Entrepreneurship as career choice of Russian students: the role of university education, cultural traditions, and gender stereotypes

Abstract

In this paper, based on our own recent sociological survey of more than 800 students of 15 Russian universities, we explore the views of Russian students regarding entrepreneurship as their possible choice of a future career. We are interested above all in the role of university education in shaping these views. However, in order to scrutinize this role to full extent, we place our study in the broader framework of national cultural traditions which constitute an integral contributing factor and underlying influence not only in educational, but also in the general existential realm. In this context, we argue that a substantial impact on the students’ future career choice is made by existing gender differences based on the stereotypes of the ‘typically male’ and ‘female’ employment fields. Our study demonstrates, in particular, that Russian students display—notably, just as the older generation of educated Russians too—a noticeable conservatism in their career choices (including entrepreneurial aspirations), by adhering to the traditional cultural values and gender perceptions. We also provide a nuanced analysis of the motivations and expectations associated with choosing an entrepreneurial career by our respondents. Our method of collecting information is chosen to be questionnaire-based—as most effective for descriptive research—which is then complemented by further qualitative analytics intended to reveal hidden causal connections. Our approach is interdisciplinary, as it combines sociological research methods with socio-economic and culturological analysis.