In the realities of modern Russian society, the question arises of the relevance of a particular profession, a set of knowledge, skills, which is given in educational institutions of higher education, or as it is commonly called now, a set of competencies or competency maps of a future employee. Therefore, the agenda raises the question of how the current education system is currently ready to implement this practice. Or the level of professional development and competence is now more dependent on the personal perceived quality of life of the individual, his cultural capital, and all the symbolic accumulated capital is secondary. Here the question arises of the public recognition of this or that profession, this or that institution of education.The article discusses approaches to understanding the profession and professional choice in domestic and foreign scientific thought. The key issues of the study of professional strategies and professional choice are presented in a historical retrospective.As an empirical basis for the study of this article, students of leading educational institutions of higher education, who have been assigned a special status through the establishment of a specific legal status and educational activity, will be considered — the Federal state budgetary educational institution of higher education “Moscow State University named after M.V. Lomonosov” and the Federal state budgetary educational institution of higher education “St. Petersburg State University”. Based on the empirical data of a sociological study conducted in February 2023, the article analyzes the strategies of universities in terms of the production of knowledge (through the exchange of scientific and teaching staff, scientific events, additional training programs) for the professional self-determination of a student (through his desire to work in this profession and desire to continue their education in this profession).