Introduction

One of the significant tasks of education, which is indicated by the national doctrine of the Russian Federation, is to strengthen in the public consciousness the ideas about science and education as determining factors for the development of Russia (AITOV, 1989; ADAMSKY, 2005; BIM-BAD, 1993; GROMYKO; DAVYDOV, 1993).

Thus, education is the basis for determining the position of the state in modern times and the social position of a person in society. A modern graduate who has received a higher education should have the ability to effectively use, replenish, generate knowledge, and form skills considering the achievements of modern science, in their professional activities (ZAPESOTSKY, 2002; GROMYKO, 1992; CHERDYMOVA, 2016). Organizing their educational activities, they largely take into account the requirements of employers, the profession, the state, the environmental situation and society (BAYANOVA, 2021; DZYATKOVSKAYA; ZAKHLEBNY; GNEUSHEVA, 2016; CHERDYMOVA, 2011; MUDRAK; GAGARIN, 2017; YASVIN, 2019).

When evaluating the quality of education and educational services, it is necessary to consider the multidimensional structure of the concept itself, its multi-aspect and multi-organ nature (ANGELOVSKY, 1991; COOMBS, 1970). Many researchers recognize the lack of sufficiently justified criteria and indicators of the effectiveness of the quality of education. Different approaches to the formation of criteria for the quality of educational services are assumed, since the necessary condition for the competitiveness of the university in the education market is precisely the improvement of quality (BAYANOVA, 2020; BAYANOVA, 2021; BAYANOVA; ZAKIROVA, 2020; BEREZINA, 2018; BRAZHNIK; BARYSHNIKOV, 2002; ZAIR-BEK; TRYAPITSYNA, 2000).

At the present stage of development, the requirements and expectations of both employers and the public are gradually increasing for the quality of educational services offered to future specialists; for the professional competencies of the graduate himself. In addition, the success of the graduate and his/her demand in the labor market are mandatory conditions for determining the quality of educational services provided. All the above-mentioned imposes new responsibilities on educational institutions and raises more and more clearly, the question of ways conditions and factors for improving the quality of higher education institutions (BAYANOVA, 2019; CHERNIKOVA, 2005; SIMONOV, 1999; SMIRNOV; TKACHENKO, 2002). With ever-increasing external control by employers, consumers, and the public over the quality of training of future professionals in higher education institutions, universities themselves strive to meet these growing needs by strengthening quality control. The level of professionalism of the teaching staff, the library fund of the university, and the image components of the university are evaluated, but as practice shows in today's realities, this is not enough to obtain the necessary information.

In recent decades, Russian theory and practice have been intensively studying the problems of the quality of education, which have an impact on the development of educational institutions. First, the quality of education is a generalized indicator, which shows many significant factors. One of the most relevant concepts in the higher education system is the concept of quality, which is commonly used, regulating educational activities, which is the subject of wide discussion in the pedagogical community, the object of research of many scientists and practical teachers (FEIGENBAUM, 1994; FRUMIN, 2000; NOVIKOV, NOVIKOV; POSTALYUK, 2007).

Summarizing the various definitions of the concept of education, we can conclude that this concept is a broad, multidimensional definition. To study the concept of education, we will rely on the most important aspects (KUVSHINOVA; SOKOLOVA, 2006; LEBEDEV, 2006; NOVIKOVA, 2005).

To do this, it should be noted that education is: an independent form of social practice that permeates all aspects of society; a universal way of transmitting knowledge that represents a common mechanism that connects people's communities, their ways of life, the transmission and preservation of the norms and values of common life; a universal cultural and historical form that shows the formation and development of a person in time, history, space and culture, thereby contributing to self-development and self-education (BAYANOVA et al., 2019; BAYANOVA, 2021; GALAIDA, 2008; KARASEV, 2002; OLKHOVAYA et al., 2019).

Thus, the quality of education is a system, process and result of education that corresponds to its social purpose, acts as a means to identify the compliance or non-compliance of the education system itself with the requirements of the state, society and the individual, and meets the very specific requirements of various consumer groups. In the narrow sense, the quality of education consists of such components as the quality of the curriculum, the quality of the trainees, and the quality of the educational process. In general, the quality of education is understood as the integrated functioning of a special system designed to monitor, measure, evaluate, and analyze the quality of higher education.

Research Methodology

The Study Objectives and Structure

The purpose of the study is to find out the assessment of the quality of education received by university graduates. Objectives of the study: to determine the overall level of students' satisfaction with their student life (student life is understood not only as the educational activities of the respondents, but as a whole their studies, that is, participation in various types of university events, sports activities, spending time with friends); to find out the opinion of graduates about the choice of educational institution and the prestige of the educational institution; to identify the overall level of satisfaction of graduates with the choice of their specialty; to find out whether graduates work in their specialty and whether there are difficulties in this process; to find out at which faculty the level of training of specialists most meets the requirements imposed by the labor market; to determine the level of satisfaction of graduates’ obtained knowledge in the chosen specialty and their application in later life in their professional activities; to find out what qualities, in the opinion of graduates, are necessary for the university to train specialists.

