Social status is a set, a set of social. functions that are carried out within the framework of rights and lead to a socially significant expected result.

Varieties of social statuses. 1) General (universal) status (for example, the status of a citizen - if we have it, then we can get other statuses) 2) Ascritical ones are achieved without your efforts (daughter ...) 3) Achievable, depend on our efforts (student ...) 4 ) Formalized statuses, officially certify the status (director) 5) Unofficial (bridesmaids ...) Modern society is based on a wide division of labor and functions of people in the process of general reproduction. In accordance with this, they differ in the place they occupy in society (status - in modern society, it covers the profession, economic and gender position, demographic signs of people). Each status is assigned certain rights and obligations. They can be formal (regulatory) or informal. Each person is characterized by a certain set of statuses. The most characteristic is the status of a person, which distinguishes him from others - the main status. The status of the person, into the cat he was born - we attribute the status. Chel has many statuses, but his real behavior is characterized by a certain set of roles. As a result, a status range arises within which a person's behavior varies. Status set - a set of all statuses occupied by a given individual. In a status set, one can distinguish:

Basic statuses - social positions that determine the social position of its bearer; . non-basic statuses - temporary social positions, the rights and obligations of the carriers of which are difficult to determine. The status set includes the following elements: main status - the most characteristic status for a given individual, by which others distinguish him or with which they identify him, by which they determine his position in society; personal status is the position that a person occupies in a small (primary) group, depending on how he is assessed by his individual qualities; social status is the position of a person in society, which he occupies as a representative of a large social group (profession, class, gender, age, etc.).

By origin, social status is divided into: innate status - this is the position that is biologically inherited by a person from birth (sex, nationality, race); ascribed status is a position that a person acquires from birth or that will later necessarily be recognized by a society or group. The assigned status is socially acquired;

achieved status is a position that a person receives due to his own efforts, free choice, or thanks to good luck or luck (not related to the fact of birth); mixed status has features of both ascribed and achieved status.

23. Social role. Role set.

A social role is a set of expedient actions and norms of behavior. There are major and minor social roles, social roles can be evaluated in different ways. Parsons identifies 5 main features of any role: 1) emotionality - some roles require emotional restraint, others - looseness, 2) the method of obtaining - some prescribe, others conquer, 3) scale - some roles are formulated and strictly limited, others are blurred, 4) formalization - action in strictly established rules or arbitrarily, 5) motivation - for the common good, for personal profit. A set of roles (role complex) associated with one status is called a role set. Each status usually involves the performance of a number of roles. Each role in the role set requires a specific demeanor. Each role has its own type of implementation of social relations. The role set forms a set of social relations. Readiness, predisposition to a social attitude is usually called a setting. "Role set" - all types and variety of behavior patterns (roles) assigned to one status. Purely role-playing behavior is a model of behavior based only on status and role prescriptions, which is not influenced by the personal characteristics of the subject or the characteristics of the situation. The real behavior of people most often does not come down to purely role-playing, it is much richer.

Living in a society, one cannot be free from it. During life, a person comes into contact with a large number of other individuals and groups to which they belong. At the same time, in each of them he occupies a certain place. To analyze the position of a person in each group and society as a whole, they use such concepts as social status and Let's take a closer look at what it is.

The meaning of the term and general characteristics

The very word "status" originates from ancient Rome. Then it had more of a legal connotation, rather than a sociological one, and denoted the legal status of an organization.

Now social status is the position of a person in a particular group and society as a whole, endowing him with certain rights, privileges, and duties in relation to other members.

It helps people communicate better with each other. If a person of a certain social status does not fulfill his duties, then he will be responsible for this. So, an entrepreneur who sews clothes to order, if the deadlines are missed, will pay a penalty. In addition, his reputation will be damaged.

Examples of the social status of one person are a schoolboy, son, grandson, brother, member of a sports club, citizen, and so on.

This is a certain one according to his professional qualities, material and age, education and other criteria.

A person can simultaneously enter several teams at once and, accordingly, play not one, but many different roles. Therefore, they talk about status sets. Each person is unique and individual.

Types of social statuses, examples

Their range is quite wide. There are statuses acquired at birth, and there are statuses acquired during life. Those that society ascribes to a person, or those that he achieves through his own efforts.

