The first encounter with "the black swan": how the pandemic affects the mood of graduates

Abstract

The first ILO report against the background of the Covid-19 pandemic names youth among the most anxious groups. Russian sociologists also spoke about this, linking such a reaction with the greenhouse conditions created by Russian families for children. Graduation from a university is a serious life milestone, especially in the context of the pandemic that has required long periods of distance learning and dramatically accelerated the digitalization of the economy. According to the research conducted by the authors, more than two-thirds of students believe that the pandemic has changed our lives forever, and also that in the modern world it is impossible to have one profession for all your life. Medium-term and long-term prospects for specialists with their education do not seem very optimistic to students. But and in the short term, the majority of graduates assess their competitiveness in the labor market as average and foresee high competition for vacancies (or their shortage) and the offer of low wages. For many, the problems of future employment are laid down at the stage of choosing a profession: a significant part goes to study where there are affordable budget places, but poorly understand the essence of the profession and its relevance. Today, half of the graduates would choose another profession and do not plan to work in their specialty. High proportion of those who expected successful employment before the pandemic has noticeably decreased against its background. With regard to employment problems, almost half of the respondents have an internal locus of control, the rest are divided in equal proportions into those who have an external locus of control, or both loci of control are expressed or not expressed. For older students, problems with employment are more often seen as a combination of external factors and their own shortcomings. Among those looking for problems in themselves or both in themselves and in the external environment, there are quite a lot of expecting difficulties in finding a job. Acting within the framework of the "ontological security", young people implement practices that allow them to adapt, but do not reduce uncertainty.