post-Soviet Generation Research Articles

CIVIC IDENTITY AND FAMILY MEMORY OF THE URBAN YOUTH IN THE RUSSIAN ARCTIC ZONE (ON SOCIOLOGICAL SURVEYS IN POMORIE)

The article represents data from sociological research held in 2021–2023 among the youth of the Arkhangelsk region (Pomorie), characterizing the state and characteristics of civic identity, its relationship to family history, which, in its turn, is treated as the basic level of historical memory. The specificity of the indicators is determined, among other, by the fact that they were obtained in the most ethnically homogeneous region of the Russia with the largest proportion of ethnic Russians in the population. Surveys of people, primarily aged 18–25 are, are presented in comparison with data from projects on similar topics implemented by leading sociological centers in Russia. Materials from Pomorie, i.e. in one of the bearing regions of the Russian Arctic zone, indicate that representatives of the post-Soviet generation in the Arkhangelsk agglomeration have a generally formed identity, based on the awareness of the legal connection with the state, as states by the novels in Russian Constitution from 2020 and the principles of current Russian nation-building policy. Another significant trend is changes in young people’s interpretation of ethnicity is performed in increasing importance of culture and language as its main criteria. Surveys also have confirmed the growing interest of young people to family history, with an average level of knowledge, as well as the presence of a personal, emotionally charged attitude towards the main events of Russian history. The presented results indicate the demand for new tools for stimulating, supporting and satisfying youth’s interest in history, which prospectively is an effective factor in the formation of a stable civic identity among a generation that in the next decade will form the majority in the political, economic, scientific and cultural elite of the Russian Federation.

Heroism through the prism of reflections on the country and its future: assessments by generations

The phenomenon of heroism is multifaceted, and it can be viewed as representations of collective memory or through the lens of attitudes towards the country and its future. The theoretical foundation of this research is based, on the one hand, on a philosophical analysis of the semantic meanings of the concepts «hero» and «heroism», including variations in different cultures, and it defines the constants of the national semantics of heroism. On the other hand, it relies on the sociological theory of N. K. Mikhailovsky and the theory of social action, particularly the affective (borderline) theory. It also draws on the developments in creative and relational theories (M. Emirbayer, A. Mische), and relational sociology by P. Donati. The empirical part of the study involves the analysis of data from quota-based online surveys with a random sample, conducted by a group of sociologists and philosophers from the Institute of Sociology of the FCTAS RAS, Tyumen State University, and Vernadsky Crimean Federal University at the beginning of 2023. The survey included 1350 respondents from eight federal districts of the Russian Federation. The research results showed that heroes and heroism remain predominantly associated with the Soviet past, when the names, faces, and destinies of heroes were known from childhood, and the entire era was considered heroic. Heroism was ideologically supported and socially constructed during that time. In the present, heroes are usually depersonalised and associated with a group, such as the military or professionals. Post-Soviet generations had difficulty naming a hero on their own, as for a long time there was no social demand for this type of personality and behaviour. Regarding contemporary Russia, half of the respondents expressed positive feelings of pride, hope, and love, while some felt concern, disappointment, and shame. Furthermore, the clustering of responses indicated that feelings towards Russia are variable and not exclusively dichotomous. Respondents could simultaneously express love, disappointment, and hope. As for the future, respondents were much clearer about their own personal future (70% or more) than about the future of the country. The Soviet generation was more optimistic about the country’s future compared to the post-Soviet generations. This, among other signs, may suggest that post-Soviet generations found themselves in a situation where there was not only no demand for heroic personalities but also the state did not articulate a clear vision of the country’s future. Therefore, they have formed their own view of their personal future, which is seen more clearly and independently of the state’s goalsetting, while heroes and heroism are primarily associated with the Soviet past.

