Formation of university graduates employment culture

Abstract

Introduction. Successful employment of university graduates is necessary for the productive solution of socio-economic problems of modern society. It is a particularly urgent task in the context of the global economic crisis and the significant changes of labor and employment area caused by it. Many students are not able to get a job, which means a significant lack of qualified specialists with higher education, who are strategic resources for the progressive development of society. This article aims to develop and give scientific justification for the extracurricular program of the Formation of University Graduates Employment Culture based on a modular approach. Materials and methods. The study involved 564 senior students of Russian universities (bachelor’s degree, master’s degree). Online survey was conducted to identify problem areas and prospects for employment. The parameters and characteristics of the formation of student’s employment culture are diagnosed using a set of valid diagnostic techniques. The reliability of the data obtained was checked using the Pearson’s chi-squared (χ2) test. Results. The author’s program for the formation of university graduates' employment culture was developed in the course of the study. The essence of the program is the development of students’ skills of job search, self-presentation, self-promotion, self-image, CV writing, effective communication, teamwork, creative problem solving, forecasting the trajectory of employment after graduation. A significant increase in the formation of student’s employment culture level was recorded as a result of the program implementation in the experimental group (χ2emp = 26.554) compared with the students of the control group who did not show positive dynamics in the level of the measured personal characteristics (χ2emp = 0.334) during the experimental work. Discussion and conclusion. The study has resulted that the effectiveness of the formation of university graduates' employment culture increases with the use of modular structuring for extracurricular programs (communicative, facilitation, socio-legal, administrative, psychological and pedagogical, project, information and interactive modules).