Students as a special social group. Social role. Role-playing set. in modern world

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Samara State University of Economics

Department of Social and Political Sciences

in sociology

on the topic: "Students as a special social group"

Completed: student

2 courses of PEF EOT

E.A. Lipey

Scientific adviser: Lebedeva L.G.

Introduction

1.1 The concept of students

Conclusion

Introduction

The choice of the topic of the essay was not difficult, since I myself belong to a group of students and have the opportunity to consider this problem from the inside. Moreover, the question of the role of students in our society and, in particular, in a group of young people, is very relevant for many reasons.

Scientific interest in such a social group of youth as students is determined by the fact that, firstly, in a developed society, rapidly developing industries National economy, science and culture determine a further increase in the number and quality of training of specialists with higher education (in relation to other groups of students); secondly, the socioeconomic significance of the educational and preparatory functions of university students is growing; thirdly, the student body is the most important source of reproduction of the intelligentsia; fourthly, the great role played by students in the social and political life of our country.

In the philosophical and sociological literature, the problem of students began to be actively developed in the 60s. Various aspects of this problem, such as social sources of replenishment of students, the characteristics of its various professional groups, higher education as a channel of social movement, were considered by such researchers as Dmitriev A.V., Ikonnikova S.N., Kolesnikov Yu.S., Lisovskiy V.T., Rubin B.G., Rubina L.Ya., Rutkevich M.N., Saar E.A., Titma M.Kh., Filippov F.R. and etc.

In this paper, I will try to consider such aspects as the sources of replenishment of the student body, the social status and well-being of the student, as well as the political, moral and cultural-leisure orientations of the students. But first, of course, it is necessary to give the concept of such a social group as the student body.

Chapter 1. The social structure of the student body

1.1 The concept of students

The student body as a special group arose in Europe in the 12th century simultaneously with the first universities. The medieval student body was extremely heterogeneous both socially and in terms of age. With the development of capitalism and the increase in the social significance of higher education, the role of students in the life of society is growing. The student body is not only a source of replenishment of qualified personnel, the intelligentsia, but also itself constitutes a rather numerous and important social group. Although the high cost of higher education and the presence of a number of other social barriers made it accessible in most cases only for the wealthy strata of society, and it itself gave the people who received it significant privileges, already in the 19th - beginning. 20th century the student body was distinguished by high political activity and played a noticeable role in public life.

The scientific and technological revolution brought about major shifts in the position and composition of the student body. The need for educated personnel is everywhere causing a rapid increase in the absolute number of students, as well as their specific gravity in the general mass of the population and especially in the youth age groups. In connection with the enlargement of higher educational institutions, the concentration of students is increasing, student campuses are becoming more and more crowded. The growing mass character of higher education undermines its former elitism and makes the student body more democratic in terms of social origin. Certain shifts are also taking place in the age and sex structure of the student body, in particular, the number of women is increasing.

Despite the differences in their social origin and, consequently, material opportunities, the student body is connected general view activity and forms in this sense a certain social and professional group. Common activity in combination with territorial concentration generates among students a certain community of interests, group self-awareness, a specific subculture and way of life, and this is complemented and enhanced by age homogeneity, which other socio-professional groups do not have. The socio-psychological community is objectified and consolidated by the activities of a number of political, cultural, educational, sports and household student organizations.

Students do not occupy an independent place in the production system, student status is deliberately temporary, and the social position of students and their specific problems are determined by the nature of the social system and are concretized depending on the level of socio-economic and cultural development countries, including the national characteristics of the higher education system.

The student body plays a special role in the system of social division of labor, which consists in preparing for the performance of the functions of the intelligentsia. Not constantly participating in the production of material and spiritual values, the student body nevertheless partially participates in indirect productive and unproductive labor in the form of study, the role of which in society is increasing.

The student body being part of youth is a specific social group characterized by special conditions life, work and everyday life, social behavior and psychology, the system value orientations... For its representatives, preparation for future activities in the chosen sphere of material or spiritual production is the main, although not the only, occupation.

As a social group, the student body is an association of young people with certain socially significant aspirations and tasks. At the same time, the student body, being a specific group of student youth, has characteristics inherent only to it.

The student body is a rather mobile social group, its composition changes annually, since the number of students admitted to universities exceeds the number of graduates.

Among specific features the student body should be attributed a few more typical features. First of all, such as social prestige. As noted above, the student body is the most prepared, educated part of the youth, which undoubtedly makes it one of the most advanced youth groups. This, in turn, predetermines the formation of specific features of student psychology.

In an effort to complete their studies at a university and thus realize their dream of obtaining a higher education, most students realize that a university is one of the means of social advancement of young people, and this serves as an objective prerequisite that forms the psychology of social advancement.

The commonality of goals in obtaining higher education, the unified nature of work - study, lifestyle, active participation in public affairs of the university contributes to the development of cohesion among students. This is manifested in the variety of forms of collectivist activity of students.

Another important feature is that active interaction with various social formations of society, as well as the specifics of education at a university, lead students to a great opportunity for communication. Therefore, a rather high intensity of communication is a specific feature of the student body.

A socially significant feature of the student body is also an intense search for the meaning of life, a striving for new ideas and progressive transformations in society. These aspirations are positive. However, due to the insufficiency of life (social) experience, the surface in assessing a number of life phenomena, some students from fair criticism of shortcomings can move on to thoughtless criticism.

1.2 Sources of student replenishment

The problem of student reproduction can be considered in various aspects. Since the student body is formed from young representatives of various strata, then during the periods of transformation of the social structure of society, it can serve as an indicator of these processes.

It itself is also an active participant in them: after all, higher education performs the function of individual and / or group social mobility and reproduction of strata engaged in highly skilled and complex labor.

The analysis of the social structure of students is also important in the aspect of social justice, since it shows the availability of higher education for various strata, that is, from the point of view of “equalizing the chances for all”.

But there is also a socio-cultural aspect of this problem: in what social environment are there optimal material and cultural conditions for the formation of a complex of personal qualities required for higher education? Indeed, for the successful passage of the competition, the formation of the academic discipline of students, the desire to master the studied subject well, develop their horizons, etc. Therefore, representatives of some social strata turn out to be more competitive for the higher education system (it is easier to enter a prestigious university, a prestigious faculty), others - less competitive.

