The Public Administration Students' Motivation and Career Aspirations. Case of Undergraduates and Graduates of Higher School of Economics

The interest around career aspirations of Public Administration (PA) students has dramatically grown around the world due to the readiness of the millennium generation to replace baby boomers in the civil service. On the basis of the analysis of relevant theories of motivation, such as Public Service Motivation theory (PSM), Self-determination theory and Edgar Schein’s Career Anchors theory, the purpose of this study is to determine motives and career preferences of career choices of PA students. For this reason, a survey involving 188 second-and fourth-year students of the Public Administration Department was conducted in Higher School of Economics. Moreover, there was conducted 19 interviews with graduates about their professional experience. The results showed that students choose the specialization on the basis of their interest in the sphere of future professional activity and the prestige. Furthermore, the majority of students prefer to work in commercial sector due to the influence of external motives, such as level of expected wages and opportunities for professional growth. However, students who initially were interested to study at this faculty and prefer to work in the public sector are internally motivated. The main motives for them are the awareness of the work importance and debt awareness, as well as selfless desire to serve the public. Finally, according to the theory of E.Shane, such career orientations as "service", "stability" and "managerial competence" are dominated among graduates who are employed in public organizations. Although the graduates who are employed in commercial organizations have “the balance between career and personal life” as a main career orientation. In this paper are offered practical recommendations to educators on the vocational guidance of future graduates, the selection of enrolls, as well as increasing the motivation of students to work in government structures.