Abstract:

The authors of the article consider the professional self-determination of Russian students of the State and Municipal Management Department. They prove that professional self-determination is a complex socio-economic phenomenon that can be analyzed using system and process approaches. Professional self-determination is considered as a system which consists of stages, and certain tasks are solved and specific processes are carried out at each stage. The application of the process approach allows the researchers to identify such processes as the formation of the profession image, the individual’s stimulation and maintenance of educational activity during training, the educational motivation, the formation of professional identification and professional commitment. According to the authors, the implementation of processes and achievement of intermediate results are influenced by organizational, socio-psychological and economic factors. In addition to the individual choosing a profession, parents, school teachers, colleges and universities, professional consultants, organizers of the educational process and industrial practices take part in the processes of professional self-determination. The contribution of each largely depends on the creation of conditions for the successful completion of the processes. It is the presence of stages and processes that unites the professional self-determination of Russian students of the State and Municipal Management Department with students studying other professions. The distinctive characteristics are the conditions of this profession: specific production and technical conditions, requirements for compliance with the rules of official behavior and restrictions, the content of labor functions, conditions for official growth and wage increase. All participants contribute to a particular stage of professional self-determination. The contribution of each depends on the creation of conditions for young people to choose a profession consciously and pass all stages and specific processes successfully. But there are problems at each stage that make it difficult for an individual to succeed in professional self-determination. As a result, there is a synergistic effect, as a negative impact of a set of organizational, socio-psychological and economic factors. To confirm the theoretical hypothesis, in 2017-2018 the authors of the article conducted empirical studies (using a questionnaire) among students of the State and Municipal Management Department as well as among state civil and municipal employees. The scientific significance of the research, the results of which are presented in the article, is that professional self-determination is considered as a system, as a set of subjects who are the participants of stages and processes of professional self-determination. The authors substantiate the possibility to study professional self-determination as a set of processes and to identify appropriate opportunities (organizational, consulting) at each stage. The practical significance of the study is that the understanding of the essence and specificity of professional self-determination allows coordinating the actions of all subjects, eliminating the most typical organizational mistakes, providing the necessary consulting support to future civil servants.

Keywords:

Professional self-determination, students, state and municipal management, processes.