What changes are taking place in the social structure of the student body at the present time? What are the main social sources of recruiting? What are the most essential features of his social culture expressed, how is his reproduction carried out?

First, there are relatively few unemployed among the parents of students (unemployed, unemployed pensioners, disabled people, etc.). That is, the social structure of the student body, in comparison with the social structure of society, looks like a more prosperous one, it is a structure of the "improved" type. Second, the social composition of the student body is quite variegated: both traditional and new strata that have emerged in the course of reforms (business owners, entrepreneurs) are widely represented in it. Third, the dominant group is students who come from families of specialists with higher education. Fourth, the proportion of children of workers and support personnel among students has significantly decreased. Fifthly, the student body is quickly replenished with representatives of a new layer for us - young people from families where one of the parents, or even both parents, are owners of private firms in various layers of business.

An important feature of the social composition of the student body is the high employment of parents in the state or non-state sector of the economy. Why is this factor considered to be a differentiating feature of college students? The fact is that people associated with the private sector have life prospects, expectations and attitudes, the standard of living is fundamentally different than those of the strata "tied" to the public sector. Another line of stratification of the student body “ran” between universities: it turned out that different universities “accumulate” students from different countries far from the same. Of course, before there were universities that were distinguished by both prestige and "elitism" (that is, a high proportion of students who came from the ranks of the Soviet elite). However, now the list of elite universities has been replenished.

Along with the economic situation of parental families, from the beginning of the 90s, another factor in stabilizing the standard of living of students began to "work": additional earnings. They have become so widespread that, in fact, one can speak of a change in the lifestyle of the student body, since, along with the educational one, they are becoming the second main activity of the student body. There is no direct connection with the standard of living of the student's family, that is, both those in need and those who have noted a high standard of living work part-time.

Probably, additional earnings are becoming a new standard of behavior, symbolizing the efficiency and entrepreneurial spirit of students (that is, they perform not only their direct function).

Education in universities is the most important channel of social displacement (social mobility) for young people from all social groups and strata. With the rapid growth of the absolute number and proportion of specialists in general and the layer of highly qualified specialists in particular, the last layer is in the process of expanded reproduction. It is quite understandable that in conditions when the number of the stratum in question has almost doubled over the course of each last decade, the problem of the social sources of its replenishment requires especially careful analysis. The decisive factors determining the more and more equal recruitment of students from all social groups of society are the following two.

Rapprochement of social groups in terms of material conditions of existence.

The implementation of universal complete secondary education is an important step in overcoming cultural differences among young people who belong to different social groups by birth and upbringing, living in a city or village.

Both achievements noted for their historical significance on the way to a more complete social equality have an increasingly significant impact on the equalization of opportunities for higher education for the younger generation. The social composition of those entering universities and of the entire contingent of students (excluding students at evening and correspondence departments) is consistently approaching the social composition of the population. Changes in the latter are most accurately recorded by population censuses. Rutkevich M.N. Sociology of Education and Youth: Selected Works (1965 - 2002). - M .: Gardariki, 2002, pp. 138 - 145.

Contradictory impact various factors created an ambiguous situation in the domestic higher education. Social mechanism replenishment of students makes the university system more and more self-reproducing.

Sociologist L.I. Boyko published the following data on the social structure of the student body. The composition of students is dominated by young people whose parents have a high educational level: at least 60% of the respondents come from families of specialists with higher education, and about 30% - with secondary specialized. The proportion of those whose parents are leaders of various ranks has significantly increased; every third student has a father and every fifth - a mother belongs to this category. Boyko L.I. Transformation of functions of higher education and social positions of students // Sociological studies. 2002. No. 3. P. 81.

These factors predetermine the high economic status of the majority of students.

Per Lately the proportion of students who are well off in material conditions has increased and amounts to almost three quarters of the respondents (for comparison: according to similar sociological measurements, there are no more than 30% of "adults"). Moreover, this part determines the general appearance and social well-being of students. Consequently, the student body is replenished mainly from strata that have largely successfully adapted to market relations well endowed.

This phenomenon is an indicator that the social composition of students is asymmetric to the social structure of society, has a very narrow social base replenishment.

A significant stratification of students also occurs in the educational process: we are talking not only about academic performance, levels of diligence, but also differences in the incentive factors of learning.

Along with those who adequately respond to market impulses and, as a result, are active in mastering knowledge, there is a large group of students with opposite aspirations. They are characterized by the absence of more or less clear guidelines, formal adaptation or alienation from the educational process, the importance of external stimuli in learning, such as the forceful influence of the dean's office, strict control over attendance at classes, etc.

Moreover, they ignore the need for significant own efforts to master knowledge, acquire a professional

self-determination.

From this we can conclude that the socially protective functions of higher education in a number of cases form the dependent positions of students. Youth at the beginning of the XXI century: basic values, positions, guidelines: Materials of the All-Russian student conference. November 21 - 22, 2002 .-- Samara: SGEA, 2002, pp. 104 - 105.

Chapter 2. Social image student body

2.1 Social status and well-being of the student

When considering the status position of the student body, the emphasis is usually on the "transience", "marginality" of the group engaged in activities in preparation for highly skilled mental work, characterized by special forms social activity, characteristic not only of young people in education, but also of those detachments of the intelligentsia, which they are preparing to fill up at the university.

Among the indicators of the status of students, one can distinguish a group of descriptive ones (gender, place of residence before university, education of parents) and acquired, achieved by a person by the present moment of his life.

As the study shows, the influx of students from their hometown to technical universities has increased than before. On the one hand, their "starting position" is in many ways more advantageous: closer ties with the family, there is no need to experience the difficulties of living in a hostel, it is easier to decide on a future place of residence. From a social point of view, this part of university youth is less dynamic and independent, and its status remains dependent on the position of the parental family for a long time. And in self-determination through the university, the element of personal initiative manifests itself a little later.

Students from small and medium types of settlements, as a rule, return to their native places, although at present this can be considered a forced action. The desire to gain a foothold in more developed types of settlements, revealed in previous studies, is today not provided with guarantees of employment. Hence, in the future, the migration mobility of young people will increase, not only in connection with the need for higher education, but also due to the need to acquire a more stable social position in the future.

It is very difficult to talk about the social status of students depending on the social belonging of the parents in the context of the re-composition of the entire social structure.

