Professional self-determination is a form of personal choice that reflects the process of searching for and acquiring a profession. Self-determination is realized in the process of analyzing personal capabilities and abilities in relation to professional requirements. Currently, the understanding of professional self-determination takes into account the problems of the relationship with the life self-determination of the individual, and also includes the influence of the influence of the social environment on the individual and his active position. In a market economy, the problem of freedom to choose a profession and ensuring the competitiveness of an employee is acute.
Professional self-determination of students
Self-determination of students is the process of formation by an individual of a personal attitude towards professional activity and the method of its implementation through the coordination of socio-professional and personal needs.
Professional self-determination of students is part of life self-determination, since it is part of the social group for choosing a profession and lifestyle.
There are different approaches to professional self-determination: sociological - when society sets tasks for the individual, socio-psychological - step-by-step decision-making by the individual, as well as coordination of the needs of society and personal preferences, differential psychological - the formation of an individual way of life.
The interrelated stages of students’ professional self-determination are symbolically identified:
— preschool stage, including the formation of initial labor skills;
- primary school, which includes awareness of the role of work in the life of an individual through participation in various types of activities: educational, play, work.
Awareness of one's abilities and interests related to professional choice occurs in grades 5-7, and the formation of professional self-awareness occurs in grades 8-9.
In the professional self-determination of students, a significant role is assigned to the family and the state-social structure (vocational and general educational institutions; institutions of further education, employment services).
Psychological and pedagogical support for students’ self-determination is aimed at realizing a conscious choice of profession.
Students are determined to choose a profession in the process of learning basic sciences, as well as during vocational training.
So, the professional self-determination of students includes the process of formation by an individual of a personal attitude towards the work sphere, as well as the method of his self-realization through the coordination of professional and intrapersonal needs.
Professional self-determination of high school students
Determining high school students with a future profession is one of the forms of personal self-determination and is characterized by the process of acquisition, as well as the search for a profession, analysis of personal capabilities and abilities in comparison with the requirements of the profession.
At the age of fifteen, it is very difficult for a high school student to choose a profession. Often, professional intentions are vague and diffuse, and professionally oriented dreams, as well as romantic aspirations, are impossible to realize.
The unsatisfied coming future stimulates the development of reflection - awareness of the personal “I”. A high school student is “defined”: who he is, what his abilities are, what his life ideal is, what he wants to become. Self-analysis is a delayed psychological basis for professional self-determination for most vocational school students.
Those high school students who receive complete secondary general education feel more comfortable. At the time of graduation, high school students choose the most acceptable and realistic options from fantastic, imaginary professions. Children understand that success and well-being in life, first of all, depend on the right choice of profession.
By assessing their capabilities and abilities, the prestige of the profession, and the socio-economic situation, high school students self-determine in obtaining a vocational education.
Thus, for high school students, educational and professional self-determination acts as a conscious choice of paths to vocational education and training.
“I am mediocrity, I have no ability for anything”
In fact, there are no mediocrities, there are those who do not do their own thing. And if you don’t want to join the ranks of those, try to first find some general guidelines. For example, are you a humanist or a techie? Or maybe natural sciences are closer to you? Or are you drawn to art?
If you understand, for example, that you are inclined towards the humanities and at the same time are interested in art, choose the broadest possible subject of study - art history, philosophy, history.
While you study and learn something new, your own niche will form, and you will either choose a narrow specialization, or move to another, more specific department, or subsequently receive a second degree. And the first one definitely won’t be superfluous.
General culture has never bothered anyone, just like getting a college degree. And life never stands still: even those who have long chosen a profession and are working still periodically change directions of work, learn something new, and improve their skills. And sometimes it goes into related areas.
Is it worth thinking that the choice should be made once and finally? And that all your abilities have already been revealed by the age of seventeen? Hardly. Rather, this is the wish of society, parents, those who, for one reason or another, would be comfortable with the predictability of your behavior, choices, and the linearity of your life process.
But man is a creature that is constantly changing. And you are not obliged to forever be faithful to the choice that you make at a very young and still little conscious age.
Professional self-determination of personality
Psychologists refer to professional and personal self-determination as the process of forming a person’s personal attitude towards the professional work sphere, as well as self-realization through the coordination of social, professional and intrapersonal needs.
Let's consider professional self-determination, including different stages of personality development.
In preschool childhood, children imitate adults in play activities and reproduce their actions. Role-playing games, some of which are professionally oriented, become widespread in preschool age. While playing, children assume the roles of sellers, doctors, builders, educators, cooks, and vehicle drivers.
