The 11th forum of leading universities entitled The Future of Higher Education was held in Moscow on June 7. SSU was presented by Rector Aleksei Chumachenko and Vice-Rector for Secondary Professional Education and Social Work Olga Nesterova.

The forum included a plenary discussion on sovereign education system, long-term goals, and current challenges, as well as the following sections – The Demand for Graduates in the Labour Market: Employer Preferences and University Opportunities and The Role of Universities in the Sustainable Development of Regions.

Olga Nesterova made a report in the first section of the forum on improving the assistance system to the employment of graduates considering the opportunities of the labour market and the experience of Saratov State University in it.

According to the vice-rector, the mission of ‘Saratov State University, as a participant in the Priority 2030 programme is to help youth develop’. One of the SSU priorities is to develop the system promoting the employment of graduates, which has been created over the past 10 years.

She pointed out three main elements of the university system for promoting their employment – Working with Partners and Teaching Staff, Increasing Graduates' Opportunities in the Labour Market, and University as a Motivator for graduates' Professional Skills.

SSU uses such traditional means of partnership with employers: we organise practical training, our partners participate as lecturers, scientific supervisors, members of state examination commissions and lead master classes.

‘The actual form of interaction is the professional re-training of students and obtaining a second diploma. We are going to open basic courses by order of our partners. Interaction with regional employers is carried out according to the Digital Department programmes,’ Olga Nesterova emphasized.

Saratov State University constantly hosts meetings for students with representatives of enterprises of the military-industrial complex. Today, there are fourteen corporate departments in SSU, of which the eight are based on enterprises, and the three of them – at defence industry enterprises.

Olga Nesterova drew attention to programmes that help to increase the opportunities of graduates in the labour market. ‘New units are emerging at the university that work for the career trajectory of students. With the support of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, the Boiling Point was opened, which has become a discussion platform for students interested in technological and social entrepreneurship.’

The federal training project, Startup as a Graduation Project, is actively underway at the university. The expert community represented by entrepreneurs of the region responds with interest to projects proposed by students. You can read about these projects in the Research City section of the SSU website.

The vice-rector said that an important place in the personnel training system was occupied by career guidance work that motivated students to find a job.

‘I would like to highlight the employment of student who are taking teaching courses. SSU is the only university in Saratov Region that trains school teachers. We do a lot to motivate such student to work as teachers. Everything that we offer our students in building a professional development trajectory ensures a consistently high rate, about 70 percent, of the employment of university graduates,’ Olga Nesterova said.

The key unit of the university coordinating the employment of students and graduates is the Regional Centre of Graduate Employment and Labour Market Adaptation.

At the end of her speech, she touched upon the problems associated with the early involvement of students into the profession and their mobility in finding vacancies.

Olga Nesterova drew attention to the weak awareness of employers about employment, such as targeted training. In addition, the vice-rector considered it necessary to develop a mentoring system at the enterprise.

‘We should improve the system for promoting the employment of graduates considering the regional labour market,’ she concluded.

At the events of the forum, the participants discussed the vectors of university development, practical steps to adapt universities to new challenges. The speakers paid special attention form a sovereign education system.

The forum is organised by the RAEX rating agency. On this day, the 12th annual ranking of the best universities in Russia, RAEX-100, was presented, where SSU took 79th place.