Abstract:

The problem of educational failure has gained a new perspective of its consideration at the turn of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. It has become a fundamental social problem in the context of changing educational objectives in a global world. Institutional dysfunctions in education that lead to students ' failure have become a serious factor in slowing down the social and economic development of some countries.

It is important to study the understanding of educational success/failure by members of educational communities. This is due to the possibility to identify barriers and ways to overcome learning failures and build a trajectory of life.

The purpose of the article is to analyze of students’ perceptions about unsuccessful student. The objectives of the research are:
1) to study the structure of activity the unsuccessful student;
2) to consider the social and socio-psychological characteristics of the unsuccessful student;
3) to identify factors that affect educational failure.

The empirical basis of the article is the results of research conducted in Sverdlovsk region, Russia (December 2019-February 2020): 1) focus groups with University students (n=4); 2) a semi-formalized expert interview with representatives of educational organizations of different types (n=30).
The article shows that in the perceptions of students, educational failure is not limited only to the student's academic failures. It is also associated with passivity in research and social activities.

Students noted the social and socio-psychological characteristics of an unsuccessful student through dichotomous opposition to the characteristics of a successful student. Most often, focus group participants described unsuccessful students as passive, unmotivated, disorganized, and uncommunicative.
According to the focus group participants, the reasons for personal educational failure primarily depend on the student himself is his inability to work on himself and overcome difficulties. In addition, students noted the impact on educational failure of the immediate environment (parents, friends, teachers, «significant adults») and life situations (death of loved ones, falling in love, etc.).

It is concluded that the identified perceptions of students about unsuccessful students can be used as the basis for a model of psychological and pedagogical assistance in working with this group of students to overcome failure.

Keywords:

University students, educational failure, perceptions about unsuccessful student, characteristics of the unsuccessful student.