Role of Career Guidance in the University Applicants
Self-determination in the Context of Sustainable Development
Evgenia S. Rychkova
a
and Marina S. Baltsezhak
b
Amur State University, Blagoveshchensk, Russia
Keywords: Career Guidance, Digital Technologies, Self-Determination, Personnel Potential, Electronic Educational Ser-
vices, Information Resources.
Abstract: The article is devoted to the assessment of the career guidance role in the applicants professional self-deter-
mination in a regional university. The authors reveal the tasks, forms and types of career guidance work, both
traditional and pmes with the use of modern information technologies. Special attention is paid to the analysis
of works devoted to the theoretical understanding of career guidance, including the use of digital technologies,
and its role in the individual professional self-determination. Based on the study of the applicants opinions on
the choice of educational institution, areas of training (specialties), as well as the career guidance methods
that influenced their professional self-determination, the factors that strengthen the role of the regional uni-
versity involvement in the process of applicants professional self-determination were identified; the reasons
for decline in the level of school graduates in the region professional self-determination; the impact of the
digital technologies usage in career guidance work on the self-determination of the regional university appli-
cants.
1 INTRODUCTION
There is a large number of studies aimed at studying
the factors of career choice by applicants from
different regions of the country. There the fact of
close connection and career guidance measures
mutual influence and schoolchildren professional
self-determination is recognised. However, each
region has its own specifics, due to the socio-
economic situation and priority areas of development.
In this regard, the factors of schoolchildren
professional self-determination and their preferences
in relation to the higher education institutions career
guidance methods should be determined and taken
into account in the work of all the regional career
guidance system subjects.
It is obvious that the regions that are
geographically remote from the center have an
increased need for the career guidance main subjects
close and effective interaction for the human
resources formation. One of the reasons is the high
level of educational migration. It negatively affects
a
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8452-7373
b
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1420-1965
the recruitment rates in regional higher education
institutions. In this regard, the professional
orientation activity of universities is becoming
particularly relevant in order to increase the fields of
study attractiveness and specialties necessary for the
regional labor market and the demand formation.
The career guidance system in the region includes
a wide range of activities at the national and regional
levels, some of which help attract applicants to the
fields of study and regional universities specialties.
Some of the events are at the implementation stage,
and some have already proved their effectiveness:
"Quantorium", "Sirius", "Kosmofest", the "Young
Professionals" system of Worldskills, the technology
platform "20.35", the roadmap "Personnel for the
Digital Economy", the network "Boiling Point", the
venture system "Seven", the school program "5*5",
the circle movement, mentoring.
At present, the regional universities career
guidance work practice is based on a combination of
various methods of career guidance initiated by the
state and the institution of higher education itself. At
730
Rychkova, E. and Baltsezhak, M.
Role of Career Guidance in the University Applicants Self-determination in the Context of Sustainable Development.
DOI: 10.5220/0010596707300736
In Proceedings of the International Scientific and Practical Conference on Sustainable Development of Regional Infrastructure (ISSDRI 2021), pages 730-736
ISBN: 978-989-758-519-7
Copyright
c
2021 by SCITEPRESS Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
the same time, the university career guidance work
effective practices choice is not always supported by
empirical data that proves their effectiveness.
2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
In modern conditions, the future applicants
professional orientation problem is very relevant for
universities. Regional institutions of higher education
are actively involved in the students professional self-
determination process in the career guidance
framework. The applicants professional self-
determination problem is particularly acute in the
conditions of development of remote regions from the
central part of Russia. The essence of the problem lies
not only in the need to change the emerging
professional aspirations of young people to meet the
region existing needs in a balanced personnel
structure, but also in choosing the most effective
forms of career guidance that allow managing the
labor resources distribution system in the region
(Stepanova, 1978; Starikova, 2009).
The importance of forming and managing the
applicants professional self-determination system in
educational organizations at the federal and regional
levels is identified as a priority in many regulatory
documents. For example, in The Fundamentals of the
State Youth Policy of the Russian Federation for the
period up to 2025; in the Federal Law "On Education
in the Russian Federation"; in the Federal State
Standard of Secondary (Comprehensive) General
Education (Pak and Aytupov, 2019); in The Strategy
for the Development of Education in the Russian
Federation for the period up to 2025, approved by
Order of the Government of the Russian Federation
No. 996-р dated 29/05/2015; in the Decree of the
President of the Russian Federation "On National
Goals and Strategic Objectives for the Development
of the Russian Federation for the period up to 2024"
dated 07/05/2018 No. 204, regarding the formation of
an effective system for identifying, supporting and
developing the abilities and talents of children and
young people, based on the justice and universality
principles and aimed at self-determination and
professional orientation of all students.
