SOCIAL CHARACTERISTICS OF PERSONAL AND CORPORATE COMPETITIVENESS OF FUTURE SPECIALISTS: RESULTS OF SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH

Introduction . The competitiveness between people covers different areas of human life, including vocational education. The increased competitions in labour market and special attention of both organisations and certain experts to the aspects of competitiveness have given rise to the emergence of such scientific direction as competitionology. Competitionology is focused on identifying and understanding existing laws, principles and rules, which should be used in the course of education of a competitive person and directly in competition in order to achieve goals under legal and faithful conditions. The aims of the present sociological research were the following: to clarify the impact of competition on personal development, to determine the positive and negative impact of competition on personal development and to compare two types of competitiveness – personal (individual) and corporate (group). Methodology and research methods . At the theoretical stage, various scientific and expert publications within the framework of the research were analysed. At the empirical stage of work, the survey was conducted through the website ianketa.ru, followed by processing and analysis of the collected data. The survey (n = 210 respondents, average age – 30 years) consisted of close-type and open-type questions. Results and scientific novelty. Social characteristics are formulated; similarities and differences in personal and corporate competitiveness of future experts are demonstrated. Personal competitiveness is entirely obtained by own abilities in the course of competition with other individuals or groups of colleagues. Corporate competitiveness is reflected in the personal recognition of the staff priority interests to fully satisfy own needs in the future.In the course of the sociological survey, it was revealed that two thirds of the respondents (76.2%) show personal competitiveness and over half of the participants (56%) feel more comfortable when working individually. To better understand respondents’ perception, the following aspects were analysed: degree of competitiveness, understanding of the concept of competitiveness, possible gendered nature of this phenomenon, competitive effects on personal traits and behaviour of examinees and their level of preparedness to be competitive. The results of the survey led to the conclusion that competitiveness is a natural form of relationships between people. Building personal competitiveness on today’s world is the urgent need, which will have to be given priority in vocational education of the 21st century. It is expected that scientific knowledge in the field of competitionology will be actively accumulated in the coming years. Therefore, interdisciplinary sciences such as pedagogy and psychology will gain a new impetus to further development through practical application of competitionology. Practical significance . The research materials might be useful to researchers, who are interested in the problems of development and formation of personal and corporate competitiveness of future specialists; to teachers of secondary and higher vocational education; to students interested in self-development and personal career planning.