Svetlana Y. Mitrofanova’s research while affiliated with Samara National Research University and other places

The relevance of the study of identities and practices of the youth consolidation in the conditions of the Russian society is substantiated. The article defines concepts of the consolidation and identity at the theoretical and empirical levels. It considers the potential of the mix strategy in the study of identities and practices of the modern youth consolidation. The authors indicate factors of popularity of the mix strategy in the modern conditions, and the content of the discussion in the Russian scientific sociological field on the conformity of the translation into Russian of the English-language name Mixed Methods Research. Based on an appeal to the analysis of already implemented practices of applying the strategy of mixing methods, two approaches to its use are outlined. The article considers four key elements of the strategy of mixing methods within the framework of D. Creswell and V. Plano Clark’s approach, and indicates three strategies for combining methods from D.Morgan’s position. The author's position and problematic issues related to the use of the strategy of mixing methods are outlined. It is indicated what opportunities the application of the strategy of mixing methods opens up within the framework of the claimed study. It is concluded that the combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches in one research cycle complicates the task of understanding the identities and practices of the modern young consolidation, and at the same time allows you to look more deeply at the subject of research.

The article is based on the synthesis of research advances of Russian and foreign authors covering the issues of young people’s self-identification and the practices of their association. This interest is caused by the project implemented in the Samara region «Youth Identity and consolidation practice: regional aspect». The article uses the research results of foreign scientists, which discuss the issues of digital, ethnic-racial, religious identities, as well as the identities of poor youth in the context of establishing the consumer culture values. The results of the All-Russian project «Z Generation Eventivity» (2018) on the childhood eventivity, directed by S.N. Mayorova-Shcheglova, are significant. The research results on the issue under study, obtained in the Samara region, are important. These studies are on the social and medical volunteering, the importance of the activities of folk performance teams for preserving and developing the Russian culture. It was found that the identity problems in foreign studies are mainly placed in the context of consolidation practices of various minorities, socially vulnerable, discriminated youth groups. Russian studies have another approach: the self-identification issues are considered as related to various activities of the young people, their participation in various prosocial groups. We consider the second approach to be more productive in the Russian conditions.

The article raises the problem of the level of satisfaction with educational services among the students of agricultural training areas of secondary vocational education institutions of the Samara region. The study goal is addressed through several objectives including identifying the level of students’ satisfaction with the quality of education, their attitude towards industry internship, the level of satisfaction with the quality of material and technical support, and the presence or absence of the desire for employment in the chosen direction of training. The research method deployed in the study is surveying (N = 123). The study reveals that most respondents (73.7%) are completely or rather satisfied with the quality of education. The calculations indicate that most respondents have a positive or rather positive attitude towards industry internship (70.8%). 89.4% of respondents are completely or rather satisfied with the quality of material and technical support. 84.5% of the respondents are completely or rather satisfied with the quality of educational services while 9.6% found it difficult to answer and 5.7% express dissatisfaction with the quality of educational services to varying degrees. Considering individual educational institutions, the results by the indicator are as follows: the Bezenchuk Agrarian Technical College – 80.8%, the Kinel State Technical College – 91.1%. Due to the lack of data on secondary educational institutions, the obtained results are compared to similar studies conducted in Russian higher education institutions. As a result, the authors report a paradoxical situation consisting in the fact that the students are satisfied with educational services but not all of them plan to continue working in the chosen direction of professional training. Appropriate recommendations are provided for the management of educational institutions in accordance with the obtained results.