Currently, the issues of developing and
implementing effective youth career guidance models
at the regional, municipal and educational levels are
being actively discussed (Revyakina and Osetrin,
2015).
The topic of professional orientation is given quite
a lot of attention, both in domestic and foreign
scientific literature.
The works of Chistyakova, S.N. (Chistyakova,
2018), Merenkova, A.V., Mokerova, Y.V., Smirnova,
O.G. (Merenkov, Mokerova and Smirnova, 2015) etc.
are devoted to study of the process of school
graduates professional self-determination problems
from the positions of pedagogy, psychology, and
sociology.
The career guidance role in the professional self-
determination of young people and the specifics of its
implementation are actively discussed in the Russian
scientific literature. Thus, Pryazhnikova, E.Y.
(Pryazhnikova, 2006) examines the career guidance
historical and cultural prerequisites abroad and the
psychological reasons for its occurrence in Russia, as
well as the impact of career guidance on the person
professional self-determination development and
formation.
The analysis of recent works devoted to the
theoretical understanding of the career guidance
institute and its role in individual professional self-
determination (Dinner, 2017; Pryazhnikova and
Pryazhnikov, 2007; Starikova, 2009), shows a variety
of approaches to its understanding and areas of
implementation.
Recent publications focus on the problems of the
regional career guidance system influence on
migration processes in the regions (Polovinko and
Dinner, 2017), applicants with disabilities
professional self-determination, as well as the choice
of career guidance measures in an uncertain socio-
economic situation (Pryazhnikov, Pryazhnikova and
Sergeeva, 2018).
Many works of different authors (Titova, 2011;
Flerov, 2015; Mutyrova, 2010; Kurnaya, 2015;
Shafranov-Kutsev and Tolstoguzov, 2014) are
devoted to the career guidance issues in Russian
universities. In the English-language literature, there
is a number of works that reflect the results of
empirical studies on students attitudes to career
guidance at the university level (Ayçiçek, 2020), its
impact on students academic performance and further
success (Wierik, Beishuizen and Van Os., 2015).
In modern conditions, while managing career
guidance, universities implement various approaches:
client-oriented (Reznik and Ponomarenko, 2012),
"project approach" through interaction with schools
(Vinokurova, 2015), conceptual, competence-based,
acmeological, managerial and informational
(Mordovskaya and Panina, 2012).
The active use of the information approach in the
university career guidance is conditioned by the
growing interest in ICT technologies from the young
people side and the technologies relevance in all areas
of the economy in the sustainable development
Role of Career Guidance in the University Applicants Self-determination in the Context of Sustainable Development
731
context. Nevertheless, the question of the career
guidance activities effectiveness in higher education
institutions, including those using modern
information technologies, remains open.
In order to study the applicants opinions regarding
the choice of an educational institution, fields of study
(specialties), as well as methods of career guidance
that influenced their professional self-determination,
two Amur State University applicants surveys were
conducted: in June 2019 and in September 2020 with
sample volumes of 270 and 268 people, respectively.
Amur State University is the leading classical
educational institution of higher education in the
region, which provides training for specialists in 80
educational programs.
To achieve this goal, the following tasks were set:
to review current theoretical and practical ap-
proaches to the university career guidance ac-
tivities and impact of these activities on the
school graduates professional definition;
to identify the factors of choosing the field of
study (specialty), educational institution;
to study the actual methods of career guidance
used by regional university applicants, includ-
ing the use of digital technologies, and to deter-
mine the most effective career guidance prac-
tices.
At present, the following career guidance
practices are distinguished (which were included in
the research tool (questionnaire)): the use of modern
up-to-date information resources aimed directly at
applicants; professions portals-handbooks;
information resources on the state of the labor market
in higher education institutions career guidance.
According to the data obtained during the survey,
the Amur region school graduates awareness level
about modern information resources is quite low.
Thus, not a single applicant used the data from the
portal for monitoring the graduates employment,
despite the fact that its main purpose was to provide
applicants and their parents with reliable information
about the graduates employment effectiveness. At the
same time, the key criterion for choosing a profession
for the majority of applicants remains the possibility
of employment in the chosen profession. It seems that
this situation, to a certain extent, was the result of
applicants low awareness about modern resources and
services. As a result, the productivity of such measures
for career guidance remains relatively weak.
The practice of higher education institutions
shows that, along with the use of common open
(nationwide, public) resources of the Internet
environment, each university demonstrates its own
solutions for career guidance and attracting applicants
and resorts to the use various IT tools. At the same
time, the determining factors in the choice of such
career guidance tools are the organizations internal
capabilities. In our opinion, in order to obtain a
comprehensive understanding of what happens in
practice when using ICT during the university
applicants career guidance, it is necessary to rely on
their preferences.