Heroes and heroism as representations of collective memory

The article presents the results of the interdisciplinary philosophical-sociological study of heroism. In the theoretical introductory part, the authors conducted the semiotic analysis of the concept of heroism in the context of the concept of chronotope in Western-European culture; identified the constants of the Russian semantics of the ‘hero’, ‘heroism’ and ‘heroic’; described the dynamics of changes in the meanings of the ‘heroic’, ‘deed’ and ‘feat’. The sociological approach follows the philosophical understanding of heroism and considers this phenomenon through a social relationship (In N.K. Mikhailovsky’s perspective). To comprehend the relationship between the hero and the crowd, the authors refer to such sociological approaches as creative and relational theories of social action and P. Donati’s relational sociology. The empirical part presents the results of the sociological survey of 1,350 Russians from different generations in eight federal districts; thus, the authors consider the concepts of hero and heroism as representations of collective (historical) memory. The empirical study consisted of two parts: the first one focused on the collective memory of Russians and their historical knowledge, the second one - on heroes and heroism in the interpretation of the Soviet and post-Soviet generations. The results of the first part show the general weakening of collective memory, and the events of older history are less interesting and less known than, for example, those of the Soviet period. Most of the significant events in the Russian history are perceived as triumphant, not as traumatic, and most military campaigns, including the current ones, are perceived through the figure of the winner, not the loser. Respondents believe that there was more heroism in the past. Heroism is associated with such personal qualities as strength, activity, a sense of duty, desire to save others not for profit, the ability not to give up even in the most difficult situation. The hero is perceived not only as a savior, but also as a truth-seeker, which is especially significant for Soviet generations.

Demographic and Socio-Political Aspects of the International Project “Dialogue Partnership”

The review of selected works by Larisa S. Ruban in five volumes presents an analysis of the research within the framework of the project “Dialogue partnership as a factor of stability and integration”. The 1st volume “Migration and Demography” focuses on the study of forced migration in the post-Soviet space, its causes and consequences, the directions and composition of migration flows that have largely changed the host regions. The 2nd volume “Sociology and Conflictology” presents the results of a longitudinal study in 12 regions, characterizing the formation of civic consciousness of three generations of young people: the last Soviet, transitional period and the first post-Soviet generation. Also, the 2nd volume outlines the author’s theory of the triad of political deviation. The 3rd volume “International Relations, Geopolitics and Globalistics” is based on the results of international expert surveys on the situation in 16 countries of the Asia-Pacific region in the political sphere, economy and security in order to determine effective areas for cooperation between the Russian Federation and Asian countries in the new conditions. The topic of the 4th volume “Energy, innovation and digitalization” reflects the decisive influence of energy on the development of production and social spheres, and the turn of Russia’s energy policy to the East. The 5th volume “Security and Counter-Terrorism” presents the research by Professor L. S. Ruban on global and regional security and counter-terrorism, a hot topic of our time, when the Russian Federation has to resist the sanctions of the collective West, while close interaction with China generally strengthens the position of Russia.

BACK TO THE USSR, ИЛИ ИГРЫ КВАЗИ-ИСТОРИЧЕСКОГО ВООБРАЖЕНИЯ: ПРЕДСТАВЛЕНИЯ О ПОЗДНЕСОВЕТСКОМ ДЕТСТВЕ В СОВРЕМЕННОЙ РОССИЙСКОЙ МАССОВОЙ КУЛЬТУРЕ

At the turn of the 2010s, one more plot, which implies the physical movement of the protagonist back in time in order to change the past, has begun to be actively developed in modern Russian science fiction — a return to the USSR, and not to the years of the Great Patriotic War, where the first authors of current alternative science fiction sent their heroes, but to the much more peaceful years of “zastoy”, in the late Soviet Union of Brezhnev times. In many works, the hero, during such a transfer, ends up in a child’s body and thereby is forced to live through late Soviet childhood — the way the author depicts it. In most works of this kind, this late-Soviet childhood is endowed with unconditionally positive characteristics, and this circumstance prompts an attempt to study the social basis of such works: one can often come across the opinion that such an interpretation implies a collective, albeit commercialized, nostalgia, but, given that the authors of these works, as a rule, already belong to the post-Soviet generation, other mechanisms of commemoration seem to be at work here. Using the methodology of memory studies, the article substantiates the need for closer research attention to the products of modern popular culture as potentially effective ways of imagining the past.