Allocate the main and passing social status of a person. Examples: the main and universal, in fact, the person himself, then comes the second - this is a citizen. The list of basic statuses also includes consanguinity, economic, political, religious. The list goes on.

Episodic is a passer-by, a patient, a striker, a buyer, an exhibition visitor. That is, such statuses in the same person can change quite quickly and periodically repeat.

Prescribed social status: examples

This is what a person receives from birth, biologically and geographically given characteristics. Until recently, it was impossible to influence them and change the situation. Examples of social status: gender, nationality, race. These set parameters remain with a person for life. Although in our progressive society they have already threatened to change the sex. So one of the listed statuses to some extent ceases to be prescribed.

Much of what pertains to kinship will also be considered as prescribed father, mother, sister, brother. And husband and wife are already acquired statuses.

Achieved status

This is what a person achieves on his own. Making efforts, making choices, working, studying, each individual eventually comes to certain results. His successes or failures are reflected in the society giving him the status he deserves. Doctor, director, company president, professor, thief, homeless person, vagabond.

Almost every achievement has its own insignia. Examples:

• the military, security officials, employees of the internal troops - uniforms and epaulettes;
• doctors have white coats;
• people who have broken the law have tattoos on their bodies.

Roles in society

To understand how this or that object will behave, the social status of a person will help. We find examples and confirmations of this all the time. Expectations in the behavior and appearance of an individual, depending on his belonging to a certain class, is called a social role.

So, the status of a parent obliges to be strict, but fair to your child, to be responsible for him, to teach, give advice, prompt, help in difficult situations. The status of a son or daughter is, on the contrary, a certain subordination to parents, legal and material dependence on them.

But, despite some patterns of behavior, each person has a choice of how to act. Examples of social status and its use by a person do not fit one hundred percent into the proposed framework. There is only a scheme, a certain template, which each individual implements according to his abilities and ideas.

It often happens that it is difficult for one person to combine several social roles. For example, the first role of a woman is mother, wife, and her second role is a successful business woman. Both roles involve the investment of effort, time, full return. There is a conflict.

An analysis of the social status of a person, an example of his actions in life, allow us to conclude that it reflects not only the internal position of a person, but also affects the appearance, manner of dressing, speaking.

Consider examples of social status and standards associated with it in appearance. So, the director of a bank or the founder of a reputable company cannot appear at the workplace in sports trousers or rubber boots. And the priest - to come to church in jeans.

The status that a person has reached makes him pay attention not only to appearance and behavior, but also to choose a social circle, place of residence, and education.

Prestige

Not the last role in the fate of people is played by such a concept as prestige (and positive, from the point of view of the majority, social status). We can easily find examples in the questionnaire, which all students write before entering higher educational institutions. Often they make their choice focusing on the prestige of a particular profession. Now few of the boys dream of becoming an astronaut or a pilot. It used to be a very popular profession. Choose between lawyers and financiers. This is how time dictates.

Conclusion: a person develops as a person in the process of mastering different social statuses and roles. The brighter the dynamics, the more adapted to life the individual will become.

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Federal Agency for Education

Samara State Economic University

Department of Social and Political Sciences

in sociology

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

Done: student

2 courses PEF EOT

Lipey E.A.

Scientific supervisor: Lebedeva L.G.

Introduction

1.1 The concept of students

Conclusion

Introduction

The choice of the topic of the essay was not difficult, because. 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 the youth group, is very relevant for many reasons.

The 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 sectors of the national economy, science and culture cause 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 socio-economic importance of the educational and preparatory functions of university students is growing; thirdly, students are the most important source of reproduction of the intelligentsia; fourthly, the great role that students play in the socio-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 student replenishment, characteristics of its various professional groups, higher education as a channel of social movements, were considered by such researchers as Dmitriev A.V., Ikonnikova S.N., Kolesnikov Yu.S., Lisovsky V.T., Rubin B.G., Rubina L.Ya., Rutkevich M.N., Saar E.A., Titma M.Kh., Filippov F.R. and etc.

