Priorities of the student youth: Education, family, work

Abstract

Based on the data of the survey conducted in 2018, the authors present the Russian students social ideas on possible life trajectories, including relations between young people, marriage, creating a family, birth of children, responsibility for actions in the interpersonal space, interaction with parents, education and career. The authors chose the vignettes technique based on five factors-values describing the student life trajectory. The use of the vignette technique and logistic regression allowed to prove the most significant values of students (independent variables) based on their approval of the actions of the vignette actors (a dependent variable). During the undergraduate period, getting a higher education is a priority compared to starting a family life, having a child, employment and parental support. The value of education is 2.3 times more important than the value of creating a family, and 3.1 times more important than having a child. When evaluating the vignette actions, the priority of education over family creation is more typical for boys. Marrying and creating a family during the student years are approved primarily for girls. The probability of the approval of a young man marrying or starting a family is 29%, while the approval of a girl in the same situation - 96%; childbirth is supported for both girls (30%) and boys (19%), employment - rather for girls (21%), parental support - rather for boys. Education is an absolute priority for all respondents; however, for girls during their student years a more intense life trajectory is approved - getting a higher education, starting a family life, having a child and a job or a part-time job. In the traditional perspective, family and children are an important component of womens life; however, the girl should have a modernist choice too - with a focus on career and employment.