A feature of modern students is that the process of their inclusion in public life goes not only through learning activities and professional training, but also through the formation of independent material and living conditions, new forms of manifestation of their own activity and through the choice of forms of social interaction. The process of formation of financial, property and housing status by young people, independent of their parents, has two “key points”: 16-17 years old, when more or less massive inclusion in adult economic life begins, and 21-22 years, when the first experience of materializing household intentions of the student body.

How successful are the attempts of modern students to acquire their own material and everyday status? The main source of income for students is still help from parents and relatives. 6% of the surveyed students do not have family support at all, and one in five, without denying that it exists, simply does not consider it essential. The second most important source is the scholarship, but its size is such that only 1/3 of students can name it as the main source of livelihood (the differences between universities are insignificant). A very significant source is the salary, which today 13% of students have.

To remove Negative consequences the necessary disconnection from study to earn money, you can pay attention to the connection additional work with the training received at the university. Half of the "moonlighting" students do not have such a connection. Only 11% of the respondents unequivocally point to the opportunity to work in a related specialty, another 12% use their professional knowledge in part. It is interesting that in those universities where students go for "extra work" less often, they to a greater extent agree on this with their future profession. Cherednichenko G.A. Youth of Russia: Social orientations and life paths(Experience of sociological research). - SPb .: RHGI, 2004, pp. 36 - 45.

The development of the material and everyday status of students is associated with their attitude to the object-material world, which is always essential in the self-awareness and well-being of students.

Judging by the results of the study, every fifth student already has their own housing (apartment, a private house). This is natural, because half of the respondents live with their parents, having the right to a living space, and another 7% are direct owners of housing.

Young people have not spared new forms of "capital investment": half of the students of classical and pedagogical universities have securities and jewelry (expensive jewelry, etc.), which are considered a necessary attribute of material status by more than a third of all students. A number of universities use credit cards for scholarships through bank deposits.

It is obvious that the material and household status of a student is in the process of formation and registration. With a purely youthful egoism, the student is so far focused only on himself. This is evidenced at least by the fact that such an item of expenditure as assistance to parents is at the bottom of the scale.

At the same time, self-determination in the everyday sphere for some students is associated with the presence of their own family. Student families (that is, families in which at least one of the spouses is a student) need support - this is an indisputable fact.

Some aspects psycho-emotional state students.

Transfer from school education to higher education, the professional growth of students from elementary courses to senior ones is accompanied by the development of the personality and her psyche. Observing the attitude of students to the studied subject, their behavior in the student group, one can note some patterns of the psychoemotional state of students. As you study at the university, the memorization of the passed educational material increases, the level of its presentation when answering, and vice versa, emotions about the "discoveries" of the unknown decrease.

Students experience a certain amount of pressure from the student environment. If at school it was possible to appeal to teachers, to seek support from parents, then at the university it is not customary. The lifestyle of students is influenced by the need to stay in large groups - this is a student group, a stream, a course.

Of course, students are influenced by their maturation from course to course. However, they continue to carry the image of a schoolboy: they are worried when they are asked in the classroom when the test is due. It is noticed that in the process of studying at a university, students often have psycho-emotional stress- a kind of stress. The reason for this condition may be overload or too little workload with educational cases. Overloading raises concerns in terms of fear of not being in time, not coping, or getting an unsatisfactory grade. Low workload creates anxiety about their value - students are often offended if they are ignored in some work, not asked in class, etc. Youth at the beginning of the XXI century: basic values, positions, guidelines: Materials of the All-Russian student conference. November 21 - 22, 2002 .-- Samara: SGEA, 2002, pp. 105 - 106.

Poor social well-being of a significant part of students is caused by unsolvable social problems. The degree of anxiety among female students is significantly higher than among male students. Everyone is equally worried about the poor financial situation. But in terms of prospects - possible unemployment, poor concern for leisure, about each other - the mood of girls is noticeably worse than men, who, in turn, are more worried about additional earnings.

2.2 Political, moral and cultural-leisure orientations of students

The weight and importance of youth as a subject of political changes (which is not always connected with their real participation in these changes) is recognized by representatives of various political forces- from the ruling to the opposition. And this interest prompts to study the problem of "youth and politics".

Like other youth groups, politics is not priority area interests and needs of modern students, although they experience a certain influence of political events in the country on their lives.

The most important determinant of the attitude of young people to politics is the deterioration of their financial situation. The political interest of today's youth is “selective” and manifests itself from time to time.

Today, when the fulfillment of public assignments, membership in a political organization has ceased to be an indicator of social activity, many forms of student participation in political activity have been reduced to a minimum. Moreover, as usually happens, there is a pendulum movement - from formal, forced participation ("doing", "doing", "being") - to nonparticipation. The hopes that participation would become, albeit much less massive, but conscious and voluntary, did not come true. If we take into account (and this is becoming more and more clear today) that in the activities of university Komsomol organizations there were not only negative aspects (ideologization, over-organization, formalism), but also positive ones (organization of study, work, everyday life and leisure of students, the formation of the qualities of a leader and leader), it becomes clear: the current orientations of the overwhelming majority of students will be serious obstacles to overcoming the institutional crisis in the youth movement.

This trend is widespread. Differences in gender (young men are slightly more active), in the direction of education (natural scientists and economists are slightly more active than techies and humanities), and in higher education institutions are of little significance and only confirm the general trend.

The main form of youth interest in politics today is informational. The inconsistency of the stereotype widespread in recent years, when the political apathy of young people (a real fact in relation to participation in political activity, political parties, movements) was carried over to her attitude to information about politics. This is especially unacceptable for students in the humanities and economists, whose interest in political information is above average. Therefore, it seems not entirely justified that the curtailment of the well-established system of political informing of students that has taken place in recent years. This was facilitated by the fact that many departments of social and humanitarian sciences - under the pretext of "de-ideologization", "depoliticization" - use very little of the potential of their basic courses and special courses for systematic informing students on topical political issues. However, the one-sidedness of political informing of students, its transformation into political agitation, is unacceptable. In the context of an election campaign, this can lead to the involvement of students in political games on the side of certain forces. Therefore, the inclusion in the charters of many universities of the provision on the inadmissibility of political propaganda in the teaching and upbringing of students must be strictly observed.