IDENTITY CRISIS AS A FACTOR OF UKRAINIAN DEMOCRATIC TRANSIT. GENERATIONAL ASPECT

The political identities are interpreted as inner narratives in the article. These discourse formations we analyze as the medium of Ukrainian democratic transition’ institutional memory. The reduction of the political imagination, according to which changes in identity are presented only as a linear processes, is shown; at the same time efforts to overcome this narrative inertia. In the context of this paradigm shift, the achievements of the first post-Soviet generation of Ukrainian political scientists in the field of identity analysis are revised. It is shown that through the conceptualization of challenges, the ‘invisible college’ of researchers managed to reflect the fundamental for the fate of democratic transit connection between the strata of the middle class and students (‘Ukrainian invariant’), which ensures the cooperation of generations in the process of a democratic transition.

Традиционная и новая культура на постсоветском про странстве: синтез или сосуществование?

The transition of the countries of the world to the sixth economic structure presupposes both socio-economic reforms and changes in the national culture, in which the orientation towards improving the quality of life, creativity and independence is more and more manifested. At the same time, traditions do not disappear. They are either synthesized with a new culture or coexist with its samples, often hindering the introduction of innovations. The purpose of the work is to determine the vectors of development of traditional and new cultures of the population living in the territory of the former USSR. The authors tried to answer the question of what determines the life of representatives of the soviet and post-soviet generations - archaic, modern, the coexistence of traditions and innovations or their synthesis. As part of the study, the characteristic manifestations of traditional and new cultures in society are highlighted, a methodological scheme for their study based on sociological data (based on the theoretical approaches of G. Hofstede) is developed, which is tested on the materials of representative questionnaires conducted by the authors in 2016 among the urban population of Vologda (408 people interviewed) and Yerevan (250 people interviewed). The analysis compared the opinions of representatives of two generations: youth (under 30 years old) and the older generation (over 55 years old). A qualitatively new result of the study was the original author's model of analysis of the manifestations of traditional and new cultures in society. It contains a set of sociological indicators corresponding to the typological features of culture (from the type of thinking that dominates in society to the attitude to social reality). Each of these indicators is distinguished by a different degree of manifestation in modern society and modern society. Based on the analysis of the results of these surveys, the mods of traditional culture (family values, attitude to material wealth, etc.), as well as new phenomena in public consciousness (Internet activity, concern for a healthy lifestyle, etc.) were identified. On the example of the Russian and Armenian population, the significance of the institution of the family and archetypes for the formation of life values is considered. The role of the young generation in the formation of the “new culture” and the older generation in preserving the pattern of “a simple Soviet man” is defined. In the conclusion, the interrelation of traditions and innovations in the life of Russian and Armenian societies is determined, the conditions for the synthesis of old and new samples of human life for the development of culture are clarified, the possible prospects of cultural genesis in the post-soviet space (tradation, countradrading, posttrading) are determined.

“Generation Me – Generation We”: Paradoxes of Prefigurative Culture in the Post-Soviet Space

The article analyzes the term "paradoxes of prefigurative culture" in the context of the historical theory of Strauss-Howe generations due to the period of improvement of digital information technology. The main tenet of this study is that innovative technologies change the nature of man and his social connections in society and that they are firmly embedded in social communications, professional activities, the way of life of young people, education, science, and other fields. The paradoxes of prefigurative culture suggest the existence of an imminent conflict. On the one hand, this conflict with fundamental concepts and categories is used to characterize the human being in all his/her manifestations, and, on the other hand, with new cyberculture to create a new person. The slogan “Generation Me - Generation We” implies two models of behavior peculiar to the post-Soviet generation Y-Z. The study uses the data obtained from sociological surveys in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, and the Russian Federation to identify such paradoxical situations in which they encounter "old" and "new" ideas about the essence of man, his place in the world, and his relationship with the world. The purpose of the research is to explore the paradoxes of prefigurative culture in the present tense, in the mode of the new digital reality.

