’ professional socialization and on the quality of their training. Educational programs presented in higher education institutions are aimed at mastering the necessary qualities and skills of the future specialist and they should contribute to his \ her favorable entry into the vocational-working environment. Meanwhile, the quality of specialists’ training leaves much to be desired.

Despite the considerable researches on professional socialization, there remains a lack of understanding as to how students’ professional socialization is connected with their orientations to higher education. Our study seeks to fill this gap. The major research objective was to study the problems of students’ professional socialization at the universities of Russian large industrial city.

Methodology:
The theoretical foundations of the study were the works of famous sociologists such as F. Giddings, E. Durkheim, C. Cooley, J. Mead, T. Parsons and N. Smelser. The basis for the analysis of professional socialization were the work of P. Berger, T. Lukman and the works of Russian scientists, such as: S.A. Artemyev, S.A. Bagretsov, O.A. Drozdov, A.G. Krasnoperova, R.L. Krichevsky, M.V. Migacheva, L.M. Mitina, N.A. Perinskaya, S.V. Rokhmaninova, O.V. Seliverstova. The primary data was collected using questionnaires. Five hundred and eighty respondents – students of four universities, were questioned on the basis of quota sampling in the city of Chelyabinsk.

Results and discussion:
The study has shown that the main future specialists’ motive for higher education is the desire for self-development and getting new knowledge. Respondents hope that having higher education and a particular qualification will help them in finding prestigious and profitable work.

The majority of the respondents look for occupation suited to abilities and to their own interests. For young people the main thing is that the profession should not only make profit, but also a career progress and give new professional knowledge. The research has fixed that the majority of the students believe that they have made the right choice of specialty and they are well aware of how their future professional activity will be.

In the process of training, students acquire and improve their skills of independence, responsibility and self-organization. More than half of the students of higher educational institutions note that after graduation they will plan to find a job in their specialty, as they have acquired all the necessary competencies and knowledge for further successful professional activities.

The research has revealed that higher education institutions implement students’ professional socialization successful. Future specialists are ready to perform their work functions as a part of vocational training.

Keywords:

Socialization, professional socialization, professional development, professional training, higher professional education, students.