Initial labor actions are of great importance in professional self-determination - performing simple actions to care for plants, clothes, and cleaning premises. These actions help children develop interest in the work of adults. Professional role-playing games, performing elementary types of work, observing the work of adults contribute to the self-determination of preschoolers. At primary school age, children willingly imitate the actions of adults and, based on this, they are oriented toward the professions of relatives, parents, teachers, and close friends. An important feature of schoolchildren is the motivation of achievements in educational activities. A child’s awareness of his or her capabilities, as well as abilities based on existing experience in gaming, educational, and work activities, forms an idea of the future profession.
The end of primary school age is marked by a significant increase in individual differences in the development of abilities between children, and this in turn affects a significant expansion of the range of professional preferences. Work and educational activities influence the development of children’s imagination, both creative and recreative. Thanks to this ability, ideas about various types of work are enriched, and the ability to see oneself in a certain profession develops. Often, a child has professionally colored fantasies that have a huge impact on professional self-determination in the future.
Adolescence is marked by the laying of the foundations of a moral attitude towards various types of work; a teenager develops a system of personal values that determine selectivity in relation to professions. Psychologists consider this period to be responsible for the formation of personality.
Teenage boys, imitating external forms of adult behavior, focus on romantic professions that have endurance, strong will, courage, courage, for example, astronaut, test pilot, race driver. Girls prefer the professions of “real women” - these are charming, popular, attractive top models, pop singers, and TV presenters.
Orientation towards romantic professions is directed under the influence of the media, which replicate examples of “real adults”. Such professional romantic orientation is facilitated by adolescents’ desire for self-affirmation and self-expression. A differentiated attitude towards various activities in clubs and academic subjects shapes children’s intentions and dreams. Dreams, examples of the desired future are touches of self-determination.
Professional self-determination of an individual in early adolescence is the most important task. Often, a teenager’s plans are very amorphous, vague, and represent the nature of a dream.
A teenager most often imagines himself in various emotionally attractive roles and cannot make a psychologically sound choice of profession on his own. And at the beginning of adolescence, this problem arises for boys and girls who leave the basic secondary school. They make up a third of older teenagers who enter secondary and primary vocational education institutions, while others are forced to begin independent work.
Psychologists have found that often students receiving education in vocational schools, vocational schools, colleges and technical schools have not finally decided and their choice of educational institution was not psychologically justified.
The vast majority of young people aged 16 - 23 years old receive education or undergo vocational training in institutions or enterprises. Often, romantic aspirations and dreams are left in the past, but the desired future has already become the present, and many experience disappointment and dissatisfaction from the choice made. Some are making attempts to make adjustments to their professional start, and most boys and girls, during their training, gain confidence in the correctness of their choice.
At the age of 27, social and professional activity is noted. Already have a job and some experience. Professional growth and achievements become relevant. However, the vast majority begin to experience psychological discomfort, which is caused by lofty, unrealized plans, as well as work saturation.
Uncertainty of career prospects and lack of achievements actualize the reflection of personal existence, giving rise to self-esteem of the “I-concept” and introspection. This period is characterized by mental turmoil. The audit of professional life pushes us to define new significant goals. Some of these include professional development and advancement; changing jobs and initiating promotions; choosing a new profession or related specialty.
For many people, by the age of 30, the problem of professional self-determination again becomes relevant. There are two possible ways here: either to establish yourself further in your chosen profession and become a professional, or to change your place of work, as well as your profession.
The age period up to 60 years is considered the most productive. This period is marked by the realization of oneself as an individual, and is also characterized by the use of professional and psychological potential. It is during this period that life plans are realized and a person’s meaningful existence is justified. The profession provides a unique opportunity, using one’s abilities at work, to realize the need to be an individual, as well as to develop an individual style of activity.
After reaching retirement age, people leave the profession, but by the age of 60 a person does not have time to fully exhaust his potential. This period is marked by an alarming state, since stereotypes that have developed over decades, as well as a way of life, collapse overnight. Skills, knowledge, important qualities - everything becomes unclaimed. Such negative aspects accelerate social aging. Most pensioners experience psychological confusion, worrying about their uselessness and uselessness. The problem of self-determination arises again, however, in a socially useful, social life.
“You can’t make money with this”
The one who does his job with talent earns a lot. And for this you need one condition: you must love the work.
If you don't love it, you'll never rise above average. And it doesn’t matter what you do - draw layouts for book covers or sell office equipment. And even if you “only” repair shoes, the nature and result of your work will tell whether you love it or not.
If you love what you do, you will always be provided for.
There are a lot of reasons for this - the quality of work, which if you are interested will increase several times compared to those who “just work”, and psychological comfort - after all, people who contact you will feel your love for your work and will try to maintain contact with you. you, and your productivity, which will always be high if you do something you love, and creativity, which develops due to your sincere interest in your chosen business and the constant search for new solutions.
Money comes from the love of work, not from its prestige or fashion. On the contrary, a job you don’t like, even if it’s fashionable and prestigious, will drain you of strength, nerves, irritate, scare away clients, reduce quality... And at the same time, we spend a third of our lives at work. Should you neglect your love for your chosen profession?
