SOCIETY: WHAT RUSSIAN YOUNG PEOPLE WANT
4. OCCUPATIONAL ASPIRATIONS
SOURCE. I. Kharchenko, "Obrazovanie v sisteme tsennostei i zhiznennykh planakh starsheklassnikov: metodologiia i pervye rezul'taty sotsiologicheskogo issledovaniia v Novosibirske" [Education in the System of Values and Life Plans of Senior School Students: Methodology and First Results of a Sociological Survey in Novosibirsk], pp. 24-56 in Sotsial'nye izmeneniia v Rossii i molodezh. Vypusk 9 [Social Change in Russia and Youth. Issue 9] (Moscow: Moskovskii Obshchestvennyi Nauchnyi Fond, 1997)
In January-March 1990, researchers from the Department of Social Problems of the Institute of the Economics and Organization of Industrial Production of the Siberian Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences conducted a survey of the life plans of 1,684 students in the 9th and 11th grades (1) of schools in the city and province of Novosibirsk. A similar survey was carried out in April 1996 on a reduced sample of 352 students in 9 schools.
Comparison of the results of the two surveys showed "no deep qualitative change." Even more students wanted to continue their education in 1996 than in 1990: two-thirds of 9th graders wanted to enter the 10th grade (up from one half), while 86 percent of 11th graders wanted to go on to higher education (up from 78 percent). However, only about a half of 11th graders thought they and their families could afford to pay for their higher education. At the same time, the less expensive option of going to a technical college (2) remained unpopular, with only 10 percent expressing such an intention in each year.
Which branch of working life did 11th grade students hope to enter? (3) The most striking shift is the increase in the proportion of those unable to answer to almost one half (48 percent in 1996 compared to 21 percent in 1990). The occupational sphere that is most popular in 1990 (chosen by 24 percent) -- arts, culture, education, and science -- falls to 12 percent in 1996; healthcare, social security, and sport declines from 14 to 5 percent. Industry declines from 6.5 to a mere 2.5 percent, while agriculture and municipal services drop right off the map: nobody wants those jobs! The military holds steady at 0.5 percent. The sole winner, apart from "don't know," is the sphere of "management, finance, accounting, police, and courts," chosen by one quarter of 11th graders in 1996 (though already at 22 percent in 1990).
Students are also asked: What is the main thing in choosing an occupation? They are shown a list of 13 possible replies, of which they can select more than one. In 1990 the top three replies, each selected by about 45 percent, are to have creative work, to be in constant touch with people, and to be of use to people. By 1996 these have declined to 32, 39, and 28 percent respectively. High earnings shoot up from 23 percent in 1990 to 47 percent in 1996, and promotion prospects from 8 to 21 percent; high prestige goes up too, from 25 to 32 percent. Thus there is a significant though still incomplete shift away from experiential and ideal factors toward material ones.
Respondents are also asked what things they regard as "very important in life." Here is what they choose (data for 1996):
over 80 percent: good friends and a good life companion
over 70 percent: good health, the best chances for their future children
over 60 percent: good education, success at work
about 60 percent: material welfare, freedom of choice, good relations with people
40-50 percent: the respect of those around me, a feeling that people need me, stable living conditions
about 40 percent: to have children, interesting leisure activities, to live in conditions of legality
about 30 percent: to live near relatives
NOTES
(1) 9th grade students can leave or continue to the 10th grade. The 11th grade is the last.
(2) That is, a tekhnikum, SSUZ or PTU.
(3) From this point I omit discussion of the responses of the 9th graders. The overall patterns are quite similar.
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SOCIETY: WHAT RUSSIAN YOUNG PEOPLE WANT
5. GOING TO THE MOVIES
SOURCE. I. Poluekhtova, "Amerikanskie fil'my kak faktor sotsializatsii molodezhi v Rossii 90-kh godov" [American Movies as a Factor in the Socialization of Youth in Russia in the 1990s], pp. 57-81 in Sotsial'nye izmeneniia v Rossii i molodezh. Vypusk 9 [Social Change in Russia and Youth. Issue 9] (Moscow: Moskovskii Obshchestvennyi Nauchnyi Fond, 1997)
Alongside pop music, movies are the most popular art form among Russian young people. Three quarters of cinema goers are under 30, and the majority of these are in their teens. On the basis of surveys of young Muscovites, the author assesses and interprets the domination of the contemporary Russian cinema by American movies.
In 1985 only 3 percent of the movies shown in Moscow cinemas were American. In October 1994, 73 percent of cinema visits were to see American movies; 17 percent were to see other foreign movies; and only 10 percent to see Russian or Soviet movies.
The same pattern holds for movies shown on television. It is illustrated in a table of the ratings of the top ten TV movie programs in April 1996, the ratings being the proportions of the population of Moscow in the 11-15 age group who have seen the program in question. First place (with 41 percent) is occupied by a Soviet comedy, but the other nine programs are all American (6) or French (3). An American detective serial has second place (33 percent), then come a French youth serial and a French comedy, followed by two American combat movies, another French comedy, another American combat movie, an American serial (Santa Barbara), and finally yet another American combat movie.
Surveys show that 80 percent of young people say they like American movies (to varying degrees), while 10 percent say they dislike them. (1) The author makes a systematic comparison of these two groups. Fans of American movies are impressed by sensational features like beautiful shots, fast- moving action, and special effects, while their opponents are concerned primarily with content. Unsurprisingly, there is a strong correlation with general social values. Fans of American movies appreciate qualities like physical strength, drive, aggressiveness, and outer attractiveness; American movies repel those who value intellect, humaneness, sensitivity, and devotion to justice, the social good, and other high ideals.
Of particular importance as character models for the young are the types of hero who star in movies. The typical hero of an American movie is a lone young man who is cheerful and optimistic, usually with a sense of humor and an attractive exterior, enterprising and inventive in getting out of difficult situations, strong and often aggressive, a winner. He doesn't talk a lot but acts. He may be engaged in defending law and order as a police officer, detective, sheriff or lawyer, or he may be on the other side -- a criminal, mafioso, fighter or prostitute (the last one is a she). So even the idealist may find certain appealing qualities here (cheerfulness and a sense of humor at least).
In partial contrast, "the heroes of the majority of contemporary Russian movies are criminals, drug addicts or simply strange 'dark' personalities, often with psychic and behavioral abnormalities. Their life is portrayed as "a tragic, catastrophic chain of events. They have no prospects; they are doomed and defeated, and most often they perish." Few young people find such heroes (anti-heroes?) appealing.
The author points out that many young people who like American movies on the whole do recognize that their heroes have negative as well as positive qualities. At the same time they don't like the Russian heroes on offer to them. What they are looking for is a new type of Russian movie hero who will share some of the appealing qualities of his American counterpart without directly imitating him. Would volunteers for the role please apply to the "Novyi geroi" movie studio?
NOTE
(1) Note that this study is restricted to Moscow, probably entailing a significant bias. The proportion of young people who dislike American movies is presumably somewhat greater in the provinces.