The study assumes that graduates are satisfied with their student life as a whole, and do not regret choosing their profession, but often do not work in the specialty obtained in an educational institution; that graduates apply the acquired knowledge in later life in professional activities; that modern teaching methods are necessary to improve the quality of graduate training.

Result and Discussion

Features of Students' Ideas about the Quality of Educational Services

To begin with, within the framework of this task, it was decided to check how much the graduate students were interested in studying. From the results obtained, it can be said that (90%) of graduates believe that the studies they received in their educational institution were interesting to them. 53% of these, indicated that they were more interested in studying than not. The rest noted that they were not satisfied with their studies (47%).

Studying what problems worried graduates during their studies and analyzing the data obtained, we can conclude that the main problem students consider unsatisfactory teaching in some subjects 37%. In addition, graduates were not satisfied with the organization of the educational process (13%), and the living conditions in the hostel (23%), graduates noted high prices in the student canteen and cafe (25%). An important problem was the post-graduate employment in the specialty for the respondents (41%).

Studying the level of satisfaction of graduates with the educational and other services provided by the university we came to the following conclusions: from the data obtained, more than half of the graduates (63%) are fully satisfied with the organization of the admission procedure to the university and availability of teachers and consultations (71% of the respondents). It is also found that 63% of graduates are satisfied with the organization of catering at the university. The level of satisfaction with the schedule is low - 31%. Finally, in order to have more reason to identify that graduates are generally satisfied with their student life, a direct question was asked about the level of this satisfaction. Indeed, as expected, most of the graduates, namely 90% of the respondents, are more or less satisfied with their studies. 63% of these graduates are more satisfied with their studies than not. This data confirms the forecasts and expectations. There were also those who were more likely to be dissatisfied, such were (2%) of respondents.

The next task was to find out the opinion of graduates about the choice of an educational institution and its prestige. According to the data obtained, it was revealed that (71%) of respondents believe that it is prestigious to study at this educational institution. Only a small proportion of respondents, namely (10%), have the opposite opinion. There were also those who found it difficult to answer this question.

Further, after studying the criteria by which graduates chose an educational institution, we received the following data: that the majority, namely 53% of respondents, chose their university because it provided a good education, then (31%) followed the advice of their parents, the less common answer was that after graduating from the chosen university it is easy to find a job.

The survey revealed that graduates of an educational institution planned to continue their studies in the near future or were already doing so in this educational institution, the share of respondents was 30%. For most of the respondents considered, the chosen university as a prestigious educational institution, and graduates, even after graduation, would choose it to continue their studies again. It is also interesting to note that after graduating from university, graduates advise others to enroll in an educational institution that they have chosen themselves, according to the data received, this was the answer 88% of respondents.

The next task of the study was to find out why graduates chose their specialty when entering and whether they regret choosing their specialty. The most popular answer about the reasons for choosing was an acceptable competition when entering a university (45%), followed by a recommendation from parents or acquaintances (27%). In third place was the fact that graduates pretended on a specific place of work (17%). Only 13% of the responses were received, where graduates believed that there was a popular specialty for admission. A fifth of the respondents noted that the choice of this specialty depended on the admission on a budget basis, interest in the humanities, and interest in the profession.

