Abstract
The transformational processes in the field of higher education in Russia, associated with the introduction of new educational practices, actualize the importance of studying changes in the social behavior of university students. The main purpose of the study was to clarify the characteristics of the social behavior of university students, conditioned by external and internal factors. The methodological construct included synthesis of socially deterministic and neoinstitutional approaches, the theory of mental programs, the theory of generations, the value approach of M. Rokeach, as well as the activity-based approach to the study of social practices. Reforms in the higher education system in Russia, which were accompanied by the emergence of a new educational environment and excessive social inequalities, were studied as external factors. Mental programs were studied as internal factors, which included ideas about education as a terminal and instrumental value, attitudes and motives of practices. The research was based on the data of the authors' questionnaire survey of 382 students from 7 universities of the Rostov region. Identifying the features of the mental programs of university students and their educational practices made it possible to identify six types of social behavior of students in the educational sphere: traditional, career, pragmatic, traditional and career, traditional and pragmatic, and career and pragmatic. The analysis of the results allows drawing conclusions about the high readiness of students to new educational practices, which are still poorly implemented. At the same time, motivation depends on mental programs, and the educational practices themselves depend on the conditions created in universities. The results of the study may be of interest to specialists dealing with the issues of social behavior of students in the context of transformations of the higher education system.
Highlights
At present, students of higher education institutions present the most active part of Russian youth
The social behavior of students in the sphere of education is determined by external factors related to reforms in the Russian higher education system
The main goal of the study, which was to find out the characteristics of the social behavior of university students, caused by external and internal factors, was achieved
Summary
Students of higher education institutions present the most active part of Russian youth. Similar to the youth in other developing countries, Russian youth is currently examined as a future social resource and as a social group with the social interests, values, and features of social behavior of its own that can make a significant contribution to the development of society at the present [1,2,3]. This contribution largely depends on the level of the human capital of higher school graduates which is inextricably linked to their intellectual abilities and social and professional competencies. The internal factors of student social behavior in higher education primarily include their mental programs composed of students’ ideas about education and its role in the realization of their life strategies
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