Higher education and graduates' success in the labor market

Polezhaeva Tatiana Yurievna Postgraduate student; Faculty of Sociology ; Lomonosov Moscow State University 119234, Russia, Moscow, Leninskie gory, 1 tatyana.polezhaeva@yandex.ru

Introduction

Research aimed at identifying the relationship between higher education and the position of job seekers in the labor market has been the focus of sociologists' attention over the past decades. In this topic, the mechanism by which higher education brings benefits such as professional achievements and, consequently, a higher income level is important, and the question of how the situation changes with increasing access to higher education is formulated.

The demand for university education increases almost every year, but there remains a significant proportion of graduates who face a number of difficulties in finding a job in their specialty, at the same time, employers note the difficulty of finding specialists with a specific set of competencies. As part of the educational process, students should be provided with flexible curricula with a variable part of the disciplines that are necessary for professional self-realization, as well as the opportunity to choose a form of study and undergo internships involving work on current projects to acquire specific skills and competencies in order to meet the need for relevant knowledge.

The main part

There is an approach to education that is called utilitarian or instrumental, where special attention is paid to its role in ensuring the economic success of graduates. Utilitarian attitudes spread against the background of the mass characterization of higher education. In the concept of an economy based on human capital and the value of knowledge, an optimistic scenario was dictated by the conviction that the demand for qualified specialists would always be high, respectively, jobs would be available to all holders of higher education. However, the number of jobs is not increasing at the same rate as the number of graduates themselves. The labor market is unevenly oversaturated with workers in some specialties, where competition is increasing, and is experiencing shortages in other areas.

On the other hand, the requirements for specialists have changed a lot in recent decades. Among the trends that exist today, one can especially note the departure from micromanagement and the decentralization of management decisions in the workplace. In this regard, the successful entry of young specialists into the labor market is of particular importance, and accordingly, interest in the degree of their training increases ^[12].

Before proceeding to the subsequent disclosure of the topic, it is worth considering the definitions of "competence" and "skill" that are used in the educational process. In the study, which is devoted to the expert assessment of the concept of "competence", the following definition was formulated: "Competence is such a combination of knowledge, skills, motivational factors, personal qualities and situational intentions, which ensures the effective solution by the performer of tasks of a certain class in a certain organization, at a certain workplace, in a certain production team" ^{[1, p. 99.]}. Thus, competencies include knowledge, skills and experience to achieve results within the framework of the work process and professional self-realization.

In turn, researchers considering various approaches to skills came to the conclusion: "The concept of "skill" is a framework from the point of view of various aspects of human life, including the educational activity of the student, the professional activity of the employee, and reflects successful action – educational, labor and others. An essential feature of the skill is a dynamic stereotype and automatism, to which the action is brought" ^{[2, p. 78]}. In other words, skills are a set of abilities that are acquired in the process of learning and development to solve practical problems, that is, in a broad sense, their application is not limited to the professional sphere.

Today, university graduates should have a whole range of skills, in addition to those related to a specific specialty. In the scientific literature, it is customary to talk about the "skills of the XXI century", which include, among other things, communication, problem-solving skills, cooperation and critical thinking ^[9]. These skills are not new, but they remain the basis for self-realization at the present stage. One of the works shows that these four skills are highly appreciated by students of various specialties in the conditions of the modern labor market ^[8]. That is why universities cannot build their own policies in isolation, since the external environment requires university graduates to have specific competencies and skills at the start of their careers.

Another study ^[3] revealed that there are differences of opinion among employers, students and university representatives about the most important competencies. The data reflect the current state of affairs in higher education and the labor market, as universities focus on competencies related to research and scientific activities, without relying on the opinions of employers. On the other hand, employers want to see graduates with a set of professional competencies that will allow them, avoiding a long period of additional training, to perform official duties. While students are guided by their own ideas, not relying on practical experience. However, all groups put the competence "partnership" in the first place/cooperation", which indicates that there are intersections in views on the subject. At the same time, the strongest difference of opinion was regarding "customer orientation", according to employers, this competence is in 2nd place in importance, while students and university representatives assigned this competence 12th and 11th place, respectively. The next interesting point is that students put the competence "result orientation" in 11th place, although employers assign it 3rd place. This competence is primarily related to responsibility and the realization of the goal, however, students underestimate its necessity, despite the fact that the learning process is accompanied by the constant achievement of goals ^[3].

The above examples focus on the difference between the main tasks facing universities and employers, therefore, bringing educational programs to full compliance with the labor market does not seem rational. Universities develop thinking, raise the general level of culture and literacy, and educate the population on a wide range of theories and concepts that cannot be reduced solely to extracting benefits and profits from knowledge. However, the revealed circumstance demonstrates the need to update the courses taught so that the basic set of skills of graduates allows them to quickly adapt to the workflow.

Therefore, it is necessary to focus on teaching students the necessary skills at an early stage, that is, during the development of higher education programs. One of the main skills is teamwork, as employers point out that it is cooperation that influences the growth of innovation. The development of ICT has once again prompted employers and universities to turn to the idea of the special importance of communication skills, since interaction includes this component even when working remotely. In particular, communication has various forms, for example, an interview, presentation of a project to customers, negotiations, all this plays an important role for the career development of a young specialist.