Finding out whether the idea of the chosen specialty has changed during their studies at the university, they concluded that some things turned out to be worse than the graduates themselves expected (43%). The second most popular answer is that some things were better than expected (the share of respondents was 33%). The least common response was a radically improved view of the specialty (5%). Moreover, a fifth of the respondents answered that no changes had occurred during their studies at the chosen educational institution. Next, it was found out whether graduates regretted choosing their profession. Half (51%) indicated that they generally do not regret it, but would like a slightly different specialization. A third of the respondents regretted their choice, and a tenth think that this is not their profession 13%. Nevertheless, there are also respondents who do not regret their choice at all, their share is 31%. Identifying whether graduates work in their specialty, it was found that most of the respondents had a permanent job. Indeed, three-quarters of the respondents currently have a stable income, working in their specialty. Then it was found out how quickly the graduates found a job after graduation. The following results were obtained: 63% of respondents noted that they found a job during their studies, 17% immediately after graduation, and 3% of graduates claimed that it took a long time to find a job. The others said they still couldn't find a job. During the survey, respondents were asked the question: Who helped them find a job? From the data obtained, it can be seen that the most popular response was the Internet, the media (34%); parents, acquaintances, relatives assisted a large proportion of respondents - 63%. A less common response was that graduates applied to the University for Help, their share was 3%. From the responses received, it is revealed that two-thirds of the surveyed graduates, namely 66%, do not work in a specialty completed. It is also found out at which faculty of the selected educational institution the level of training of specialists most meets the requirements of the labor market. To begin with, we found out the assessment of the compliance of this training with the requirements of the labor market. Based on the data, it can be concluded that the majority of graduates, namely 61%, believe that the level of training mainly meets the requirements. A third of respondents (33%) believe that to some extent it corresponds. There is also respondents who think that the training does not meet the requirements of the labor market at all, their share is 2%. Checking and comparing the assessment of the level of specialists’ training by graduates of different faculties who were included in the sample, based on the results obtained, it can be concluded that graduates of humanities faculties to a lesser extent share the opinion that the education received meets the requirements of the labor market. Determining the level of satisfaction of graduates with the knowledge obtained in the chosen specialty, as well as their application in their professional activities, we assumed that graduates were more likely to be satisfied with the knowledge obtained. The results show that 81% of the respondents say that they are more or quite satisfied with the knowledge received in general, 19% of graduates are more or completely dissatisfied with their knowledge. It was also checked whether the knowledge gained in the chosen educational institution was useful to graduates in their later life, in their professional activities. It was found that 60% of respondents noted that the knowledge gained in the selected educational institutions was useful in later life. There were also people who found it difficult to answer this question 23%, and only a small proportion of respondents, namely 11%, said that knowledge did not help in any way in later life and in professional activity. The survey revealed whether graduates had enough knowledge and skills to work with, acquired during their studies at the chosen educational institution. The largest share of the responses received (67%) is that there are not enough practical skills and the level of foreign language proficiency. A third (33%) of respondents believe that there is not enough knowledge in special disciplines, and almost the same (31%) share of the responses received that the selected educational institution provides with enough knowledge and skills. Moreover, the least number of responses received was based on the criteria of insufficient knowledge in general disciplines (5%) and proficiency skills (3%). In addition, it was identified what qualities, in the opinion of graduates, were necessary for the university to train specialists. According to the data obtained, the most popular response was assistance in employment (70%). Slightly fewer answers (63%) say that modern teaching methods are needed. Also, based on the results (almost half of the responses received), according to the graduates, the university needs additional educational programs and modern educational and methodological support. The non-standard answer was teacher qualifications. Only a small proportion of the responses received turned out that the chosen educational institution did not need to improve the quality of training (it is already provided).

The formation of a healthy personality, both physically and spiritually, is a priority of every element of national modern education (ROZLUTSKA et al., 2020)

Conclusions

Today, the problem of supporting the quality of education has become more relevant and in demand, as professional activities become more complex, requirements for specialists increase, and the need for continuing education increases, which is associated with the factor of increasing competition between educational institutions.

Now, the problem of imperfection of existing methods of assessing the quality of education based on objective indicators is generally recognized, and there are difficulties in identifying the competencies that students have formed that they should have, according to educational standards, by the time they complete their studies.

The focus on hiring an employee from among the graduates of a particular educational institution is an indirect assessment of the activities of the university itself, its image in the market of educational services. They evaluate the knowledge that graduates receive as high quality. However, there are also a number of disadvantages of professional training, for example, insufficient knowledge of practical skills.

To ensure the competitiveness of both the university and its graduates, it is necessary to respond flexibly to the demands of the labor market. According to the graduates, the level of training of specialists mainly meets the requirements of the labor market. Unfortunately, based on the research data, not all graduates work in a specialty completed, the reason for this is low earnings. It is also important that the acquired knowledge that students have acquired in the course of training is used in professional activities not even in the specialty.

Because of the study, it is revealed that in general, graduates are satisfied that they graduated from the educational institution of their choice. As for the criteria by which this particular educational institution was chosen, here we can answer that the highest percentage is given to the criterion of giving a good education.

The study also obtained data on the satisfaction of university graduates with the educational and other services provided. The largest share of graduates is satisfied with the organization of the admission procedure to the university and the availability of teachers for consultation. The least part is satisfied with the organization of practices and internships.

The knowledge and training of specialists in different faculties fully meet the requirements of the labor market. In general, graduates are satisfied with the knowledge gained. Moreover, the knowledge gained in the educational institution is useful in the later life of graduates and they apply it in their professional activities.

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Notas de autor

Información adicional

How to reference this article: PIRALOVA, O. F.; UIMANOVA, N. A.; OLINDER, M. V.; SHUMEIKO, A. A.; KULESH, E. V.; KOROBANOVA, Z. V.; LISITSYNA, T. B. Quality and competitiveness of educational services in the view of students: problems and prospects. Revista on line de Política e Gestão Educacional, v. 25, n. esp. 2, p. 939-950, May 2021. e-ISSN:1519-9029. DOI: https://doi.org/10.22633/rpge.v25iesp.2.15278