Vocational Guidance in Schools as a Factor of Social Stratification: New Practices in the Russian Education System

The world of work is undergoing changes, necessitating a new approach to guiding school students in their career choices by the government, society, and businesses. In recent years, numerous initiatives have been implemented to expand young people's exposure to various professions. However, there is still no clear nationwide plan for establishing partnerships between schools and representatives of the real economy in terms of vocational guidance. Today's youth require organised career guidance support because relying solely on the experience of parents and previous generations when choosing a profession is no longer sufficient. During the Soviet era, the state played a more significant role in ensuring the welfare and social protection of workers, while industrialisation provided universal career trajectories and clear guidelines on preferred professions and education. Today, individual human capital has become a crucial resource for social mobility and high-paying jobs, and the growth of the service sector and technological progress have elevated the demand for highly skilled labor rather than specific professions in certain economic sectors. The first part of the article focuses on reviewing important questions that need to be addressed when considering this issue. Is there a need for centralised efforts by society and the state to organise vocational guidance activities and assist teenagers in choosing a profession today? What is the transformation of the discourse on school vocational guidance in post-Soviet Russia? In the second part of the article, based on the results of a pilot study on the opinions of young men and women in Moscow, the embodiment of educational priorities in actual practice is analysed. The author concludes that the problem persists in the sense that school vocational guidance experiences are still unequal and strongly tied to pre-professional training, initially built on disparities in opportunities to explore professions, particularly in STEM fields.

sociology of progress, sociology of professions, science education, schoolchildren, vocational orientation, professional choice, gender stereotypes