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

Chapter 1. The social structure of students

1.1 The concept of students

Students are a social group consisting of young people studying in higher educational institutions. An essential social feature of the student body is its closeness in terms of 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, demographic characteristics, but, above all, in terms of professional features, close to those of the corresponding detachments of specialists. The general world trend in the conditions of the scientific and technological revolution is the rapid quantitative growth of students, mainly in industrialized countries. Related to this is the democratization of higher education and the expansion of social sources for recruiting students. The rapid increase in the proportion of people from various strata of the working people led to the active participation of students in mass anti-war and other anti-democratic movements, in the struggle to solve environmental problems. Various forms of international student cooperation have developed and are developing in these movements, as well as in sports (universiades) and other types of social activities. Osipov G.V. Russian sociological encyclopedia. - M.: 1998, p. 544.

Students as a special group emerged in Europe in the 12th century at the same time as the first universities. Medieval students were extremely heterogeneous both in social and age relations. With the development of capitalism and the increase in the social significance of higher education, the role of students in the life of society increases. The student body is not only a source of replenishment of qualified personnel and intelligentsia, but also constitutes a fairly large 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 to the wealthy segments of society, and it itself gave the people who received it significant privileges, already in the 19th - early. 20th century students distinguished themselves by high political activity and played a prominent role in public life.

The scientific and technological revolution entailed major shifts in the position and composition of the student body. The need for educated personnel everywhere causes a rapid growth in the absolute number of students, as well as their share in the total population, and especially in 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 nature of higher education is undermining its former elitism, making students more democratic in terms of social origin. Certain shifts are also taking place in the gender and age structure of students, in particular, the number of women is increasing.

Despite the differences in their social origin and, consequently, material opportunities, students are connected by a common type of activity and in this sense form a certain socio-professional group. General activity in combination with territorial concentration gives rise to a certain commonality of interests among students, group self-consciousness, a specific subculture and way of life, and this is supplemented 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 everyday student organizations.

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

Students play a special role in the system of social division of labor, which is to prepare for the performance of the functions of the intelligentsia. While not constantly participating in the production of material and spiritual values, students nevertheless partially participate in indirect productive and unproductive labor in the form of education, the role of which in society is growing.

Students, being an integral part of the youth, are 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 activity in the chosen sphere of material or spiritual production is the main, although not the only occupation.

As a social group, students are an association of young people with certain socially significant aspirations and tasks. At the same time, students, representing a specific group of young students, have their own characteristics.

Students are a rather mobile social group; its composition changes every year, since the number of students admitted to universities exceeds the number of graduates.

A few more typical features should be attributed to the number of specific features of the student body. First of all, such as social prestige. As noted above, the students are the most prepared, educated part of the youth, which undoubtedly puts them among the leading groups of youth. This, in turn, predetermines the formation of specific features of the psychology of student age.

In an effort to complete their studies at a university and thus realize their dream of getting 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 for shaping the psychology of social advancement.

The commonality of goals in obtaining higher education, the single nature of work - study, lifestyle, active participation in the 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 studying at a university, lead students to a great opportunity for communication. Therefore, a rather high intensity of communication is a specific feature of students.

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

1.2 Sources of student recruitment

The problem of student youth reproduction can be considered in various aspects. Since the student body is formed from young representatives of various strata, then during 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 the reproduction of strata engaged in highly skilled and complex work.

An analysis of the social structure of the student body is also important in terms of social justice, as it shows the accessibility of higher education for various strata, i.e., from the point of view of "equalizing 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 set of personal qualities required for higher education? After all, for the successful completion of the competition, the formation of the academic discipline of students, the desire to master the subject well, develop their horizons, etc. Therefore, representatives of some social strata are more competitive for the higher education system (they enter a prestigious university, a prestigious faculty more easily), 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 replenishment? What are the most essential features of its social culture, how is its reproduction carried out?

First, among the parents of students, there are relatively few unemployed (unemployed, non-working pensioners, disabled people, etc.). That is, the social structure of the students, in comparison with the social structure of society, looks more prosperous, is a structure of an "improved" type. Secondly, the social composition of the student body is quite diverse: both traditional and new strata that have emerged in the course of the reforms (owners of their own business, entrepreneurs) are widely represented in it. Thirdly, the dominating group is students who come from families of specialists with higher education. Fourth, among students, the proportion of children of workers and auxiliary personnel has significantly decreased. Fifthly, the student body is rapidly 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 business sectors.