Most students have a preference for democratic reforms. Even in conditions when many students directly feel the negative consequences of these reforms, the general democratic orientation of their orientations remains. Although - and this must be foreseen - a further reassessment of values and a decline in prestige in the eyes of students of democratic parties and movements is quite possible.

Deideologization, the collapse of faith in various "isms" affects the fairly wide support by students of non-political movements and associations that put forward social protection of certain groups of the population as the main task. It can be assumed that a movement seeking to express and protect the interests of young people would also receive considerable support from students.

Students increasingly relate their attitude to politics, when an ever-increasing non-participation in it becomes a reality, with the readiness and ability of power structures of any level to solve specific social problems. The reorientation from the values of the global level to specific acute and unresolved problems, characteristic of youth consciousness, can be considered quite normal.

More and more important are not so much social as personal guidelines. This is especially evident in the ideas of young people about success in life, which is used by sociologists as an indicator of their value orientations.

Among the most significant values:

business to your liking, interesting job.

high earnings, material well-being.

good, faithful friends, a good relationship in the family, satisfaction in intimate life, love.

On the whole, we can say: the student body is becoming more practical, more pragmatic. But at the same time, the focus on creative, interesting work remains, the importance of intangible values (Friendship, Love, Family) for the success increases. The contradiction is sharpening: how to correlate market attitudes and universal values?

The least significant for the students were fame, connections, acquaintances, power, the ability to command people, a quiet life.

It turns out that the ideas about the crisis of ideals and values of young people need serious clarification. Yes, many ideals have collapsed, politicized illusions and stereotypes have disappeared. But the moral sphere, the orientation towards decency and sincerity in interpersonal relationships turned out to be more stable. And this - for all the costs - is a positive point.

Unfavorable conditions for leisure activities and recreation of young people, as well as the lack of social and cultural benefits for them, were not among the most important social problems student body. However, this testifies not so much to the absence of the problem of organizing leisure as such, but to the fact that against the background of the ongoing social and economic cataclysms, it is in the background, giving way to difficulties in financial situation, poor health, unemployment, fear for the safety of relatives and friends. ...

There is no finding that male college students, on average, spend much more money on leisure activities than female students.

Conclusion

Summing up, we can say the following: firstly, changes in the composition of the student body in terms of social origin and living standards indicate an increase in differentiation, heterogeneity, and differences in the student body in universities, faculties, and professional groups. Gradually, the priority in the formation of the student body is shifting to the strata more adapted to the economic realities of our society. If this process develops further, the access of the poorest strata to higher education will be very difficult. Second, the stabilization of the reproduction of student youth shows that interest in higher education has persisted, which is also reflected in the “rise” of its value in the hierarchy of students' values. However, the contradictions that arise between the institution of higher education and various other segments of society lead to an increase in dysfunctional consequences. They are diverse in their manifestations and can be seen, in particular, in students' dissatisfaction with the quality of the training they receive, deformation of individual layers of the educational process. But the most important thing is that there is a steady decline in the main result of the functioning of higher education - the education of students, the level of their professional competence.

So, young people strive to get a higher education, believing that "without it nowhere," but do not forget that a diploma ceases to be a guarantee of employment and makes its owner dependent on supply and demand in the labor market.

List of used literature

http://www.ronl.ru/sociologiya/11803.htm

Boyko L.I. Transformation of functions of higher education and social positions of students // Sociological studies. - 2002. -№3.

Youth at the beginning of the XXI century: basic values, positions, guidelines: Materials of the All-Russian student conference. November 21 - 22, 2002 (Samara State Economic Academy, etc.). - Samara: SGEA, 2002.

Rutkevich M.N. Sociology of Education and Youth: Selected Works (1965 - 2002). - M .: Gardariki, 2002.

Students // G.V. Osipov. Russian Sociological Encyclopedia. - M.: 1998, p. 544.

Cherednichenko G.A. Youth of Russia: social orientations and life paths (Experience of sociological research). - SPb .: RHGI, 2004.

Bibliography

Danilova, E. A. Youth in the regional society: theoretical aspect // News of higher educational institutions. Social Sciences... - 2010. - No. 1 (13) - S. 62-69.
Sokhan, L. V. Lifestyle of youth / L. V. Sokhan // Sociology of youth: encyclopedic dictionary / Yu. A. Zubok, V. I. Chuprov: Academia, 2008.
Borisova U.S. Features of ethnocultural identification of Sakha students // Social and Humanitarian Sciences at Far East... - 2012.- No. 1 (33). - S. 101-108.

Introduction

The choice of the topic of this work was not difficult, since I myself am a student and have the opportunity to consider this problem from the inside. Moreover, the question of the role of students in our society and, in particular, in a group of young people, is very relevant for many reasons.
Scientific interest in such a social group of young people as students is determined by the fact that, firstly, in a developed society, the rapidly developing branches of the national economy, science and culture determine a further increase in the number and quality of training of specialists with higher education (in relation to other groups of students youth); secondly, the socioeconomic significance of the educational and preparatory functions of university students is growing; thirdly, the student body is the most important source of reproduction of the intelligentsia; fourthly, the great role played by students in the social and political life of our country.
The purpose of this work is to consider the sociology of the student body.
Tasks:
- to investigate the social structure of the student body;
- consider the social status of the student;
- to give a description of the modern student body.

