Economic motivations for master's students' choice of educational, scientific and professional trajectories

Abstract

The article examines the motivations for Master's students' choice of individual trajectories. In the course of their studies, the students' trajectories have educational, scientific and professional aspects. These trajectories determine the system of interaction between students and other participants in the educational process within the university framework (academic staff and other students) and outside it (employers, Russian and foreign researchers). Individual trajectories of Master's students can be studied from the theoretical point of view, by following the formation and development of these trajectories, and from the practical point of view, focusing on how investments in Master's students can enhance professional competencies of specialists on the regional labour market. The authors have analyzed the master's students’ individual trajectories on the basis of monitoring data obtained from the survey carried out in February and December 2014. The students were asked to describe their expectations, including economic ones, and experience of pursuing their Master's degrees. The research results have shown that the biggest discrepancy between the expectations and the actual experience of Master's students lay in the sphere of their research trajectories and their participation in internationalization processes. The analysis of students’ expectations is important since it allows us to improve Master's programs, to provide the labour market with highly qualified specialists, and to increase the efficiency of state investments into the human capital.