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 a differentiating feature of students? The fact is that people associated with the private sector have life prospects, expectations and attitudes, the standard of living is radically different than that of the layers “tied” to the public sector. Another line of stratification of the student body “lay” between universities: it turned out that different universities “accumulate” students from different countries far from equally. Of course, in the past there were universities that were both prestigious and “elitist” (that is, a high proportion of students came from the ranks of the Soviet elite). However, now the list of elite universities has grown.

Along with the economic situation of parental families, since 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, we can talk about a change in the lifestyle of students, since, along with education, they become the second main activity of students. There is no direct connection with the standard of living of the student's family, i.e., both those who are in dire need and those who noted a high standard of living earn extra money.

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

Education in universities is the most important channel of social movement (social mobility) for young people from all social groups and strata. With the rapid growth in the absolute number and proportion of specialists in general and the stratum of highly qualified specialists in particular, the last stratum is in the process of expanded reproduction. It is quite clear that in conditions when the size of the stratum under consideration has almost doubled over the past decade, the problem of the social sources of its replenishment requires especially careful analysis. The following two are the decisive factors that determine the ever more even replenishment of the student body from all social groups of society.

Rapprochement of social groups on the material conditions of existence.

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

Both of these historic achievements on the path to greater social equality are having an increasingly significant impact on equalizing opportunities for higher education among the younger generation. The social composition of university applicants and the entire contingent of students (excluding students in 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.

The contradictory influence of various factors has created an ambiguous situation in the domestic higher education. The social mechanism of student replenishment 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 students are dominated by young people whose parents have a high educational level: at least 60% of the respondents come from families of specialists with a higher education, and about 30% come from families with specialized secondary education. The proportion of those whose parents are leaders of various ranks has increased significantly; every third student's father and every fifth student's mother belong to this category. Boyko L.I. Transformation of the functions of higher education and the social positions of students // Sociological research. 2002. No. 3. Page 81.

These factors predetermine the high economic status of most students.

Recently, the proportion of financially well-off students has increased and amounts to almost 3/4 of the respondents (for comparison: according to similar sociological measurements, among "adults" they are no more than 30%). Moreover, this part determines the general appearance and social well-being of students. Consequently, the student body is replenished mainly from strata that in many respects have successfully adapted to market relations and are well provided for.

This phenomenon is an indication that the social composition of students is asymmetric to the social structure of society, has a very narrow social base of 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 motivating 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 incentives in learning, such as the forceful influence of the dean's office, strict control over class attendance, etc.

Moreover, they ignore the need for significant personal efforts to acquire knowledge, gain professional

self-determination.

From this we can conclude that the social protective functions of higher education in some cases form dependent positions of students. Youth at the beginning of the 21st century: basic values, positions, guidelines: Proceedings of the All-Russian Student Conference. November 21 - 22, 2002. - Samara: SGEA, 2002, pp. 104 - 105.

Chapter 2

2.1 Social status and well-being of the student

When considering the status position of students, the emphasis is usually placed on the “transitionality”, “marginality” of a group engaged in activities in preparation for highly qualified mental work, which is distinguished by special forms of social activity, characteristic not only for young students, but also for those detachments of the intelligentsia, to replenish which it preparing at the university.

Among the indicators of student status, one can single out a group of descriptive ones (sex, place of residence before the university, parental education) and acquired, achieved by a person by the present moment of his life.

The gender distribution of students 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, in technical universities the influx of students from their hometown has become greater than before. On the one hand, their “starting position” is in many ways more advantageous: closer ties with the family, 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 turns out to be less dynamic and independent, its status remains dependent on the position of the parental family for a long time. And in self-determination through a university, the element of personal initiative appears 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, today is not supported by guarantees of employment. Hence - the increase in the future migration mobility of young people, not only in connection with the need for higher education, but also because of 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 affiliation of their parents in the context of the recomposition of the entire social structure.

More important are those status characteristics that develop during the period of study at a university. It is at this stage that the differentiation of students occurs, associated with their own activity in educational, research, socially useful, economic activities.