Изменения жизнестойкости представителей разных поколений россиян в начале XXI века

Objective. The article presents the result of researching Hardiness of generations living in different regions of North-West Russia. The aim of the research is to identify changes in Hardiness of generations over the past decade.Background. The modern social context (urbanization, informatization, pandemic, etc.) actualizes the problem of finding resources that allow a person to cope with life’s difficulties. So it’s safe to say that the residents of megapolis have certain qualities that distinguish them from the residents of regional centers and small cities, which are a means of adapting to the specifics of an aggressive urban environment. Therefore, the characteristics of hardiness, as the ability of the individual to withstand a stressful situation, while maintaining internal balance without compromising performance, in terms of socialization (metropolis/regional center) seems quite reasonable.Study design. The research of generationsʹ hardiness in 2009 and in 2019 with the aim of identifying its changes and regional specificities was completed. The description of changes in hardiness is presented on the example of a megalopolis and a regional center of the North-West of Russia.Participants. Sample: 769 people, including in 2009 — 362 people (40.6% of men, 59.4% of women) from 19 to 69 years old and in 2019 — 407 people (34.6% of men and 65.4% of women) from 27 to 82 years old.Measurements. We studied values using the Russian version of Maddi’s Hardiness Survey adapted by D.A. Leont’ev, E.I. Rasskazova (2006). Statistical processing of the research results was carried out with the help of Statistica 10.0 software package.Results. A significant changes of the hardiness in the population of the North-West of Russia over the past decade has been recorded. The increased hardiness is observed in representatives of the Post-war, Soviet, and Transitional generations, while a decrease in hardiness is found in the sample of the Post-Soviet generation. There are no differences in the generational dynamics of the resilience of residents of St. Petersburg and Arkhangelsk.Conclusions. Generational affiliation is one of the factors that mediate the dynamics of hardiness at various stages of a person’s life path.

Revising Postsocialism

This article reflects on the current explanatory value of concepts such as postsocialism and Eastern Europe by exploring how they are represented in contemporary art projects in Estonia. Through an overview of recent exhibitions in which I collaborated with local artists and curators, the research considers generational differences in relation to cultural discourses of the postsocialist experience. Methodologically, artists and curators were not simply my informants in the field, but makers of analytical knowledge themselves in their practice. Exhibitions were also approached as contact zones, whereby new cultural forms are simultaneously reflected and constructed. Critically, this inquiry gathers new ways of representing and conceptualising cultural changes in Estonia and novel perspectives of interpreting the relations to the Soviet past. The focus is put on art practice because of its capacity of bringing together global and local frames of reference simultaneously. The research also draws attention to the inbetweenness of the first post-Soviet generation (those born near the time of the breakup of the USSR); they are revising established cultural forms as well as historical representations through mixing practices, and therefore updating traditional ideas of identity and attachment to places.

Soviet and Post-Soviet Generations of Russian Philosophers: Framing the Problem

ABSTRACT This article proposes a generational approach to the study of the formation of the philosophical tradition. A philosophical generation is a powerful intellectual pattern with its own optics, sets of problems, and methods of research. The author distinguishes six generations of philosophers living and working in Russia today. The specific nature of each philosophical generation is determined by its existential contribution to the philosophy of those close to each other in terms of their experience of discipleship and integration into formal and informal philosophical institutions, and by the commonality of their intellectual foundations. In the case of philosophical generations, this refers not only to the age of those “doing philosophy” but also to the emergence of a new attitude toward philosophy itself, to the production or mastery of new ideas and meanings, to new trends in the discussion of already familiar issues and phenomena, to a new social and cultural role for philosophy, to new general understanding of the world and of man, to a change in what is called “the philosophical way of life.” Studying philosophical generations is important for restoring the human context of philosophical development. The path of cognition from generational type to texts is no less important than the usual path from texts. Reading the history of philosophy as the history of generations of philosophy focuses scholars’ attention on personal connections within the philosophical community (both horizontal and vertical), which clarifies both the individual contribution of thinkers and the mutual influences that determine the birth and development of philosophical ideas.