3 RESULTS OF RESEARCH
The structural relationships of the data obtained as a
result of the studies coincided. For modern graduates,
the priority and most important factors in choosing a
higher education institution remain following: high
chances of employment after receiving higher
education; the an interesting field of training
availability; the quality of teaching; the educational
institution prestige; the number of budget places. To
a lesser extent, its location is important for the
applicant when choosing a university. It is obvious
that the choice of the university by the applicant is
carried out under the influence of several factors at
the same time.
It should be noted that the importance ratings of
university selection factors among regional center
schools graduates (where all institutions of higher
education operate geographically) and other localities
of the region differ. Among the priority criteria for
choosing a university, the regional center secondary
schools graduates include: the possibility of further
employment; the presence of an interesting field of
study; the quality of teaching; the passing score of the
Unified State Exam and the number of budget
positions. As with the sample as a whole, friends'
opinions and university graduates opinions are less
important.
Applicants from schools in cities and villages in
the region, as well as schools graduates in the regional
center, are more focused on the possibility of further
employment. However, for this educational services
consumers segment, the second most important thing
is the presence of an interesting field of study in a
university. It is interesting that for nonresident
applicants it is not important to have dormitories.
In the process of making a decision about
choosing a university, the applicant relies on the
available and relevant content of the information
environment. The results of the survey showed the
most popular information sources used by school
graduates. The leaders included: information
obtained as a result of visiting the "University Open
Day" events; the position and opinion of a school
ISSDRI 2021 - International Scientific and Practical Conference on Sustainable Development of Regional Infrastructure
732
teacher; data presented on the Internet (websites of
higher education institutions and social networks).
Over the past five years, priorities for sources of
information needed for school children have changed
(Rychkova and Balcezhak, 2013). The active career
guidance policy of higher education institutions
contributed to the growth of students interest in
attending open days (both in person and remotely). At
the same time, the teacher opinion is authoritative for
almost every fifth applicant.
Serious awareness of the choice for the
professional study future direction occurs in 10-11
grades in 39% and 36% of cases, respectively.
Obviously, more significant factors in choosing a
future profession are compliance with aptitudes and
interest in the profession. School graduates are
focused on their own abilities, while the opportunity
to have a stable and reliable income remains an
important factor.
The vast majority of higher education institutions
future applicants are involved in career guidance
activities. Among the career guidance methods used
by applicants for professional self-determination,
such as, in the first place, consultation,
recommendations and additional information in the
university admission committee when submitting
documents; in the second place, the ability testing; in
the third place, thematic class hours at school.
In fact, 36.4% of applicants are ready to abandon
the initially chosen field of study (specialty) in favor
of the "passing" one according to the USE points. It
is obvious that the importance of university
employees career guidance activity in the admissions
committee at the time of admission to universities
increases.
The top career-oriented events that applicants are
ready to recommend to other applicants interested in
admission include open days, specialized classes at
the university, preparatory courses and informational
meetings at school with graduates who are currently
studying at the university (Table 1).
Table 1: The distribution of respondents preferences regarding career guidance activities.
Career guidance method Used Consider
p
romisin
g
Recommend
to others
Ability testing 11.6 5.6 2.6
Open days at the universit
y
7.2 5.6 11.8
Lectures and practical classes (master classes) conducted by university
teachers ("University Saturdays")
5.1 6.3 5.3
Pre
p
arator
y
courses at the universit
y
2.9 6.3 7.2
Informational meetin
g
s with universit
y
re
p
resentatives at school 5.1 7.0 3.9
Specialized classes, university lyceu
m
3.6 5.6 7.2
Conferences, forums, meetings for students at the universit
y
3.6 7.0 6.6
Universit
y
summer school 1.4 6.3 6.6
Subject Olympiads at the university 7.2 5.6 4.6
Informational meetings at the school with graduates who are currently
stud
in
at the universit
"Come to us to stud
!" cam
ai
n
4.3 5.0 7.2
Project work under the university teachers guidance 2.2 6.3 5.3
Classes in additional education institutions
(
clubs, sections, studios, etc.
)
6.5 6.0 3.9
Consultation, recommendations and additional information in the univer-
sity admission committee when submitting documents
12.3 5.3 3.9
Remote counselin
g
and trainin
g
for remote re
g
ional schools students 2.2 5.3 6.6
Thematic class hours with teachers at school 10.1 4.6 5.9
S
p
ecialized classes at school 8.0 5.3 5.9
Meetings with professions representatives 6.5 7.0 5.3
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
Role of Career Guidance in the University Applicants Self-determination in the Context of Sustainable Development
733
The most promising methods of career guidance
were meetings with real professions representatives,
participation in conferences, forums and meetings, as
well as informational meetings with universities
representatives at schools.
