Involvement in Student Organizations: Reasons of Participation and Relation to Planned Career Trajectory

In modern Russia, most young people go on to higher education after school. They learn new disciplines, put their knowledge into practice and plan their careers. However, not everyone works in his or her field after graduation. In this paper I investigate why students at HSE, MSU, MSCU and Plekhanov Russian Economic University participate in student councils and student organisations, what experiences they gain and whether their work after graduation is similar to what they did in student organisations or student self-government. Different types of student organisations are considered: local or university-wide student councils; hobby organisations such as dance and theatre; student organisations that organise commercial or free events; and student volunteer organisations. A paradox is considered: Students participate in student councils, which is directly related to the field of study, but statistics show that the proportion of students working in this field is decreasing. This led to the following question Does the experience of participation in student organisations help to strengthen the desire to work in the speciality, the self-determination of the student and his career development, or, on the contrary, does it extend the saturated experience and the student, having obtained a bachelor's degree, is less certain about the future career trajectory? The subject of the study - types of motivation to participate in student organisations or student councils, types of communication within organisations, types of acquired skills and abilities. The data were collected through 17 in-depth semi-structured interviews with people aged 23-38 who had been members of student councils or student organisations of Moscow universities (HSE, MSU, MSU, Plekhanov Russian Economic University) for more than 1 year. The data were analysed using the grounded theory approach. The analysis of the obtained results allows us to say that the experience of participation in student organisations and student councils contributes to the self-determination of students, who use the opportunity to try out different directions. If a student first realises that he or she likes the chosen field of study and student organisations help to spend time in an interesting way, then after graduation the rich experience does not interfere in any way with the career path. If a student is not sure that he or she wants to work in the field in the future, student organisations help to develop the areas of interest, which can then grow into a job.