Ideology and Civilizational Identity in Russia’s State-Approved World-History Textbooks

ABSTRACT This article examines how recent world history is interpreted in Russia’s latest state-approved textbooks, particularly what kind of ideological and civilizational leanings the interpretations reflect. Discourse analysis reveals that the textbooks broadly accept the superiority of the capitalist developmental model and liberal-democratic political system, all within a Western-centric, if not pro-Western, paradigm based on modernization theory; only in the context of recent geopolitical conflicts is the West portrayed in an adversarial light. These findings suggest that liberal and Western-centric thinking continues to influence sections of Russia’s political and intellectual elites as well as the country’s post-Soviet generation.

Post-Soviet Civil Society in Transition: Leftist Social Movements in Lithuania

The existing discourse on leftist movements in post-Soviet countries characterizes them as weak and isolated. This research analyzes the case of Lithuania, which has had parliamentary left parties since the democratic transition. Despite this, a new leftist movement recently began to emerge. Therefore, I answer the question, how can we explain the emergence of new leftist political groups in the context of a continued prominence and authority of the “old” left in the Lithuanian government? I analyze the case on several levels. The macro-level analysis is based on the European Value Study (EVS) 3rd pre-release of 2017 data, while for meso/micro-level analysis I conducted 8 interviews with the members of the new leftist movement. The research reveals that a precarious society was formed by those who lost out in the democratic transition. The opportunity for the leftist movement to arise was due to a sense of disappointment stimulated by the long-lasting inefficiency of political parties and their inability to deal with precarious conditions in the country. The new leftist movement was formed recently because of the frustrations of the first post-Soviet generation, rising from the discrepancy between dominating class-based capitalist politics and social issues, including identity politics, which stimulated the search for alternative explanations of the socio-economic structure. Moreover, because of the nature of this generation, the new leftist movement is dual -- an anti-austerity-care movement, fighting not only for the improvement of the precarious conditions they are facing but also taking care of the most vulnerable ones and thus creating a more inclusive and equal democracy.

Образовательные траектории трёх российских поколений: от дошкольной подготовки к профессиональному образованию

The paper reviews the educational strategies of Russian generations. Three post-Soviet generation groups (“the reform generation”, “the Millennials” and “the digital generation”) are highlighted. They have several similar features forming the social norms of Russian society, but they also differ to allow a comparative analysis of implemented educational trajectories. The study covers the cycle starting from pre-school preparation to obtaining the first vocation education. It has been revealed that Russian generations demonstrate a steady trend towards maximizing the educational potential right from the pre-school stage. It is shown that representatives of the youngest generation and their parents go through the school stage with a high level of involvement in the creation of knowledge and skills, that may be practically applied when they pass on to the next level of education. However, social ties, which are significant for a successful transition, gradually lose their importance. The obtained data allow us to assume that there is a tendency for secondary vocational education to become a part of successful educational strategies. Addressing the intergenerational differences in professionalization indicates a “fresh approach” of the youngest generation to successful employment, which is associated with the sphere of state administration and enforcement structures to a considerably higher degree. The analysis is based on sociological survey data from 1600 representatives of highlighted generations, conducted by the Center of Economics of continuing education of RANEPA in 2019. The paper is prepared within the framework of the state task implementation of RANEPA.

