Migration plans of high school students in Dagestan: intraregional and local differences

Introduction. The article aims to obtain and analyze empirical information regarding the plans and behavioral trajectories of high school students in Dagestan, allowing for the development of reasoned management decisions in the field of youth migration, taking into account regional and local characteristics. Methods. The article is based on the materials of a comprehensive sociological study, including quantitative and qualitative methods, additionally comparative-geographical, descriptive-analytical, graphic-cartographic methods were used. Results and discussion. The geography of the choice of places of study varies depending on the place of residence. About 2/3 of respondents from mountain settlements choose Makhachkala. High school students from foothill areas, in addition to their cities, are attracted to the capital and large regional centers outside the republic. City dwellers more often than villagers strive to go to other regions of Russia. Especially many people willing to leave Dagestan were identified among graduates of Derbent. International educational migration is practically absent. The geography of interregional intra-Russian migration is quite wide and includes the subjects of the Russian Federation from Kaliningrad to Vladivostok. However, the most popular destinations are Moscow, St. Petersburg, Stavropol and Krasnodar Territories, Rostov, Astrakhan, Saratov and Volgograd Regions. The main attractors of intraregional educational migration are cities, with the regional capital leading the way. Less than a third of graduates (27.5%) plan to return to the Republic after receiving their education. The main pushing factors include economic (lower salaries compared to other regions, difficulties in finding a job in their specialty, lack of jobs) and cultural and everyday factors (lack of places for recreation, sports, leisure, housing and communal problems: interruptions in water and electricity supplies, low gas supply, the “garbage problem”, etc.). Conclusion. The study shows the need for a comprehensive program to preserve human capital asset in Dagestan. Effective measures are needed to improve the economic situation, including, according to experts, stimulation of the creation of intensive agricultural production, support at the state and regional level for the participation of the population in the development of tourism activities, equalization of the level of wages compared to other Russian regions, and to attract the population to hard-to-reach mountain settlements, it is desirable to introduce special allowances, similar to the regions of the Far North. An important area of regional policy should be considered the expansion and activation of the federal programs “Zemsky Teacher”, “Zemsky Doctor”, etc. To retain graduates and motivate them to enter local educational institutions, systematic career guidance work is required, including various preferences for excellent students and winners of Olympiads and competitions.