1. Anikin V. A. The social structure of the new Russia: experience in applying the a posteriori approach. Ekonomicheskaya sociologiya, 2022: 23: 3: 42–91 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.17323/1726-3247-2022-3-42-91; EDN: NIZKHW.
2. Ashin G. K. Elite education. Obshchestvennye nauki i sovremennost', 2001: 5: 82–99 (in Russ.).
3. Bayborodova L. V. Accessibility of additional education for children in rural areas: problems and ways to solve them. Obrazovatelnaya panorama, 2018: 1: 9: 28–33 (in Russ.). EDN: YMQWLR.
4. Barabina I. A., Gafurova V. M. Polytechnic education in secondary schools of the USSR in the second half of the 1950s – early 1960s. Vestnik Udmurtskogo un-ta. Ser. Istoriya i Filologiya, 2016: 26: 4: 129–134 (in Russ.). EDN: WNCUHZ.
5. Vishnevskaya N. T., Zudina A. A. Economically vulnerable groups of youth in the OECD countries and Russia. Mirovaya ekonomika i mezhdunarodnye otnosheniya, 2018: 62: 11: 99–107 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.20542/0131-2227-2018-62-11-99-107; EDN: SLYCXV.
6. Graduates of secondary vocational and higher education in the Russian labor market. Ed. by S. Yu. Roshchin, V. N. Rudakov. Мoscow, VSHE, 2020: 72 (in Russ.). EDN: RRTFQK.
7. Gimpelson V. E. Transformations of Russian human capital. Politiya: Analiz. Hronika. Prognoz, 2018: 2: 170–198 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.30570/2078-5089-2018-89-2-170-198; EDN: YNMZJZ.
8. Gorshkov M. K. Social justice in the mass perception and value orientations of Russians. Gumanitarij Yuga Rossii, 2022: 11: 6: 32–47 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.18522/2227-8656.2022.6.1; EDN: BZZAGS.
9. Additional education of children: history and modernity: studies. Ed. by A. V. Zolotareva. Moscow, Yurajt. 2016: 277 (in Russ.). EDN: ZRZEET.
10. Epikhina Yu. B. Social justice in Russian education. In Problems of social equality and justice in Russia and China. Мoscow, Novyj Hronograf. 2021: 295–313 (in Russ.). EDN: OYEBBG.
11. Zudina A. A. Roads leading young people to NEET: the case of Russia. Ekonomicheskij zhurnal Vysshej shkoly ekonomiki, 2018: 22: 2: 197–227 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.17323/1813-8691-2018-22-2-197-227; EDN: VLMGAN.
12. Kasyanova T. I., Maltsev A. V., Shkurin D. V. Professional self-determination of high school students as a social problem. Obrazovanie i nauka, 2018: 20: 7: 168–187 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.17853/1994-5639-2018-7-168-187; EDN: OZLWBB.
13. Kolesnikova E. M., Kudenko I. A. Interest in STEM professions at school: problems of career guidance. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya, 2020: 4: 124–133 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.31857/S013216250009117-1; EDN: MXEQCQ.
14. Kolesnikova E. M., Kudenko I. A. Schoolchildren about STEM professions: general and gender features of ideas and choice. Vestnik RUDN. Ser.: Sociologiya, 2021: 21: 2: 239–252 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.22363/2313-2272-2021-21-2-000-000; EDN: GVWKBM.
15. Konstantinovsky D. L. Inequality in education: the Russian situation. Monitoring obshchestvennogo mneniya, 2010: 5: 99: 40–65 (in Russ.). EDN: QZPZJT.
16. Konstantinovsky D. L. Modern challenges of the labor market and Russian youth. Obrazovanie i nauka v Rossii: sostoyanie i potencial razvitiya, 2019: 4: 272–281 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.19181/obrnaukru.2019.6; EDN: JIJPEF.
17. Kosaretsky S. G., Kupriyanov B. V., Filippova D. S. Features of children's participation in extracurricular education due to differences in the cultural, educational and property status of the family and place of residence. Voprosy obrazovaniya, 2016: 1: 168–190 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.17323/1814-9545-2016-1-168-190; EDN: VSARUX.
18. Krotova A. A. Analysis of changes in extracurricular education of children for the period 2015-2018. Vestnik MGPU. Ser.: Pedagogika i psihologiya, 2020: 1: 51: 118–129 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.25688/2076-9121.2020.51.1.09; EDN: NRLWHX.
19. Mova A. E. Formation of the system of universal compulsory education in Russia. Chelovek i obrazovanie, 2009: 1: 18: 175–181 (in Russ.). EDN: KWGJMP.
20. Society of unequal opportunities: the social structure of modern Russia. Ed. by N. E. Tikhonova. Moscow, Ves' Mir, 2022: 424 (in Russ.). EDN: XJGBFE.
21. Social policy: long-term trends and changes in recent years. Short version of the report: Report on the XVI Apr. Intern. Scient. Conf. on problems of economic and social development, Moscow, 7-10 Apr. 2015. Ed. by Y. I. Kuzminov, L. N. Ovcharova, L. I. Yakobson. Moscow, VSHE, 2015 (in Russ.).
22. Social'naya spravedlivost' v russkoj obshchestvennoj mysli [Social justice in Russian public thought]. Moscow, Maska, 2014: 270 (in Russ.).
23. Tikhonova N. E. Transformations of the social structure of Russian Society: late 1980s - late 2010s. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya, 2021: 8: 22–32 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.31857/S013216250014308-1; EDN: RVGNAQ.
24. Chernysh M.F. Youth in the labor market: the problem of inequality. In The future of the sphere of labor: global challenges and regional development: a coll. of art. of the Intern. Forum "The Future of the Sphere of labor: decent work for all" (Ufa, February 4-5, 2019). Ed. by G. R. Baimurzina, R. M. Valiakhmetova. Ufa, Mir Pechati, 2019: 247–254 (in Russ.). EDN: UCYUTF.
25. Shovel L. The Western middle class under pressure: Withering Welfare states, globalization and declining returns from education. Mir Rossii, 2020: 29: 4: 85–111 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.17323/1811-038X-2020-29-4-85-111; EDN: TCKYZS.
26. Yastrebov G. A., Pinskaya M. A., Kosaretsky S. G. The use of contextual data in the education quality assessment system: experience in the development and testing of tools. Voprosy obrazovaniya, 2014: 4: 188–246 (in Russ.). DOI: 10.17323/1814-9545-2014-4-58-95; EDN: TDOCOR.
27. Archer L., Dawson E., DeWitt J. et al. "Science capital": A conceptual, methodological, and empirical argument for extending Bourdieusian notions of capital beyond the arts. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2015: 52: 7: 922–948. DOI: 10.1002/tea.21227.
28. Bybee R. W., McCrae B., Laurie R. PISA 2006: An assessment of scientific literacy. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 2009: 46(8): 865–883. DOI: 10.1002/tea.20333.
29. Cooper G., Berry A. Demographic predictors of senior secondary participation in biology, physics, chemistry and earth/space sciences: students’ access to cultural, social and science capital. International Journal of Science Education, 2020: 42 (1): 151–166. DOI: 10.1080/09500693.2019.1708510.
30. Deich B. A., Galeeva N. V. The historical development of out-of-school education in light of the subculture of childhood. Russian Education and Society, 2018: 60(3): 203–215. DOI: 10.1080/10609393.2018.1451199.
31. Dockery A. M., Bawa S., Coffey J., Li I. W. Secondary students’ access to careers information: the role of socio-economic background. Australian Educational Researcher, 2021: 49: 1001–1023. DOI: 10.1007/s13384-021-00469-1.
32. Dodd V., Hanson J., Hooley T. Increasing students’ career readiness through career guidance: measuring the impact with a validated measure. British Journal of Guidance and Counselling, 2021: 50(4): 1–13. DOI: 10.1080/03069885.2021.1937515.
33. Godec S., Archer L., Dawson E. Interested but not being served: mapping young people’s participation in informal STEM education through an equity lens. Research Papers in Education, 2021: 37(8): 1–28. DOI: 10.1080/02671522.2020.1849365.
34. Grinis I. The STEM requirements of “Non-STEM” jobs: Evidence from UK online vacancy postings. Economics of Education Review, 2019: 70: 144–158. DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2019.02.005.
35. Kudenko I., Simarro C., Pintó R. Fostering European Students’ STEM Vocational Choices. Cognitive and Affective Aspects in Science Education Research, 2017: 323–338. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-58685-4_24.