Applicability of online professional education to the conditions of the Arctic zone: the viewpoint of employers

Abstract

Introduction. Labor markets in the regions of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation are challenged with the needs for personnel who have to work in the extreme conditions of the Far North. This objective circumstance imposes special, often increased requirements for the qualifications and level of training of job seekers, including the quality of their education. The relevance of this study is due to the increasingly popular online form of education, which is characterized by both advantages associated with the availability of such education and its safety in the era of a pandemic, and disadvantages associated with the quality of education received. The purpose of the study is to analyze the demand for specialists who have received professional education online in the labor market of the regions of the Arctic zone of the Russian Federation. Materials and methods. The information base of the study was the results of surveys of more than 2,200 employers from the territories of all 9 constituent entities of the Russian Federation included in the Arctic zone. The surveys were conducted using online survey methods. The methods of descriptive statistics, system analysis and comparative data analysis were used when processing the survey results. Research results. The applicability of obtaining professional education in online form for the conditions of the Arctic zone is approved by 58% of the surveyed employers, and 42% have a negative attitude to this practice. Only every third employer surveyed considers the online education system existing in the RF AZ as a whole to meet their requirements for this type of training. At the same time, over 40% of employers in all Arctic regions expressed their readiness to hire specialists with a diploma in online education. The results of the survey, presented in the context of the Arctic regions and types of economic activity, showed a heterogeneous attitude of the employers to the issues under study. Discussion and conclusion. The results obtained confirmed the importance for the employers of the RF AZ of personnel training issues using online training, which has both a number of undoubted advantages for the Arctic territories and limitations. An important trend in the development of the study is to assess the capabilities of the existing system of distance online education from the perspective of the subjects of education themselves – universities and colleges located in the Arctic zone of Russia.