Goal-setting of career choice by first-year students – future speech therapists

the problem of choosing a profession in adolescence is one of the central ones, and it is considered by a number of sciences – philosophy, pedagogy, psychology – from the standpoint of goal-setting, self-determination, the formation of value orientations, and the existing interest in a particular type of professional activity. A conscious choice of a further educational trajectory by secondary school graduates is the key to the formation of a resource of specialists who in five or six years will be able to join active professional activities in the country. The article contains analytical material illustrating the reflection of goal-setting for admission to the St. Petersburg State Pediatric Medical University at the Faculty of Clinical Psychology by first-year students of the 2024-2025 academic years. The study was conducted at the beginning of the semester in order to study the features of goal-setting of students when choosing an educational institution. It was attended by first-year students of the Department of Special Defectological Education of the Faculty of Clinical Psychology. It was possible to establish that a significant majority of students explain the purpose of admission to the department by the long-standing dream of becoming a teacher who will be able to work with children with various disorders of oral and written speech. There is a subgroup of students who explain the purpose of their admission by the desire to help their relatives who have communication difficulties. A small part of the respondents noted a connection between the purpose of choosing a university and the desire to live in St. Petersburg. In the sample of respondents, there were also those who explained the purpose of admission by random circumstances. The results of the study can be the basis for determining the tactics of extracurricular educational work with students who have an unconscious, accidental, situational goal of admission that is not related to future professional activity.

goal-setting, professional choice, speech therapist, educational trajectory