1. The social structure of the student body

The student body is a social group consisting of young people studying in higher educational institutions. An essential social feature of the student body is its closeness in the nature of activity, interests, and orientation to the social group of the intelligentsia and specialists. This also determines the internal heterogeneity of the student body, not only in terms of social origin, nationality, and demographic characteristics, but, above all, in terms of their professional appearance, which are close to those of the corresponding groups of specialists. The general world trend in the conditions of the scientific and technological revolution is the rapid quantitative growth of the student body, mainly in the industrially developed countries. Associated with this is the democratization of higher education, the expansion of social sources for replenishing the student body. The rapid increase in the proportion of people from various strata of the working people led to the active participation of students in the mass anti-war and other anti-democratic movements, in the struggle to solve environmental problems. Various forms of international student cooperation have taken shape and are developing in these movements, as well as in sports (Universiade) and other types of social activities. one
The student body as a special group arose in Europe in the 12th century simultaneously with the first universities. The medieval student body was extremely heterogeneous both socially and in terms of age. With the development of capitalism and the increase in the social significance of higher education, the role of students in the life of society is growing. The student body is not only a source of replenishment of qualified personnel, the intelligentsia, but also itself constitutes a rather numerous and important social group. Although the high cost of higher education and the presence of a number of other social barriers made it accessible in most cases only for the wealthy strata of society, and it itself gave the people who received it significant privileges, already in the 19th - beginning. 20th century the student body was distinguished by high political activity and played a noticeable role in public life.
The scientific and technological revolution brought about major shifts in the position and composition of the student body. The need for educated personnel is everywhere causing a rapid increase in the absolute number of students, as well as their share in the total mass of the population, and especially in the youth age groups. In connection with the enlargement of higher educational institutions, the concentration of students is increasing, student campuses are becoming more and more crowded. The growing mass character of higher education undermines its former elitism and makes the student body more democratic in terms of social origin. Certain shifts are also taking place in the age and sex structure of the student body, in particular, the number of women is increasing.
Despite the differences in their social origin and, consequently, in material opportunities, students are bound by a common type of activity and in this sense forms a certain social and professional group. Common activity in combination with territorial concentration generates among students a certain community of interests, group self-awareness, a specific subculture and way of life, and this is complemented and enhanced by age homogeneity, which other socio-professional groups do not have. The socio-psychological community is objectified and consolidated by the activities of a number of political, cultural, educational, sports and household student organizations.
Students do not occupy an independent place in the production system, student status is deliberately temporary, and the social status of students and their specific problems are determined by the nature of the social system and are concretized depending on the level of socio-economic and cultural development of the country, including the national characteristics of the higher education system.
The student body, being an integral part of youth, is a specific social group characterized by special conditions of life, work and life, social behavior and psychology, and a system of value orientations. For its representatives, preparation for future activities in the chosen sphere of material or spiritual production is the main, although not the only, occupation.
As a social group, the student body is an association of young people with certain socially significant aspirations and tasks. At the same time, the student body, being a specific group of student youth, has characteristics inherent only to it.
The student body is a rather mobile social group, its composition changes annually, since the number of students admitted to universities exceeds the number of graduates.
Several more typical features should be attributed to the specific features of the student body. First of all, such as social prestige. As noted above, the student body is the most prepared, educated part of the youth, which undoubtedly makes it one of the most advanced youth groups. This, in turn, predetermines the formation of specific features of student psychology.
In an effort to complete their studies at a university and thus realize their dream of obtaining a higher education, most students realize that a university is one of the means of social advancement of young people, and this serves as an objective prerequisite that forms the psychology of social advancement.
The commonality of goals in obtaining higher education, the unified nature of work - study, lifestyle, active participation in public affairs of the university contributes to the development of cohesion among students. This is manifested in the variety of forms of collectivist activity of students.
Another important feature is that active interaction with various social formations of society, as well as the specifics of education at a university, lead students to a great opportunity for communication. Therefore, a rather high intensity of communication is a specific feature of the student body.
A socially significant feature of the student body is also an intense search for the meaning of life, a striving for new ideas and progressive transformations in society. These aspirations are positive. However, due to the insufficiency of life (social) experience, the surface in assessing a number of life phenomena, some students from fair criticism of shortcomings can move on to thoughtless criticism.
The problem of student reproduction can be considered in various aspects. Since the student body is formed from young representatives of various strata, then during the periods of transformation of the social structure of society, it can serve as an indicator of these processes.
It itself is also an active participant in them: after all, higher education performs the function of individual and / or group social mobility and reproduction of strata engaged in highly skilled and complex labor.
The analysis of the social structure of students is also important in the aspect of social justice, since it shows the availability of higher education for various strata, that is, from the point of view of “equalizing the chances for all”.
But there is also a socio-cultural aspect of this problem: in what social environment are there optimal material and cultural conditions for the formation of a complex of personal qualities required for higher education? Indeed, for the successful passage of the competition, the formation of the academic discipline of students, the desire to master the studied subject well, develop their horizons, etc. Therefore, representatives of some social strata turn out to be more competitive for the higher education system (it is easier to enter a prestigious university, a prestigious faculty), others - less competitive.
What changes are taking place in the social structure of the student body at the present time? What are the main social sources of recruiting? What are the most essential features of his social culture expressed, how is his reproduction carried out?
First, there are relatively few unemployed among the parents of students (unemployed, unemployed pensioners, disabled people, etc.). Those. the social structure of the student body, in comparison with the social structure of society, looks like a more prosperous one, it is a structure of the "improved" type. Second, the social composition of the student body is quite variegated: both traditional and new strata that have emerged in the course of reforms (business owners, entrepreneurs) are widely represented in it. Thirdly, the dominant group is students who come from families of specialists with higher education. Fourth, the proportion of children of workers and support personnel among students has significantly decreased. Fifth, the student body is rapidly replenishing with representatives of a new layer for us - young people from families where one of the parents, or even both parents, are owners of private firms in various layers of business.
An important feature of the social composition of the student body is the high employment of parents in the state or non-state sector of the economy. Why is this factor considered to be a differentiating feature of college students? The fact is that people associated with the private sector have life prospects, expectations and attitudes, the standard of living is fundamentally different than those of the strata "tied" to the public sector. Another line of stratification of the student body “ran” between universities: it turned out that different universities “accumulate” students from different countries far from the same. Of course, before there were universities that were distinguished by both prestige and "elitism" (that is, a high proportion of students who came from the ranks of the Soviet elite). However, now the list of elite universities has been replenished.
Along with the economic situation of parental families, from the beginning of the 90s of the XX century, another factor of stabilization of the standard of living of students began to "work": additional earnings. They have become so widespread that, in fact, one can speak of a change in the lifestyle of the student body, since, along with the educational one, they are becoming the second main activity of the student body. There is no direct connection with the standard of living of the student's family, that is, both those in need and those who have noted a high standard of living work part-time.
Probably, additional earnings are becoming a new standard of behavior, symbolizing the efficiency and entrepreneurial spirit of students (that is, they perform not only their direct function).
Education in universities is the most important channel of social displacement (social mobility) for young people from all social groups and strata. With the rapid growth of the absolute number and proportion of specialists in general and the layer of highly qualified specialists in particular, the last layer is in the process of expanded reproduction. It is quite understandable that in conditions when the number of the stratum in question has almost doubled over the course of each last decade, the problem of the social sources of its replenishment requires especially careful analysis. The decisive factors determining the increasingly uniform recruitment of students from all social groups of society are the following two:

Rapprochement of social groups in terms of material conditions of existence.