A feature of modern students is that the process of its 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 one's own activity and through the choice of forms of social interaction. The process of formation by young people of a financial, property and housing status independent of their parents has two “nodal points”: 16-17 years old, when more or less mass inclusion in adult economic life begins, and 21-22 years old, when the first experience of implementing material everyday intentions of students.

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 students surveyed do not have family support at all, and every fifth, without denying the existence of such, simply does not consider it essential. The second most important source is a scholarship, but its size is such that only 1/3 of the students can name it as the main source of livelihood (the differences between universities are not significant here). A very significant source is wages, which today have 13% of students.

Significant gender differences. Every fifth person has additional income, but among boys it is 27%, and among girls - 14%, i.e. half as much. Various earnings in addition to scholarships, allowances, help from relatives help, on average, a third of the students to survive, 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 of additional work with the training received at the university. Half of the "working" students do not have such a connection. Only 11% of respondents unequivocally indicate the possibility of working in a similar specialty, another 12% use their professional knowledge partially. It is interesting that in those institutions of higher education where students go to "earning money" less often, they are more in line with their future profession. Cherednichenko G.A. Youth of Russia: Social orientations and life paths (Experience of sociological research). - St. Petersburg: RKhGI, 2004, pp. 36 - 45.

The expenses of students, of course, are associated with the satisfaction of primary needs, which include: food, recreational activities, and the purchase of clothes. Every fourth student has the main part of the funds to pay for housing, every fifth student - to purchase educational supplies.

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

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

Young people have not bypassed new forms of “investment of capital”: half of the students of classical and pedagogical universities have securities and jewelry (expensive jewelry, etc.), which more than a third of all students consider a necessary attribute of material status. A number of universities use credit cards when receiving scholarships through bank deposits.

The fact that the material and everyday status of a student is in the process of formation and formalization is obvious. With purely youthful egoism, the student is focused so far 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 domestic 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 of the psycho-emotional state of students.

The transition from school to university education, the professional growth of students from elementary to senior courses is accompanied by the development of the personality and its psyche. Observing the attitude of students to the subject being studied, their behavior in the student group, one can note some regularities in the psycho-emotional state of students. As you study at the university, the memorization of the studied educational material increases, the level of its presentation in the answers, and vice versa, emotions about the "discoveries" of the unknown decrease.

Students experience a certain pressure of the student environment. If at school it was possible to appeal to teachers, seek support from parents, then this is not accepted at the university. 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 get worried when they are asked in class when the test is due. It has been noted that in the process of studying at a university, students often experience psycho-emotional stress - a kind of stress. The reason for this state may be overload or too little loading of educational affairs. Overload causes anxiety in terms of fear of not being in time, not coping, getting an unsatisfactory grade. A small workload creates anxiety about their value - students are often offended if they are ignored in some kind of work, not asked in class, etc. Youth at the beginning of the 21st century: basic values, positions, guidelines: Proceedings 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 of female students is much higher than that of male students. Everyone is equally worried about the poor financial situation. But in terms of prospects - possible unemployment, poor care for leisure, for each other - the mood of girls is noticeably worse than men, who, in turn, are more worried about additional earnings.

2.2 Political, moral, cultural and leisure orientations of students

The weight and significance of young people as a subject of political change (which is not always associated 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 the study of the problem of "youth and politics".

Like other youth groups, 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 young people's attitude to politics is the deterioration of their financial situation. The political interest of today's youth has a "selective" character and is manifested 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 usual, there is a pendulum movement - from formal, forced participation (“I am engaged”, “I am doing”, “I am”) - to non-participation. Hopes that participation would become conscious and voluntary, albeit much less massive, did not come true. If we take into account (and this is becoming increasingly clear today) that in the activities of university Komsomol organizations there were not only negative aspects (ideologization, overorganization, formalism), but also positive ones (organization of study, work, life and leisure of students, the formation of the qualities of a leader and leader), it becomes clear that the current orientations of the vast majority of students will be serious obstacles to overcoming the institutional crisis in the youth movement.

The noted trend is widespread. Differences by gender (young men are slightly more active), by the direction of study (natural scientists and economists are slightly more active than techies and humanities), and by universities are of little significance and only confirm the general trend.