Карьерные стратегии женщин-инженеров на предприятиях ракетно-космической отрасли: цели и возможности реализации

Статья посвящена исследованию восприятия карьеры работницами предприятий ракетно-космической отрасли «советского» и «постсоветского» поколений. Основная цель исследования — описать карьерные стратегии женщин-инженеров и их элементы: карьерные цели, шаги к их достижению, оценку достижений. Эмпирическую базу исследования составляют 33 полуструктурированных глубинных интервью с женщинами-инженерами: специалистами «советского» поколения и теми, кто начал свой трудовой путь после распада СССР. Проведенный анализ показал, что для старшего поколения женщин характерно восприятие карьеры исходя из понимания коллективных целей и своей личной роли в общем деле. Карьера для них воспринимается как успешный результат коллективных достижений. Для молодых инженеров характерны целенаправленные действия для повышения профессионализма и административного роста: карьера воспринимается ими через личностные достижения. В то же время представители обоих поколений считают, что в РКО существуют различные «неформальные» барьеры для женщин, и они проявляются сильнее для сотрудниц, мотивированных на должностное продвижение. Благодарность. Автор выражает благодарность, своему научному руководителю к. соц. наук, доценту НИУ ВШЭ Савинской Ольге Борисовне за ценные советы и комментарии в процессе подготовки статьи. Автор также благодарит всех респонденток, принявших участие в исследовании.

The Universal Link between Higher Education and Pro-Market Values

Does education promote support for liberal economic views? We show in a large cross-section of countries that in almost all cases those with higher educational attainment are more pro-market and less sympathetic to economic regulation than those who have less formal education. This is true in countries with high support for markets and in those with high distrust of markets and strong support for government regulation. Fixed-effect models show that respondents’ education is negatively related to support for state economic activities. When considering Russian micro data, we observe that whether we confine ourselves to older people educated in the Soviet period or compare the results to a sample from the post-Soviet generation, we consistently find that those with more education are relatively less supportive of market regulation. Different models also show that parental education is a positive predictor of pro-market values.

Vēsturiskā atmiņa Latvijas teātra jaunās paaudzes mākslinieku darbos: izrādes „Dvēseļu utenis” piemērs

The aim of the research “Historical Memory in the Works of the New Generation of Latvian Theater Artists: The Example of “The Flea Market of the Souls” is to focus on the current but at the same time little discussed topic in Latvian theater – the change of generations and the social processes connected to it, that are expressed on the level of world views, experiences, intergenerational relationships. Most directly, these changes are reflected in the phenomenon of historical memory. The concept of “postmemory” was defined by German professor Marianne Hirsch in 1992, suggesting that future generations are closely related to the personal and collective cultural traumas of previous generations, which are passing on the past experience through historical memory, thus affecting the present. Grotesque, self-irony, and focusing on socio-political, provocative questions and themes are the connecting point of the generation of young Latvian playwrights born in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including such personalities as Jānis Balodis, Rasa Bugavičute-Pēce, Matīss Gricmanis, Justīne Kļava, etc. However, unlike Matīss Gricmanis or Janis Balodis who represent the aesthetics of political theater, in Justīne Kļava’s works, sociopolitical processes become the background of a generally humanistic study of the relationships between generations. This theme is represented not only in “The Flea Market of the Souls”, but also in other plays, like “Jubilee ‘98” and “Club “Paradise””. The tendency to investigate the traces left by the Soviet heritage allows to define these works as autobiographical researches of the identity of the post-Soviet generation, analyzing life in today's Latvia in terms of historical memory. Using the semiotic, hermeneutic, phenomenological approach, the play “The Flea Market of the Souls” and its production in Dirty Deal Teatro (2017) are analyzed as one of the most vivid works reflecting the phenomenon of historical memory in recent Latvian original drama.