Both of these historic achievements on the path to more complete social equality have an increasingly significant impact on the equalization of opportunities for higher education for the younger generation. The social composition of those entering universities and of the entire contingent of students (excluding students at evening and correspondence departments) is consistently approaching the social composition of the population. Changes in the latter are most accurately recorded by population censuses. 2
The contradictory influence of various factors has created an ambiguous situation in the domestic higher education. The social mechanism for replenishing the student body makes the university system more and more self-reproducing.
Sociologist L.I. Boyko published the following data on the social structure of the student body. The composition of students is dominated by young people whose parents have a high educational level: at least 60% of the respondents come from families of specialists with higher education, and about 30% - with secondary specialized. The proportion of those whose parents are leaders of various ranks has significantly increased; every third student has a father and every fifth - a mother belongs to this category. 3
A significant stratification of students occurs in the educational process: we are talking not only about academic performance, levels of diligence, but also differences in the incentive factors of learning.
Along with those who adequately respond to market impulses and, as a result, are active in mastering knowledge, there is a large group of students with opposite aspirations. They are characterized by the absence of more or less clear guidelines, formal adaptation or alienation from the educational process, the importance of external stimuli in learning, such as the forceful influence of the dean's office, strict control over attendance at classes, etc.
Moreover, they ignore the need for significant own efforts to master knowledge and acquire professional self-determination.
From this we can conclude that the socially protective functions of higher education in a number of cases form the dependent positions of students.

2. The social status of the student

When considering the status position of students, the emphasis is usually on the "transitional", "marginality" of the group engaged in activities to prepare for highly skilled mental work, characterized by special forms of social activity, characteristic not only of young students, but also of those detachments of the intelligentsia, which it prepares at the university.
Among the indicators of the status of students, one can distinguish a group of descriptive ones (gender, place of residence before university, education of parents) and acquired, achieved by a person by the present moment of his life.
The gender distribution of the student body has remained almost unchanged for many years. In this study, 43% are boys and 57% are girls: this is their share in the university on average. Naturally, the predominance of young men in technical universities and girls among future humanities students.
As the study shows, the influx of students from their hometown to technical universities has increased than before. On the one hand, their "starting position" is in many ways more advantageous: closer ties with the family, there is no need to experience the difficulties of living in a hostel, it is easier to decide on a future place of residence. From a social point of view, this part of university youth is less dynamic and independent, and its status remains dependent on the position of the parental family for a long time. And in self-determination through the university, the element of personal initiative manifests itself a little later.
Students from small and medium types of settlements, as a rule, return to their native places, although at present this can be considered a forced action. The desire to gain a foothold in more developed types of settlements, revealed in previous studies, is today not provided with guarantees of employment. Hence, in the future, the migration mobility of young people will increase, not only due to the need for higher education, but also due to the need to acquire a more stable social position in the future.
It is very difficult to talk about the social status of students depending on the social belonging of the parents in the context of the re-composition of the entire social structure.
More important are those status characteristics that are formed during the period of study at the university. It is at this stage that the differentiation of students takes place, associated with their own activity in educational, research, socially useful, economic activities.
A feature of modern students is that the process of their inclusion in public life goes not only through educational activities and professional training, but also through the formation of independent material and living conditions, new forms of manifestation of their own activity and through the choice of forms of social interaction. The process of formation of financial, property and housing status by young people, independent of their parents, has two “key points”: 16-17 years old, when more or less massive inclusion in adult economic life begins, and 21-22 years, when the first experience of materializing household intentions of the student body.
How successful are the attempts of modern students to acquire their own material and everyday status? The main source of income for students is still help from parents and relatives. 6% of the surveyed students do not have family support at all, and one in five, without denying that it exists, simply does not consider it essential. The second most important source is a scholarship, but its size is such that only 1/3 of students can name it as the main source of livelihood (the differences between universities are insignificant). A very significant source is the salary, which today 13% of students have.
Gender differences are significant. Every fifth person has additional income, but among boys it is 27%, and among girls - 14%, that is, half as much. Various earnings in addition to scholarships, allowances, and help from relatives help to hold out, on average, one third of students, which is typical for 52% of boys and 21% of girls.
In order to remove the negative consequences of the necessary disconnection from studies in order to earn money, one can pay attention to the connection between additional work and the training received at the university. Half of the "moonlighting" students do not have such a connection. Only 11% of the respondents unequivocally point to the opportunity to work in a related specialty, another 12% use their professional knowledge in part. It is interesting that in those universities where students go for "extra work" less often, they to a greater extent agree on this with their future profession. four
The expenses of the students are naturally connected with the satisfaction of the primary needs, which include: food, recreational activities, the purchase of clothes. For every fourth student, the bulk of the money goes to pay for housing, and every fifth student - to purchase educational supplies.
The development of the material and everyday status of students is associated with their attitude to the object-material world, which is always essential in the self-awareness and well-being of students.
Judging by the results of the study, every fifth student already has their own housing (apartment, private house). This is natural, because half of the respondents live with their parents, having the right to a living space, and another 7% are direct owners of housing.
It is obvious that the material and household status of a student is in the process of formation and registration. With a purely youthful egoism, the student is so far focused only on himself. This is evidenced at least by the fact that such an item of expenditure as assistance to parents is at the bottom of the scale.
The transition from school education to university education, the professional growth of students from primary to senior courses is accompanied by the development of the personality and its psyche. Observing the attitude of students to the studied subject, their behavior in the student group, one can note some patterns of the psychoemotional state of students. As you study at the university, the memorization of the passed educational material increases, the level of its presentation when answering, and vice versa, emotions about the "discoveries" of the unknown decrease.
Students experience a certain amount of pressure from the student environment. If at school it was possible to appeal to teachers, to seek support from parents, then at the university it is not customary. The lifestyle of students is influenced by the need to stay in large groups - this is a student group, a stream, a course.
Of course, students are influenced by their maturation from course to course. It is noticed that in the process of studying at a university, students often experience psycho-emotional stress - a kind of stress. The reason for this condition may be overload or too little workload with educational cases.

