Factors of Profession Choice by Public Administration Students

This study concerns the determinants of Russian Public Administration (PA) students’ work preference. In this paper we investigate the link between different types of motivation (according to Perry's, Shein's and McClelland's theories), and intention of students to work in public sector after graduation. Moreover, this study describes the relationship between some factors of profession choice, related to educational process, and tendency to work in public sector among PA students. For instance, these factors include internships' satisfaction, trainee' satisfaction, experience of participation in projects with public organizations and previous education. For this reason, a survey involving 181 students of the Public Administration Department was conducted in Higher School of Economics in Moscow and Saint-Peterburg and Russian Presedential Academy of National Economy and Public Administarion in Moscow. The results of logistic regression show the significant influence of practical experience of PA studens on intention to work in public organizations. Besides, some dominant motives such as needs for achievement, power, professional competence and work-life balance negatively affect on career choice in civil service. In this study was proposed practical recommendations for development PA academic programs and increasing of students' motivation to serve the public. The paper is structured as follows: the first section presents an analysis of the earlier studies, allowing to identify a set of factors that influence on the career choice by Public Administartion students. The second part presents the methods of research, findings and practical recommendations.