The article is devoted to the problem of value orientations of students in the Rostov region and new regions. The study draws on data collected by a team from the South Russian Branch of the Federal Center of Theoretical and Applied Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences as part of the sociological study “Value Orientations of Russian Youth: Meanings, Behavioral Practices, and the Potential for Consolidating Russia’s Multicultural Society,” conducted with the authors’ participation. The study used a qualitative approach based on focus groups. The study population included young people in two age groups: younger (18–24) and older (25–29). This article draws on the findings of focus groups with students at higher education institutions in Rostov Oblast and the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.

The authors analyze several key aspects of contemporary university students’ value orientations. They examine the life goals that students prioritize over the next few years and identify the main criteria by which they judge success in life. They also identify the principal factors shaping young people’s conceptions of a successful life and examine how these conceptions compare with those of the older generation. The findings show that participants’ value orientations comprises a distinctive “triad”: work they enjoy, material well-being, and family formation. Young people also express a marked desire to continue their education after graduation, at either the master’s or doctoral level. The study also identified a tendency among participants to postpone family formation until they achieve professional fulfillment. The article is relevant both to specialists involved in developing and implementing state youth policy and to university staff responsible for student development. Its significance also lies in its examination of data from the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics—regions that have received limited attention from sociologists.

university students, value orientations, life goals, success in life, consolidation, new regions

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