The next necessary skill is critical thinking, since employees are faced with a lot of unreliable data, and the ability to analyze various sources of information and draw objective conclusions largely determines the development within a number of professions. According to employers, critical thinking is an important condition for success, therefore it should occupy a special place in the educational process.

Universities are experiencing increasing external pressure to train graduates who are able to professionally realize themselves in the labor market. Considering one of the tasks of higher education, which is to ensure that graduates are ready for employment, it should be noted that this can be achieved through the development of competencies, where relevant skills, practical experience and, of course, knowledge are combined.

In many studies of the issue of digital competencies, a special role is assigned to teachers, who have the greatest influence on the formation of students' skills. "Modern teachers should be able to work in an electronic information and educational environment, apply various IR tools, use Internet resources to organize the work of students in the classroom and beyond" ^{[4, C. 1062]}. The interaction between the teacher and the students should be transformed, since the necessary research, literature and information are publicly available. Teachers are gradually moving from the classical type of knowledge transmission to individual support of the educational vector of students.

We will focus separately on another component of the topic, namely, the relationship between higher education and economic remuneration, where there are two aspects. The first is the difference between the level of education and the actual skills that people possess. Usually, a higher level of education implies the appropriate qualifications of an employee, regardless of whether education has actually contributed to the development of the necessary professional skills.

The second aspect is the fact that an increase in the number of citizens who have graduated from universities does not necessarily mean an increase in qualified specialists. It is necessary to distinguish between these two phenomena, since they determine the relative lack of knowledge and skills among job seekers in the labor market. This deficit, in turn, can affect the economic return from higher education, in other words, what is understood as a consequence of the expansion of education may actually be the result of short-term courses or self-education ^[11].

The economic value of education is undeniable, since people with a proven skill level receive more favorable job offers and greater monetary rewards. The explanation of this phenomenon is partly reflected in the theory of human capital, where a higher return on education reflects higher productivity, which is achieved through training ^[7]. From this point of view, higher education has a value that persists even in conditions of reducing the shortage of educated people.

The relationship between education and economic reward is obvious, however, this relationship is not static. Indeed, the value of education varies depending on a number of conditions, for example, the surcharge for education decreases as the shortage of specialists decreases due to the mass and commercialization of higher education. This can happen when the average abilities of specialists with a higher level of education decrease, or when the number of jobs in the labor market does not expand at the same pace, that is, the problem of labor demand becomes relevant here ^[13].

It is widely believed that a high level of education means that applicants have the appropriate skills, regardless of whether these skills were actually acquired during the training process. The relationship between diplomas and real skills, as well as their relationship to economic rewards, is optional. Accordingly, even if the proportion of the population with higher education may increase, this will not necessarily lead to an increase in the proportion of competent workers.

On the other hand, immediately after receiving higher education, young professionals face some problems when finding employment in the field of training. According to VTSIOM ^[6], 40% of respondents replied that job search for recent graduates is difficult, two years ago every second (50%) was sure of this, and 10% of respondents see employment of graduates as almost impossible. However, gradually, optimism about employment is growing among young people. For example, 9% of the surveyed university graduates called the job search process easy today, which is the maximum value for the entire monitoring period (2-4% in previous measurements). In turn, 32% of respondents believe that it is possible to find a job for a university graduate with little effort, when in previous measurements the values were in the region of 12-22%. Respondents aged 25-34, in 44% of cases, consider job search by graduates to be relatively simple.

According to another VTSIOM study ^[5], 92% of respondents believe that a constant process of professional development is necessary for professional growth, this opinion is shared by 91% of men and 93% of women. Lifelong learning is a factor for career advancement, people with a higher level of education and wealth recognize.

In general, it is expected that professional skills will be in demand and rewarded as long as the number of professions requiring highly qualified workers increases in combination with the number of people with an appropriate level of education ^[10]. However, if the demand for a workforce with higher education does not grow enough compared to the share of specialists, then people with a high level of competencies and qualifications may find themselves in a situation of a shortage of open vacancies due to the discrepancy between the number of graduates of certain specialties and the labor market.

Conclusion

Thus, universities today face the task of finding a balance between traditional fundamental education and the requirements of the labor market. At the stage of job placement, employers continue to focus on diplomas of education and advanced training as an indicator of a specialist's competence. Applicants with higher education are more likely to get a job, but the training profile is an important factor here, since the number of graduates of various specialties does not fully meet the demand in the labor market. Universities have gradually begun to teach students social and cognitive skills that are popular with employers: critical thinking, teamwork, communication, solving current issues without micromanagement. Mutually beneficial relations between universities, state and non-governmental organizations are gradually being built, universities are introducing new courses and teaching methods, expanding their partner network, inviting representatives of private business to round tables and job fairs. However, higher education does not always have time to respond to the changing reality, so it is necessary to monitor feedback from graduates and employers, which will increase the opportunity to improve and adapt the disciplines taught in each individual educational organization.

Recommendations

To improve the level of relevant skills and competencies of students, universities can recommend the following:

1. to organize additional courses to improve the digital competencies of teachers;

2. to conduct detailed monitoring of the opinions of university graduates in order to assess the effectiveness of the educational process (using quantitative and qualitative research methods);

3. to establish interaction between the university and employers, who will immerse students at the learning stage in real work processes corresponding to the specialty.