The main form of youth interest in politics today is informational. It turns out the inconsistency of the stereotype that has been widespread in recent years, when the apathy of young people (a real fact in relation to participation in political activities, political parties, movements) was also transferred to their attitude to information about politics. This is especially unacceptable for students of the humanities and economists, whose interest in political information is above average. Therefore, it seems not entirely justified the curtailment of the well-established system of political information for students that has taken place in recent years. This was facilitated by the fact that many departments of social sciences and humanities - under the pretext of "deideologization", "depoliticization" - use the potential of their basic courses and special courses to systematically inform students on topical political problems very little. However, the one-sidedness of political informing students, turning it into political agitation, is unacceptable. In the context of the pre-election struggle, this may lead to the involvement of students in political games on the side of certain forces. Therefore, the inclusion in the statutes of many universities of the provision on the inadmissibility of political propaganda in the education and upbringing of students must be strictly observed.

Most students prefer democratic reforms. Even in conditions where many students directly feel the negative consequences of these reforms, the general democratic orientation of their orientations remains. Although - and this must be foreseen - further reassessment of values ​​​​and a decrease in prestige in the eyes of students of democratic parties and movements are quite possible.

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

Attitude towards politics, when the reality is becoming increasingly non-participation in it, students are increasingly correlated with the readiness and ability of power structures at any level to solve specific social problems. The reorientation from global-level values ​​to specific acute and unresolved problems, which is characteristic of youth consciousness, can be considered quite normal.

More and more significant are becoming not so much public as personal landmarks. This is especially evident in young people's ideas about success in life, which is used by sociologists as an indicator of their value orientations.

Among the most significant values:

I love it, interesting work.

high income, material well-being.

good, faithful friends, good family relationships, satisfaction in intimate life, love.

On the whole, we can say that students are becoming more practical and pragmatic. But at the same time, the orientation towards creative, interesting work remains, the importance of non-material values ​​(Friendship, Love, Family) for success increases. The contradiction is aggravated: how to correlate market attitudes and universal values?

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

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

Unfavorable conditions for leisure activities and recreation for young people, as well as the lack of social and cultural benefits for them, did not fall into the number of the most important social problems of students. However, this indicates not so much the absence of the problem of organizing leisure as such, but that against the backdrop of ongoing social and economic cataclysms, it is in the background, giving way to financial difficulties, poor health, unemployment, fear for the safety of relatives and friends. .

There is no discovery that male 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 standard of living indicate an increase in differentiation, heterogeneity, and differences in the student body across universities, faculties, and professional teams. Gradually, the priority in the formation of the student body moves to the layers that are more adapted to the economic realities of our society. If this process continues to develop, the access of the poorest strata to higher education will be severely hampered. Secondly, the stabilization of the reproduction of student youth shows that interest in higher education has been preserved, 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 are seen, in particular, in the dissatisfaction of students with the quality of the training received, the deformation of individual layers of the educational process. But most importantly, 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 in these times, 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 the functions of higher education and the social positions of students // Sociological research. - 2002. -№3.

Youth at the beginning of the 21st century: basic values, positions, guidelines: Proceedings of the All-Russian Student Conference. November 21 - 22, 2002 (Samara State Academy of Economics, etc.). - Samara: SGEA, 2002.

Rutkevich M.N. Sociology of education and youth: Selected works (1965 - 2002). - M.: Gardariki, 2002.

Students // Osipov G.V. Russian sociological encyclopedia. - M.: 1998, p. 544.

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

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Introduction

1. Social structure of students

Rapprochement of social groups on the material conditions of existence.
The implementation of universal complete secondary education means a major step in overcoming cultural differences among young people who, by birth and upbringing, belong to different social groups, living in a city or countryside.

2. Social status of the student

3. Characteristics of modern students

Conclusion

List of used sources and literature

Boyko L.I. Transformation of functions of higher education and social positions of students // Sociological research. - 2008. - No. 3. - S. 77-90.
Osipov G.V. 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). - St. Petersburg: RKhGI, 2009
etc.................

In the near future, the political moods of young people, as well as what politicians they will associate their expectations with, will largely depend on their social status, socio-cultural attitudes and values. Hence the need to study its most diverse groups, strata and orders. So far, however, different social groups of young people are being studied unevenly by sociologists. The main attention is paid to high school graduates and students of pedagogical universities, and many other professional teams of students, as well as young university graduates, are much less represented in the studies.

