High school graduates flocking to unpopular studies

Applications to higher educational institutions have been submitted, and high school graduates are now writing their admissions exams. The most interesting events are still ahead of them, of course, but certain important conclusions can be made on the basis of documents submitted by university applicants. One of them is that high school graduates still refuse to recognize that the more popular a profession among students the lower its market demand.

This trend is known as job market misbalance. It emerged several years ago and shows no signs of disappearing. Employment agencies are doing their best-short of pasting ads to lampposts, announcing that the market is saturated with economists-that employers need experts from completely different fields. Here are the latest statistics based on documents submitted to various faculties of Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University. The highest competitive ratio, 16.4%, is evident in International Economics (Economics Faculty); 6.88 percent, International Economic Relations (Institute of International Relations); 6.39 percent in Economic Theory, Business Economics, etc. (Economics Faculty). Nearly 1,200 students have applied for these three university majors at one university. It is impossible to assume that these university applicants know nothing about the employment hardships awaiting every economics graduate. These students expect that since they are so smart and talented, five years from now employers will be rushing to greet them with open arms. It is also pleasanter for parents of students to see their son as an unemployed economist rather than a perpetually busy plumber.

The capital’s central employment agency is trying to help 11th - grade graduates and their parents choose the right profession. This agency has spent almost two years polling high school students in their last year of study in Kyiv. “We’re trying to provide high school graduates with information concerning the existing job market contradictions; we tell them and their parents about the most popular professions,” Nadia Kindrat, head of the central employment agency’s professional orientation department, told The Day.

“As a result of our surveys, we have succeeded in pinpointing a group of some 450 people who are interested in our services. We hold consultations with them, and they are undergoing psychological tests. In other words, we are trying to help them take up the right kind of occupation.”

Today’s job market mostly demands ordinary professions like secretaries, cooks, hairdressers, bartenders, plumbers and sanitary technicians, who are worth their weight in gold and can earn a very good living. As for professions that require a post- secondary education, we need engineers specializing in a variety of fields, as well as personnel managers. The higher schools are lagging behind job market demands; they are simply incapable of producing the kind of specialists we need.

Of course, children and their parents have the final say. But if students are refused admission to a higher educational institution, they can always visit the employment center and obtain a specialization free of charge. Last year, some 500 young people did just that. In fact, every job provides room for personal ambitions; you can become a top-notch hair stylist and earn both money and fame. Of course, talent and determination come first, so it is very important to choose your profession by relying not on prestige — not even on a calculated risk that may well backfire — but on your calling.