‘A Place in the Sun’: Youth Policy Forum to Take Place at HSE Campus in Perm
.jpg "‘A Place in the Sun’: Youth Policy Forum to Take Place at HSE Campus in Perm")
HSE University Rector Nikita Anisimov and Perm Krai Governor Dmitry Makhonin have agreed to organize an annual forum for experts, young professionals, university representatives and employers. Its goal is to develop solutions in career guidance and self-fulfilment for young professionals. The agreement was reached as part of the university administration’s official visit to Perm.
‘A Place in the Sun’, a federal youth policy forum will take place for the first time in March 2022 in Perm. It will become a platform for ongoing communication between several parties: Russian youth, the university community, and employers, as well as local and federal authorities.
The forum is planned to be an annual federal event supported by the Perm Krai government, with the organizers declaring that the forum’s mission is to help the young generation to choose ways of professional and personal fulfilment, with the support of development programmes by Perm Krai and the ‘Russia — a Country of Opportunities’ project.
The tasks include the creation of a think tank at HSE campus in Perm aimed at developing and modelling successful approaches to self-fulfilment for the young generation.
During his meeting with Dmitry Makhonin, Nikita Anisimov said that the Perm campus of HSE University has worked effectively with secondary schools in Perm Krai for many years. ‘Of course, we are following the federal agenda in youth policy, so we suggested—and I’m happy that Mr. Makhonin agreed and supported this—to implement a number of federal initiatives locally as part of the ‘A Place in the Sun’ forum, which we plan to eventually make international’, Nikita Anisimov said. He added that Perm is a destination for international students, and the university has a great deal of expertise in this field.
Valeria Kasamara, HSE Vice Rector, who also participated in the negotiations with Perm Krai administration, explained to the HSE News Service that the idea to start the forum came from HSE University. ‘To implement this, we are already forming a working group out of representatives of the Perm Krai government, HSE University, and the Association of “I’m a Professional” Student Olympiad Organizers’, she said.
Valeria Kasamara explained the choice of Perm as the venue of the forum was driven by two factors. First, the region governor is closely interested in this project and ready to support it.
Second, it is essential that such events take place all over the country, rather than just being concentrated in Russia’s two main cities: ‘The Perm campus of HSE University will take an active part in the forum preparation, with university representatives in the working group. But the organizer will be HSE University as a whole, since, as we’ve already declared, our concept is “four campuses — one university”’.
Valeria Kasamara, HSE Vice Rector
We have long studied youth policy and can see that there are already lot of initiatives for young people in terms of career guidance and self-fulfilment. But they are usually scattered and do not solve the most pressing problem: employers are often not satisfied with how prepared students are when they come for internships or their first jobs. The solution is to harmonize the work of universities with the conditions set by the job market for entry-level professionals. Big companies are also interested in this, since they need highly motivated young specialists, and the same is true for universities that train such people, as well as for the young people themselves, who also have their own view on how a career should be built.
The job market is changing rapidly, particularly due to the pandemic, and in such turbulent times, it is important to look for solutions to problems. This is why we have come up with an idea to create a platform where experts from different regions, university community representatives, businesspeople and, most importantly, young people can come together to suggest solutions for existing barriers, as well as new approaches to youth policy and career guidance.
Of course, career guidance should be started early, ideally in secondary school. But unfortunately, many graduates still have a very vague understanding of where to go after education and how to get a job that matches their qualifications. We need to support them, to show them the different opportunities they have as they get their degree. This is a key topic that is being monitored by both Minister of Science and Higher Education and the President. I believe that looking for solutions to this problem that can be used nationally is particularly important.