3. Characteristics of modern students

The weight and importance of youth as a subject of political changes (which is far from always connected with their real participation in these changes) is recognized by representatives of various political forces - from the ruling to the opposition. And this interest prompts to study the problem of "youth and politics".
Like other groups of young people, politics is not a priority area of interests and needs of modern students, although they experience a certain influence of political events in the country on their lives.
The most important determinant of the attitude of young people to politics is the deterioration of their financial situation. The political interest of today's youth is “selective” and manifests itself from time to time.
More and more important are not so much social as personal guidelines. This is especially evident in the ideas of young people about success in life, which is used by sociologists as an indicator of their value orientations.
Among the most significant values: business to your liking, interesting work; high earnings, material well-being; good, loyal friends, good family relationships, satisfaction in intimate life, love 5.
On the whole, we can say: the student body is becoming more practical, more pragmatic. But at the same time, the focus on creative, interesting work remains, the importance of intangible values (Friendship, Love, Family) for the success increases. The contradiction is sharpening: how to correlate market attitudes and universal values?
The least significant for the students were fame, connections, acquaintances, power, the ability to command people, a quiet life.
It turns out that the ideas about the crisis of ideals and values of young people need serious clarification. Yes, many ideals have collapsed, politicized illusions and stereotypes have disappeared. But the moral sphere, the orientation towards decency and sincerity in interpersonal relationships turned out to be more stable. And this - for all the costs - is a positive point.
Unfavorable conditions for leisure activities and recreation of young people, as well as the lack of social and cultural benefits for them, were not among the most important social problems of students. However, this testifies not so much to the absence of the problem of organizing leisure as such, but to the fact that against the background of the ongoing social and economic cataclysms, it is in the background, giving way to difficulties in financial situation, poor health, unemployment, fear for the safety of relatives and friends. ... There is no finding that male college students, on average, spend much more money on leisure activities than female students.

Conclusion

List of sources and literature used

Boyko L.I. Transformation of functions of higher education and social positions of students // Sociological studies. - 2008. - No. 3. - S. 77-90.

G.V. Osipov Russian Sociological Encyclopedia. - M .: GRAND, 2007.

Rutkevich M.N. Sociology of education and youth. - M .: Gardariki, 2008.

Kravchenko A.I. Sociology: Textbook for universities. - M .: Academic Project, 2008.

Cherednichenko G.A. Youth of Russia: Social orientations and life paths (Experience of sociological research). - SPb: RHGI, 2009

In the near future, the political moods of young people, as well as with which politicians they will associate their expectations, will largely depend on their social status, sociocultural attitudes and values. Hence the need to study its most diverse groups, strata and detachments. However, so far different social groups of young people are studied unevenly by sociologists. The main attention is given to high school graduates and students of pedagogical universities, and many other professional groups of students, as well as young graduates of universities, are much less represented in the studies.

The study was carried out in the spring of 1995 among university students in the Sverdlovsk region. The method of a questionnaire survey was used to study such problems of student life as financial situation, the level of professional and social self-determination, political activity, free time, relationships with various student organizations.

The choice of third-year students as the object of research is due to the fact that by this time the adaptation period has been completed, the influence of pre-university factors is less significant, professional interests and long-term life plans are actualized.

Social status and well-being of the student

In domestic works, it is not always taken into account that the student years are a completely independent stage in a person's life, during which he has and forms his own development environment, participates in such activities that today act as personality-forming factors and determines the model of social behavior of this social groups. Among the indicators of the status of students, one can distinguish a group of descriptive ones (gender, place of residence before university, education of parents) and acquired, achieved by a person by the present moment of his life.

The gender distribution of the student body has remained almost unchanged for many years. In this study, 43% are boys and 57% are girls: this is their share in the university on average. Naturally, the predominance of young men in technical universities and girls among future humanities students. The process of feminization of higher education remains “spontaneously stable”, although the situation of social content of unemployment (most of the unemployed are women with higher education) has long been in need of regulation.

Students from small and medium types of settlements, as a rule, return to their native places, although at present this can be considered a forced action. The desire to gain a foothold in more developed types of settlements, revealed in previous studies, is today not provided with guarantees of employment. Hence, in the future, the migration mobility of young people will increase, not only due to the need for higher education, but also due to the need to acquire a more stable social position in the future.

It is very difficult to talk about the social status of students depending on the social belonging of the parents in the context of the re-composition of the entire social structure. One feature was taken in the studies - education, the connection of which with the factor of choosing a university was always strong.

More important are those status characteristics that are formed during the period of study at the university. It is at this stage that the differentiation of students takes place, associated with their own activity in educational, research, socially useful, economic activities. The study of this differentiation is important because its structure partly predetermines the future social status of specialists and is a prototype of the distribution of the population group with higher education in the social structure. It is clear that the traditional and new strata of Russian society are already being reproduced with the participation of this youth.

A feature of modern students is that the process of their inclusion in public life goes not only through educational activities and professional training, but also through the formation of independent material and living conditions, new forms of manifestation of their own activity and through the choice of forms of social interaction. The process of formation of financial, property and housing status by young people, independent of their parents, has two “key points”: 16-17 years old, when more or less massive inclusion in adult economic life begins, and 21-22 years, when the first experience of materializing household intentions of the student body.

How successful are the attempts of modern students to acquire their own material and everyday status? The main source of income for students is still help from parents and relatives. 6% of the surveyed students do not have family support at all, and one in five, without denying that it exists, simply does not consider it essential. The second most important source is a scholarship, but its size is such that only 1/3 of students can name it as the main source of livelihood (the differences between universities are insignificant).

A very significant source is the salary, which today 13% of students have. Construction brigades are losing their importance as sources of livelihood. Their role today has become comparable to the profit from the resale of goods, shadow business and other "new" types of income generation, although one in ten students is officially recognized as having one-time earnings.

Gender differences are significant. Every fifth person has additional income, but among boys it is 27%, and among girls - 14%, that is, half as much. Various earnings in addition to scholarships, allowances, and help from relatives help to hold out, on average, one third of students, which is typical for 52% of boys and 21% of girls. Unlike previous years, when summer labor in a construction brigade could provide funds for several months of a normal life, today the main thing for young people is to find a permanent income and keep labor Relations during the training period.