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

The choice of 3rd year students as an object of study is due to the fact that by this time the adaptation period is over, the influence of pre-university factors is less significant, professional interests and long-term life plans are updated.

Social status and well-being of the student

When considering the status position of students, the emphasis is usually placed on the “transitionality”, “marginality” of a group engaged in activities in preparation for highly qualified mental work, which is distinguished by special forms of social activity, characteristic not only for young students, but also for those detachments of the intelligentsia, to replenish which it preparing at the university.

In domestic works, it is not always taken into account that 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 determine the model of social behavior of this social society. groups. Among the indicators of student status, one can single out a group of descriptive ones (sex, place of residence before the university, parental education) and acquired, achieved by a person by the present moment of his life.

The gender distribution of students 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 the social content of unemployment (the majority of the unemployed are women with higher education) needs to be regulated for a long time.

As the study shows, in technical universities the influx of students from their hometown has become greater than before. On the one hand, their “starting position” is in many ways more advantageous: closer ties with the family, 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 turns out to be less dynamic and independent, its status remains dependent on the position of the parental family for a long time. And in self-determination through a university, the element of personal initiative appears 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, today is not supported by guarantees of employment. Hence, an increase in the future migration mobility of young people, 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 affiliation of their parents in the context of the recomposition of the entire social structure. In the studies, one attribute was taken - education, the connection of which with the factor of choosing a university was always strong.

More important are those status characteristics that develop during the period of study at a university. It is at this stage that the differentiation of students occurs, 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 in the social structure of the population group with higher education. It is clear that the traditional and new layers of Russian society are already being reproduced with the participation of these young people.

A feature of modern students is that the process of its 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 one's own activity and through the choice of forms of social interaction. The process of formation by young people of a financial, property and housing status independent of their parents has two “nodal points”: 16-17 years old, when more or less mass inclusion in adult economic life begins, and 21-22 years old, when the first experience of implementing material everyday intentions of students.

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 students surveyed do not have family support at all, and every fifth, without denying the existence of such, 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 not significant here).

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

Significant gender differences. Every fifth person has additional income, but among boys it is 27%, and among girls - 14%, i.e. half as much. Various earnings in addition to scholarships, allowances, help from relatives help, on average, a third of the students to survive, which is typical for 52% of boys and 21% of girls. Unlike previous years, when summer work in a construction team could provide funds for several months of a normal life, today the main thing for young people is to find a steady income already in the university period and maintain labor relations during the period of study.

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 of additional work with the training received at the university. Half of the "working" students do not have such a connection. Only 11% of respondents unequivocally indicate the possibility of working in a similar specialty, another 12% use their professional knowledge partially. It is interesting that in those institutions of higher education where students go to "earning money" less often, they are more in line with their future profession.

The expenses of students, of course, are associated with the satisfaction of primary needs, which include: food, recreational activities, and the purchase of clothes. For every fourth student, the main part of the funds goes to pay for housing, for every fifth student - to purchase educational supplies. At the same time, the trend of enrolling local youth in universities turns out to be that 2/3 of students do not need the cost of housing, the purchase of durable goods, and financing of summer holidays, because they rely on the support of the parental family.

It is difficult to unambiguously identify and evaluate such items of expenditure as "leisure" and "holidays". Without a special analysis, it is not clear whether this is due to the content of the leisure activity program or the fact that free time is spent not on entertainment, but mainly on extra money, which is indirectly confirmed by a significant number of those students who do not have any expenses for free time at all.

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

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

To the question about "private property", more precisely, about the presence at one's own disposal of some items - durable goods, acting in this case as "status marks", the following answers were received: from among the prestigious things that symbolize the status of an individual in modern youth subculture, they noted that they had at their disposal a car, video and television equipment, and a computer. Young people have not bypassed new forms of “investment of capital”: half of the students of classical and pedagogical universities have securities and jewelry (expensive jewelry, etc.), which more than a third of all students consider a necessary attribute of material status. A number of universities use credit cards when receiving scholarships through bank deposits.

The fact that the material and everyday status of a student is in the process of formation and formalization is obvious. With purely youthful egoism, the student is focused so far 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 domestic 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.

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