Determinants of Professional Success – About the Beliefs of Primary School Students

The paper focuses on the issue of professional success and its perception. The study, carried out using the diagnostic survey method, covered 1099 respondents – students atprimary schools, residing in a medium-sized city in Poland. It solved the following research problems: How do youth perceive life and professional success? What associations do male and female students of primary and secondary schools have about post-primary education(vocational/trade school, technical vs. comprehensive school)? What educational pathways do students perceive as prestigious and not prestigious, as enabling professional success and preventing the same? Which professions do students at primary schools perceive as prestigious and non-prestigious? What, in young people’s opinion, are the conditions conducive to professional success? What is the youth’s self-esteem in terms of opportunities to achieve professional success? How do selected socio-demographic characteristics differentiate the perception of professional success, its determinants, and self-esteem concerning the chances of achieving it? An alarming fact is that the beliefs of nearly half the students from the present research sample appear to be that to achieve success, it is necessary to have connections or luck. This arouses concern because, in the expectation of chance, luck (in case of lack of connections) students may adopt a passive attitude inthe context of creativity and in fact “moving forward (without their active participation)” in their educational and professional careers.The paper focuses on the issue of professional success and its perception. The study, carried out using the diagnostic survey method, covered 1099 respondents – students atprimary schools, residing in a medium-sized city in Poland. It solved the following research problems: How do youth perceive life and professional success? What associations do male and female students of primary and secondary schools have about post-primary education(vocational/trade school, technical vs. comprehensive school)? What educational pathways do students perceive as prestigious and not prestigious, as enabling professional success and preventing the same? Which professions do students at primary schools perceive as prestigious and non-prestigious? What, in young people’s opinion, are the conditions conducive to professional success? What is the youth’s self-esteem in terms of opportunities to achieve professional success? How do selected socio-demographic characteristics differentiate the perception of professional success, its determinants, and self-esteem concerning the chances of achieving it? An alarming fact is that the beliefs of nearly half the students from the present research sample appear to be that to achieve success, it is necessary to have connections or luck. This arouses concern because, in the expectation of chance, luck (in case of lack of connections) students may adopt a passive attitude inthe context of creativity and in fact “moving forward (without their active participation)” in their educational and professional careers

Post-Accession Economic Migration of Young Adults as Element of Changing Career Patterns in Poland

The results presented in this paper were obtained as part of a research project (funded by the National Science Centre in Kraków – NN 106 348 140) entitled: Economic Migration andReturning Home as Experienced by Contemporary Poles. A Social Pedagogy Study. Quantitative research strategies were used (N-174) – a diagnostic survey, and the basic problem was – What experiences related to work (before, during and after emigration) do young Poles have? This article reviews how vocational career patterns changed against the background of the social and cultural transformations that took place in Poland; it also addresses economic migration as a part of these transformations and identifies career guidance in the context of migration experiences of young adults. Sampling studies of young adults (return migrants) revealed significance they assigned to their labour migration experiences that mainly involved 3D (dirty, dull, dangerous) jobs. A two-stage skill depreciation was found – brain waste (before and during migration) and the reasons for the waste as well as its consequences for the future career potential (post-migration “CV gaps” vs. the sense of agency, resourcefulness)

Między fantazją a rzeczywistością. Rzecz o strategiach konstruowania edukacyjno-zawodowej przyszłości

Drawing inspiration from the research of C. Timoszyk-Tomczak (2003), who, analyzing the strategies and styles of constructing the future (realistic, authority, coercion, wishful thinking, expectations and carpe diem), drew attention to their diversity, which is a consequence of, among others, the context for whom the „constructor” lives, the multitude of his experiences and the range of possibilities to choose from, it was decided to examine the declarations of primary school youth on the planning strategies they choose. Students were asked to choose 2 descriptions that best explicate their current situation, assuming that young people can use several strategies simultaneously, creating their hybrids to various contexts of youthful functioning and areas under consideration. Students opting for any of the options provided information about their preferred style of action in terms of designing the future and making significant life decisions, also taking into account their temporative aspect. Which of the strategies for constructing the future they lean towards in their career endeavors - may be a determinant of their sense of professional satisfaction and a sense of achieving professional success versus its lack.Celem artykułu jest zaprezentowanie wyników badawczych dociekań prowadzonych wśród uczniów ostatnich klas szkół podstawowych, stojących wobec wyboru ścieżki edukacyjno-zawodowej - koncentrując się na odpowiedziach na pytania o to, jakie strategie/style planowania przyszłości obierają uczniowie, skupiając się na opisie strategii konstruowania przyszłości stosowanych przez młodzież, wskazując także na zmienne różnicujące obierane strategie. Inspiracją stały sie badania C. Timoszyk-Tomczak (2003), która analizując strategie i style konstruowania przyszłości (s. realistyczna, autorytetu, przymusu, życzeniowa, oczekiwania i carpe diem), zwróciła uwagę na ich różnorodność, będącą konsekwencją miedzy innymi kontekstu, w którym żyje „konstruktor”, mnogości jego doświadczeń i wachlarza możliwości do wyboru, rozpoznano deklaracje młodzieży szkół podstawowych w kwestii obieranych przez nią strategii planowania. Respondentów poproszono o wybranie dwóch deskrypcji najlepiej eksplikujących ich sytuację, zakładając, iż młodzież korzysta z kilku strategii jednocześnie, tworząc ich hybrydy - wobec różnorodnych kontekstów funkcjonowania i rozważanych obszarów. Respondenci określili, iż najlepiej opisującą ich aktualny sposób działania jest strategia realistyczna (59,50%) oraz strategia autorytetu (46,40%). Opowiedzenie się przez badanych za którymś z wariantów dostarczyło informacji o preferowanym stylu działania w zakresie projektowania przyszłości i podejmowania znaczących życiowo decyzji, uwzględniając także ich temporyzacyjny aspekt