Exploring the role of cognitive and creative factors in career selection for prospective university students

The article presents a practical analysis of career choice among future higher education students. In particular, it highlights the trends in cognitive-creative aspects during the career selection process. The attitudes of prospective students at higher education institutions towards contemporary professions from 2019 to 2023 were analysed using a custom-designed questionnaire. It was found that factors influencing career choice across various fields of knowledge include cognitive-creative (internal), socio-economic, and socio-political (external) factors and military events in the country. The critical factor in determining the future of each young person has become the adaptation phenomenon to current conditions (pandemic, martial law, the status of internally and externally displaced persons). During the research on cognitive-creative aspects of career choice, a trend showed a strong preference for the legal field, as observed in responses to all questions in the custom-designed questionnaire. Respondents from 2019–2023 who chose the legal direction regard the profession of a lawyer as prestigious and aspire to earn substantial income as advocates. The military events in 2022 prompted respondents to choose the most profitable specialisation due to the necessity for honest and highly competent specialists in law. Technological progress, high salaries, and demand for software specialists were critical factors in choosing an “Information Technology” profession. Interest in the chosen profession was further enhanced by flexible mobility and the possibility of remote and distance work with stable pay during global quarantine measures related to the spread of COVID-19, martial law, and internal and external displacement of Ukrainian citizens, among other factors. Analysis of the respondents' answers revealed that, following the fields of law and programming, the most popular professions were in “Social and Behavioural Sciences” and “Management and Administration”. It was emphasised that young people demonstrate rapid adaptation to negative changes in life, which directly correlates with their career choices.