Abstract:

Social and economic uncertainty reinforces institutional gaps between higher education, the labor market and the world of professions. In this situation, the relationship between the educational success of students and their professional and social success in the future becomes not obvious. Meanwhile, the traditional view of higher education prescribes to consider educational (academic) success as a predictor of professional and social success of university graduates. This contradiction actualizes the study of students' opinions about the relationship between different types of success.

The purpose of the article is to analyze the impact of students' educational success on their future professional and life success. Objectives of the article:
1) to study the content of students' ideas about educational success;
2) to consider the opinion of students about the relationship between their educational success in the present and professional and social success in the future.

The object of the study is university students in the Sverdlovsk region– one of the regions of Russia. The subject of the study is students' ideas about the connection between educational, professional and social success.

The empirical base of the article is formed by the results of a massive online survey of university students of the Sverdlovsk region, conducted in January-February 2021 under the guidance of the author. The sample size was 953 people (the sampling error did not exceed 2%). An additional data source was the materials of focus groups with students in Yekaterinburg universities (n=3, 2021), as well as the results of a secondary analysis of research data close to the topic of the article.

The main results of the study:
1. The article gives a theoretical interpretation of the educational, professional and social success of students. The achievement of this «complex» of success is considered as the main goal of students' activities during their studies at the university and after graduation. Based on empirical data, the author reveals the content of each type of success from the point of view of students. The conclusion is substantiated about two models of educational success – normative (it includes formal signs of «good» study) and alternative (it includes a wide range of educational and non-educational indicators).
2. The results of the study reflect students' ideas about the nonlinear relationship between successful university studies and opportunities for successful employment, successful professional self-realization and successful career advancement. Higher education is considered by students as a necessary resource for the beginning of professional and working life. However, the influence of higher education is mediated by many factors, including non-cognitive resources (motivation for development, learning, communication skills, etc.)

Keywords:

Higher education, universities, students, educational, professional and social success, the relationship between types of success.