Generation and gender factors of the structure of value orientations

A great interest in the study of the value orientations of a person is explained by their decisive role in explaining human behavior. Previous studies have shown that demographic factors influence people's value system. Over the past 20 years, several mass surveys have been conducted with wide geography. Their results showed that in the world there are processes of transformation in the structure of cultural values of different communities of people. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of generation and gender factors on value orientations. The study was based on Schwartz's theoretical model of cultural values. The survey was attended by 384 residents of Chelyabinsk and the Chelyabinsk region (Russia). To collect empirical data, Schwartz's questionnaire in Russian was used. The study found that representatives of the Soviet generation are more oriented towards conservative values, and representatives of the post-Soviet generation more adhere to values reflecting their openness to experience. In this study, men differed from women in a greater commitment to the values of autonomy and power. Considering the values of generations in the context of the gender of respondents, it is found that hedonistic values and the desire for stimulation and power are represented by a U-shaped curve in men and an inverted U-shaped curve in women. This allows us to conclude that in Russia, conditions of economic stabilization lead to increased openness to experience and dominance among men. For women, these conditions make the desire for dominance and high social status less significant.

Female engineers in Russia’s rocket-space industry

This article examines the career types for women in the high-tech sectors of the Russian economy – based on the example of the rocket-space industry – and why women choose to pursue an engineering-technical education, and subsequently a career in the rocket-space industry. The theoretical framework for the study consists of the works of foreign and Russian authors devoted to studying the concept and types of career, as well as the employment of women in engineering trades. The empirical base consists of 33 semi-structured interviews with female engineers, including professionals from the “Soviet” generation and those who started their career after the USSR’s collapse. A hypothesis was put forward that women from the Soviet generation considered “rocket-space industry engineer” to be one of the more demanded professions, its appeal being attributed to space’s “romantic” flare, to one’s desire to partake in something of national importance, while the current generation of engineers is more focused on pragmatic aspects, such as the prestige and high demand associated with an engineering education, the opportunity to work at a government enterprise which provides a set of social benefits. The study shows that this assumption was only partially correct. Among the reasons for why the Soviet generation of female engineers chose the profession, the most prominent were a genuine interest in space, the “romanticism” associated with the trade, the opportunity to partake in activity which benefits the country, and, finally, the “dynasty” aspect, which in a number of cases turned out to outweigh the desires of the respondent. Among the post-Soviet generation of engineers, the defining factor for choosing the profession was one’s aptitude for precise science, the opportunity to receive a higher education in engineering, the trade being in demand on the labor market, while the “dynasty” factor mostly turned out to be an incidental aspect. In our time women mostly take into account their own preferences when it comes to choosing an education path, and subsequently a field of activity. Meanwhile, as was the case with the elder generation, a company’s history played a rather significant role when it came to them choosing a place of employment. The most frequently chosen career type for both the elder and younger generations of engineers turned out to be the “qualification” type. Meanwhile a combination of “qualification” and “scientific research” career types also turned out to be rather popular, while the combination of “qualification” and “official” types turned out to be less prevalent among those employed at rocket-space industry enterprises. Such career types as “monetary” and “executive” proved to be uncharacteristic for the respondents.

Transition to Adulthood: Leaving the Parental Home in the Last Soviet and the First Post-Soviet Generation

The article presents a research on trajectories of leaving the parental home in the last Soviet and the first post-Soviet generations. It focuses on social transformation of the state during the transition from the Soviet to the post-Soviet and its impact on the life-course of these generations. In our study, we applied a dyadic approach and conducted semi-structured interviews with women of the last Soviet generation (born in 1962–1972) and their children (born in 1992–2002), who represent the first post-Soviet generation. Early changes in and the differentiation of the timetable of transition to adulthood of the last Soviet generation indicated a declining effect of ideologically supported social structures on the life-course of young adults and the growing power of individual decision to leave the parental home or stay within. The rapidly increasing globalization and a transformed economy shaped a new structural environment for the coming of age for the first post-Soviet generation; therefore, we can interpret the further pluralization, de-standardization, and differentiation of the timetable of the transition to adulthood of this generation as a reaction of young people to the emerging risks and insecurities.