The Transformation of the Functions of Higher Education and the Social Positions of the Student Population

In an overview of a survey study conducted at Rostov State U in 1995, an attempt was made to relate the evolution of the functions of higher education with contemporary conditions & attitudes among students. Students were queried on their opinions of higher education & their motivations for pursuing it. Analysis suggests that over time students have been much less likely to see higher education as the key to social or professional advancement, particularly among students whose class origins are among the working classes or agricultural: eg, whereas in the 1960s, 25% of the children of working-class parents intended to pursue higher education, in the 1990s this number had dropped to 6%-7%. In the late 1990s, students were more likely to find their material circumstances tolerable (close to 80% in 2001 compared to just over 50% in 1997). Expectations among students in the last five years have been lower as well, with a vast majority of Rostov students expecting an uncertain job future, as well as probable periods of unemployment. 3 Tables. A. Siegel