SOCIAL-PSYCHOLOGICAL FACTORS OF PROFESSIONAL SELF-DETERMINATION AMONG STUDENTS OF HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

Abstract

The article analyzes the peculiarities of the professional formation of future specialists in the conditions of studying at higher educational institutions. Professionalization is considered simultaneously as a process and as the result of the search for and acquisition by the subject of their model of professional activity. Approaches of foreign and Ukrainian researchers are considered, which emphasize the complexity and multi-component nature of the structure of professional self-determination of future specialists. The research results have shown that an important condition for professional self-determination is the individual’s activity directed towards finding meaning and values in their professional activities, which involves reflective work aimed at understanding their professional preferences and the possibilities for their realization. Education inherently contains significant reserves and potential for activating learners’ personal growth. During studies at higher education institutions, the formation of professionally important qualities of future specialists occurs, the structure of their professional values is established, and a vector for personal and professional self-development is laid down. A complex process of mediated self-recognition as a professional occurs, from individual situational patterns to holistic self-imaginary. The analysis conducted allowed for the identification of key psychological factors of professional self-determination of future specialists and their grouping based on the principle of agency as follows: professional orientation, skills of professional reflection and self-regulation, affective-evaluative attitude towards oneself as a professional, and professional consciousness (self-image in the profession). The research results have shown that involving students in the process of purposeful acquisition of integrated knowledge through resources that reflect the professional context contributes to the formation of students’ professional self-awareness, develops their ability for self-analysis, self-control, professional reflection, and self-regulation, leading to the acquisition of a comprehensive image of themselves as professionals.