Managing vocational education and the youth labour market in post-Soviet Russia

Abstract

The paper assesses the impact of recent attempts to reform Russia's system of Initial Vocational Education and Training (IVET). Having become dislocated from industry after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Vocational Training Colleges (Profuchilishche, or PU) 1 recently became the subject of decentralizing reforms intended to make them more responsive to local labour market demand. Drawing on research conducted in the Ul'yanovsk region of Russia in 2004, the paper argues that in some respects the system has become more flexible. However, the reform process as a whole, particularly in its emphasis on 'social partnership', is too dependant on change taking place spontaneously. Qualitative change is further hindered by continuing efforts to engender an excessively close fit between labour market supply and demand, a tendency that owes its rationale to Soviet-era planning, and which ignores the way many graduates of PU approach their transitions into work.

‘The Right to Choose or Choosing What's Right? Women's Conceptualizations of Work and Life Choices in Contemporary Russia’

“…However, while achieving harmony in a balance between employment and other personal aspirations was important, it was difficult for the women in this study to achieve samorealizatsiia because of the decreasing opportunities for Russian women to work ‘according to specialism’ ( po spetsialnost ), or in accordance with their level of education and training (see also Ashwin and Popova, 2006; Walker, 2006). A PhD student in her mid‐twenties discussed how this affected women of all ages, even those entering the labour market for the first time:…”

“…1416–18 for a discussion of how professionals in this demographic group perceive their ability to adapt to the demands of post‐Soviet labour market). However, recent research on school‐leavers and young people undertaking vocational training in provincial cities has also highlighted the difficulty they experience in finding employment according to their training, particularly where their agricultural and technical skills do not match the changing local economy (see for example, Walker, 2006). These in‐depth interviews allowed for a more detailed analysis of perceptions and meaning‐making across a variety of related conceptual categories including human rights, women's rights and social and economic rights.…”

Psychological counselling in post-Soviet Russia: Gendered perceptions in a feminizing profession

“…In the same vein, Ghodsee's (2005) research of the tourist industry in post-socialist Bulgaria shows that women had an advantage in getting and retaining jobs in this sector because of the social capital such as foreign language competency which they had acquired before the regime change. In Russia too there was a rise of new services and occupations, for example in advertising, marketing, banking and sales (Walker, 2006;Zajda, 1999), the majority of which are considered 'women's work'. Thus, it seems that these new service occupations might provide women with new opportunities (even though, in a western feminist context, women's concentration in the service sector has been the object of sustained critique).…”

The transition from school to work in Russia during and after socialism: change or continuity?

“…The state disappeared as the central coordinator and market mechanisms were introduced. Graduates had to face the new situation by searching for open positions and competing with others for vacancies (Walker 2006). Firms also started to hire graduates according to their potential productivity.…”