In order to remove the negative consequences of the necessary disconnection from studies to earn money, one can pay attention to the connection between additional work and the training received at the university. Half of the "moonlighting" students do not have such a connection. Only 11% of the respondents unequivocally point to the opportunity to work in a related specialty, another 12% use their professional knowledge in part. It is interesting that in those universities where students go for "extra work" less often, they to a greater extent agree on this with their future profession.

The expenses of the students are naturally connected with the satisfaction of the primary needs, which include: food, recreational activities, the purchase of clothes. For every fourth student, the bulk of the money goes to pay for housing, and every fifth student - to purchase educational supplies. At the same time, the tendency of admitting local youth to universities turns into the fact that two-thirds of the students do not need the costs of housing, purchasing durable goods, financing of summer vacations, because they rely on the support of the parental family.

It is difficult to unequivocally identify and assess such items of expenditure as “for leisure” and “for vacations”. Without a special analysis, it is not clear whether this is related to the content of the leisure activity program or to the fact that free time is spent not on entertainment, but mainly on earning money, which is indirectly confirmed by a significant number of those students who have no expenses at all for their free time.

Judging by the results of the study, every fifth student already has their own housing (apartment, private house). This is natural, because half of the respondents live with their parents, having the right to a living space, and another 7% are direct owners of housing.

To the question about “private property”, more precisely, about the availability of certain items at our own disposal - durable goods, acting in this case as “status signs”, the following answers were received: from the number of prestigious things symbolizing the status of an individual in the modern youth subculture, the presence of a car, video and television equipment, and a computer at their disposal were noted. Young people have not spared new forms of "capital investment": half of the students of classical and pedagogical universities have securities and jewelry (expensive jewelry, etc.), which are considered a necessary attribute of material status by more than a third of all students. A number of universities use credit cards for scholarships through bank deposits.

Introduction

If a group is considered as a subject of activity, then its structure must be approached from the point of view of analyzing the structure of group activity, including an analysis of the functions of each member of the group.

TO structural characteristics groups, first of all, should include: differences in individuals in position, differences in functions that are assigned to an individual by an organization or group (roles), a system of group expectations, a system of group norms and, finally, a system of group sanctions. Often, the property status of an educated person elected to a high political post is immeasurably lower than the property status of those who made a lot of money quickly enough, engaging in economic scams, transactions, etc. Whose status is the social position higher? How to correlate the property of one person, the highest education and the qualifications of the other, the interesting and scarce profession of the third?

Social status

Although status is a very common concept in sociology, a single interpretation of its nature in this science has not been achieved.

The general understanding of status is reduced to the following provisions: 1) status means the position of an individual in a group or society; 2) status is the social position of a person in society. Social status is a generalized characteristic covering the profession, economic situation, political opportunities, demographic properties of a person.

The classical formulation of status belongs to the American sociologist R. Linton (1930s), who separated social status from social role, saying that a person occupies status as a certain cell, and the role must be played. Also determines the status of N. Smelzer. Thus, "the status indicates a position that is related to the range of rights and obligations, privileges and obligations, prescribed by law opportunities or restrictions, publicly recognized and supported by the authority of public opinion."

Status privileges are what distinguishes one status from another. Social prestige (respect, recognition) of statuses (more precisely, the prestige of functions assigned to a specific status), in fact, is a hierarchy of statuses shared by society and enshrined in culture and public opinion. The statuses in society are hierarchical. The adopted hierarchy (ranking) of statuses is the basis for the stratification of this society. Status privileges can be either positive or negative. Highlighting the main status is important because it defines a person socially. Moreover, the status that society identifies as the main one does not always coincide with the status that a person allocates for himself. However, people perceive each other depending on their status. Thus, in the course of one study of this problem, several groups of students represented the same person as: in the first - a student, in the second - a laboratory assistant, in the third - a graduate student, in the fourth - a teacher, etc. Then students from each of these groups were asked to determine his height. As a result, the height of this person from the first to the last group increased by 5 inches, while the height of the accompanying experimenter did not change in the eyes of the students.

Status as a cultural phenomenon is hedged with honors, symbols and privileges corresponding to its rank. The higher the rank, the more privileges. Status requires from a person socially approved behavior, the implementation of certain rights and responsibilities, adequate role-playing behavior, and finally, identification, that is, psychological identification of oneself with one's status. These are all elements of status.

In general, when it comes to ranking statuses, we mean first of all prestige functions assigned to this status. The social prestige of status plays a huge role in the distribution of social desires, plans, energy (especially, youth). In this zone, a special social tension is created, the most active, trained, ambitious members of society are concentrated. And in this regard, the prestige of this or that status has a significant impact on self-perception, the assertion of one's own "I". Self-perception is a kind of mirror of others' perception of their status. This status self-esteem as an essential feature of an integral personality has two extremes. Low status self-esteem is usually associated with weak resistance to external influences, with conformism, self-doubt and pessimism. A high self-evaluation on the contrary, it is more often associated with activity, entrepreneurship, self-confidence, life optimism.

A person who has reached the top of the hierarchy and, therefore, a high status in one group, may remain unknown in another. As a collector, Mr. N. is highly valued among stamp collectors, but his colleagues at work consider him a very mediocre accountant, and in the family his wife and children even look down on him. It is clear that Mr. N. has three different statuses with three different ranks: high, medium and low. Rarely does anyone manage to have a high status in all groups to which he belongs.

A mismatch of statuses is a mismatch in the ranks of statuses or a conflict of rights and obligations. Therefore, the discrepancy arises under two circumstances: 1) when an individual occupies a high position in one group and a low - in another; 2) when the rights and obligations of one status contradict or interfere with the exercise of the rights and performance of the duties of another status.

The discrepancy between the statuses is manifested in the behavior of the bearer of the status and the expectations of others. So, the minister has no right to engage in commercial activities... A police officer cannot be a mafioso. The duties of a member of an illegal group do not coincide with the duties of a defender of the law. Nobody expects from a banker that he will beg or drive around on the steps of a tram, from an athlete that he will smoke or drink. When this happens, there is a discrepancy between status and the corresponding role behavior.

Students as a special social group. Social role. Role-playing set. in modern world

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Bibliography

Introduction

1. The social structure of the student body

2. The social status of the student

3. Characteristics of modern students

Conclusion

List of sources and literature used

Social status and well-being of the student

Introduction

Social status