Professional self-determination in conditions of liquid technologies: problems of young people with higher education

Relevance . In framework of the goals for technological leadership of Russian organizations a contradiction arises between the mismatch the educational results and the nature of their work, for the implementation of which it's necessary to master innovations continuously by studying and ensuring the continuity in previous developments. The purpose is to analyze the difficulties encountered by the young people with higher education in the process of finding for a job and implementing work. Objectives : to assess the reasons for unemployment, student satisfaction as well as the nature of work among employed; to identify strategies for professional self-determination. Methodology . Basic provisions are revealed through a critical analysis of the self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan), their substantive aspects are supplemented by domestic sociological studies in the last 5-10 years. The empirical base was a study of young specialists’ employment in six months after university graduation from a large Russian university in 2017-2023 (n=8939). Results . A typology of professional self-determination strategies is proposed: maladaptive, adaptive, anticipatory. An adaptive strategy is common, but those who are satisfied with their university education (43%) also feel insecure about their demand in the labor market (28%), lack of skills (24%), and lack interest in the content of their post-university work (15%). Conclusions . The research results can be used by university management to improve the quality of their ecosystems based on solving problem tasks in the learning and aimed at revealing their abilities for specific work.