It is interesting that there are no significant
differences in recommendations among the regional
center schoolchildren and other regional cities and
villages. All students are unanimous about the "Open
Day" action. It is noteworthy that against the
background of actually low involvement of rural
schools graduates in participating in conferences,
meetings and forums, there is a high level of trust and
a desire to recommend other students to participate in
such events for professional self-determination.
26.2% of applicants attributed the lack of an
opportunity to see how they work in specific
professions to the factors that make it difficult to
choose a future profession. 18% of respondents are
not sure about further employment in their chosen
profession. The share of respondents who believe that
the information provided about professions is
insufficient was 15%. The proportion of respondents
who did not face difficulties in choosing a profession
was 14.8%. 18% of school graduates lack a clear
vision of their place in the labor market.
4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The main reason that reduces the level of professional
self-determination is the limited opportunity to get
acquainted with the profession and understand its
internal specifics. This indicates the relevance of
using the network interaction of the classical
university with the region enterprises and general and
secondary professional education institutions. In
favor of a systematic approach to university career
guidance activities is the universities in other regions
successful experience (Chuvash State University,
National Research Lobachevsky State University of
Nizhny Novgorod) (Troyeshivova and Vasilieva,
2017). The school graduates professional self-
determination low level manifestation creates a
number of problems of a quantitative and qualitative
nature for higher education institutions, both at the
applicants recruitment stage and the specialists
release (employment). These circumstances are the
actual confirmation of the importance of involving
universities in the schoolchildren professional
guidance process.
Probably, one of the measures to partially resolve
this problem may be the implementation of the
federal project for schoolchildren early career
guidance "Tickets to the future" (introduced in
schools in Blagoveshchensk in a pilot mode)
(Government of the Amur Region, 2020). However,
the interest formation in the profession does not solve
the migration outflow problems and the choice of a
regional higher education institution for its
development. In this regard, the importance of higher
education in the career guidance regional system
increases.
Thus, the results of the study allow us to draw the
following conclusions:
1. The regional university involvement role in the
process of applicants professional self-determination
is increasing.
2. The priority of budget education in regional
universities changes the trajectory of the applicant's
behavior when enrolling the university, which
significantly increases the importance of career
guidance at the documents submission time. In this
regard, the importance of career guidance measures
within the framework of the admissions committees
activities increases. It provides for the need for
additional measures on the part of the university to
form the admissions committees personnel and
additional information support for applicants.
3. With the high importance of different subjects
involved in the vocational guidance activities for
schoolchildren implementation (school, university,
employers), their interrelated work is necessary
within the framework of original activities at the
regional level. One of the measures contributing to
this can be the of patronage institution revival and the
social partnership development.
4. Based on the generally accepted fact that school
positions determine the proportion of students
entering universities and the students confidence high
degree in teachers opinion (according to the survey
results), a joint approach of schools and universities
to career guidance is important.
5. The relationship between career guidance and
professional self-determination among school
graduates in the Amur region can be traced to a
greater extent in such events at the federal level as
"Quantorium" and "Kosmofest". It indicates the need
to intensify career guidance events of such format and
the interaction effectiveness at the school-university
level.
6. In the context of dynamically implemented
federal projects on career guidance and career choice
changing factors, there is a need to monitor the
relationship and mutual influence in career guidance
measures and professional self-determination of
schoolchildren in a regional university.
ISSDRI 2021 - International Scientific and Practical Conference on Sustainable Development of Regional Infrastructure
734
7. The problems of information support for career
guidance activities for higher education institutions
remain, i.e. the lack of a systematic approach to
providing access to a digital platform that integrates
information about the labor market and the
educational services market; the low level of
applicants awareness about existing information
systems and services that promote professional self-
determination, which makes it difficult to solve the
information asymmetry problem. It is paradoxical
that the current problem manifests itself in the
conditions of increasing education system
information openness (Mertsalova, 2015), due to the
ICT development and state support (Consultant.ru,
2020).
8. University websites weak integration, as the
most popular tool for information interaction, with
information resources containing information about
the graduate employment effectiveness, the
universities effectiveness and rating (rating system
importance is noted by many authors (Mertsalova,
2015)).
5 CONCLUSION
The conducted empirical studies results, confirming
the existence of a relationship between the regional
universities career guidance activity practices and the
applicants professional self-determination, can be
used for practical purposes. A conscious choice of the
most effective practices will permit to optimize the
improving the vocational guidance system costs not
only for higher education institutions, but also for the
vocational guidance system in the region as a whole.
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