Psychology of professional self-determination
Domestic psychology connects the processes of professional self-determination with personal self-determination and lifestyle choice. By choosing this or that profession, a person plans his way of existence, while correlating his future professional personal status with life values.
The following researchers worked on this problem: M.R. Ginzburg, K.A. Abulkhanova-Slavskaya, N.S. Pryazhnikov, E.I. Golovakhi, E.F. Zeer, E.A. Klimov.
The most comprehensive and consistent issues of professional self-determination of the subject were studied in the works of N.S. Pryazhnikova, E.A. Klimova, E.F. Zeera.
E.A. Klimov attributed professional self-determination to the quality of the mental manifestation of human development. Over the course of his life, an individual develops a certain attitude towards different areas of work, develops an idea of his capabilities, professions, and identifies preferences.
According to E.A. Klimov, the most important component in self-determination is the formation of self-awareness.
The structure of professional identity includes:
— awareness of personal belonging to a specific professional community (“we are builders”);
— assessment of one’s place and personal compliance with standards in the profession (one of the best specialists, a beginner);
- the individual’s knowledge of his recognition in a social group (“I am considered a good specialist”);
- knowledge of strengths and weaknesses, individual and successful methods of action and ways of self-improvement;
- personal idea of yourself, as well as work in the future.
E.A. Klimov notes two levels in professional self-determination:
- Gnostic (restructuring of self-awareness and consciousness);
— practical (changes in a person’s social status).
E.F. Zeer highlights the problem of individual self-determination in the context of applied psychology, where professional self-determination is noted:
- selectivity in the individual’s attitude to the world of professions;
— choice taking into account the individual qualities and characteristics of a person, as well as socio-economic conditions and requirements in the profession;
— constant self-determination of the subject throughout life;
— determination of external events (change of place of residence, graduation);
- a manifestation of the social maturity of the individual with a close connection with self-realization.
Problems in self-determination are solved differently at each stage of professional development. They are determined by interpersonal relationships in the team, socio-economic conditions, professional and age-related crises, but the leading role remains with the activity of the individual and his responsibility for personal development.
E.F. Zeer believes that self-determination is an important factor in an individual’s self-realization in a particular profession.
N. S. Pryazhnikov proposed his own model of self-determination, which includes the following components:
— awareness by the individual of the values of socially useful work, as well as the need for professional training;
— orientation in the socio-economic situation, as well as forecasting the prestige of the chosen work;
— defining a professional dream goal;
— highlighting immediate professional goals as stages for achieving further goals;
— search for information about specialties and professions corresponding to educational institutions and places of employment;
— an idea of the personal qualities necessary to implement the plans, as well as possible difficulties in achieving goals;
- availability of backup options in choosing a profession in case of failure with the main option of self-determination;
— practical implementation of personal perspective, adjustment of plans.
Professional self-determination according to N.S. Pryazhnikov occurs at the following levels:
— self-determination in a specific labor function (the employee sees the meaning of activity in the high-quality performance of operations or individual labor functions, while the freedom of choice of actions by the individual is limited);
- self-determination in a specific work position (a work position is marked by a limited production environment, which includes certain rights, means of labor, and responsibilities), while the performance of diverse functions provides the opportunity for self-realization of the activities performed, and a change in work position has a negative impact on the quality of work, causing employee dissatisfaction;
— self-determination at the level of a certain specialty provides for a change of job positions, which allows expanding the opportunities for self-realization of the individual;
— self-determination in a specific profession;
— life self-determination is associated with the choice of lifestyle, which includes leisure and self-education;
- personal self-determination is determined by finding the image of the Self and its affirmation among the surrounding individuals (the individual rises above social roles, profession, becomes the master of his personal life, and the people around him classify him as both a good specialist and a respected, unique person);
— the self-determination of an individual in culture is marked by the individual’s focus on “continuing” himself in other people and is characterized by a significant contribution to the development of culture, which makes it possible to talk about the social immortality of the individual.
Disappointments when choosing a profession
People who choose a profession based on material interests make a huge mistake. In the initial stages, such work will bring satisfaction, since a person will finally be able to afford what he dreamed of. But very quickly this euphoria will end, and harsh and painful everyday life will begin. Monday will become the most hated day of the week, and Friday and the weekend will become the only joy in life. Money will no longer make you happy, since you will have to pay for it with your mental comfort and even health. Such people are more likely to experience diseases of the nervous system and heart, they become vulnerable to depression, hot-tempered, and aggressive. Personal life rarely goes well, since work takes away most of the strength and energy. Therefore, the question of how to choose the right profession should become a priority for any person. The main thing is that it is to your liking, and not solely because of financial interest.
