Abstract

Introduction. The relevance of the topic is due to the need to develop principles and methods of sociological support for the process of professional self-determination of young people in the digital environment. The article presents the results of studies of socioprofessional aspirations, value orientations and motivation for acquiring a profession among modern applicants. An analysis was made of some cognitive features of school graduates that influence their choice of specialization and university.Methodology and sources. The methodological base included the activity theories of motivation by A.N. Leontiev and L.S. Vygotsky, the psychology of the attitude of D.N. Uznadze, modern sociological studies of the rational choice of a university by applicants (L. Abdrakhmanova, E. Nikonova, J. Kinzie, M. Palmer, J. Hayek, D. Hossler, S.A. Jacob et al.). To solve the problems of analyzing the construction of the reality of higher education with the help of visual images, the authors relied on the traditions of visual sociology.Results and discussion. The empirical basis for writing the article was the results of a seven-year monitoring (2015–2021) “Motives and factors for choosing a university by applicants for technical specialties” (N = 3700 people) of one of the leading universities in Russia – Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University. An analysis of the dynamics of the value-motivational portrait of young people showed that applicants belonging to generation Z are distinguished by mobilization motivation and pragmatic values. The hypothesis about the influence of the principle of obtaining the result “here and now” on the decisions made by future engineers from the digital generation was confirmed. The results obtained lead to the conclusion that in order to increase the level of professional motivation and attract generation Z to enroll in a university, a radical change in the field of communicative interaction from “offline” to “online” is necessary.Conclusion. In conclusion, the authors of the article, based on the results of their research, suggest some directions for the development of communication strategies in working with applicants of the digital generation, emphasizing that an important component of the success of the communication strategy of a modern university in interaction with young people is high-quality, fast and regular feedback using message visualization tools.