Introduction
In the context of modern society, professional self-determination (PSD) becomes one of the key issues requiring in-depth study and analysis. In the age of modern technologies, human resources become the driving force of any enterprise, and consequently, work aimed at forming a person’s readiness for professional self-determination should be a key focus of activity for educational organizations, the state, employers, and the individual alike.
Alongside the exponential growth in the number of scientific publications on the topic of PSD, the number of sources systematizing other works does not demonstrate such rapid growth. The aim of the research presented in this article was to systematize existing knowledge, as well as to identify potential research directions in the field of PSD. The key research questions were:
- What is the current state of knowledge about PSD in domestic science?
- How has PSD been studied in domestic science and what results have been obtained?
- What lessons can we learn from the available knowledge and what is lacking in it?
To answer the questions posed, a bibliometric and systematic literature analysis was conducted, with a detailed description of the research protocol to increase its reliability and validity. Thanks to a comprehensive model for studying PSD, the research expands the scientific discourse by identifying understudied aspects of PSD and suggesting possible directions for further research.
Materials and methods
To systematize existing research on the phenomenon of PSD, a systematic and bibliometric literature analysis was conducted. The OpenAlex citation database was used to collect publications. A list of keywords for searching the database was compiled: professional orientation, vocational guidance, vocational guidance work, vocational guidance activities, personal professional self-determination, readiness for professional self-determination, career trajectory, career choice, professional choice. The results were limited by publication type (articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals).
As a result of the database search, 460 articles that met all the above search criteria were collected. The articles cover the period from 2000 to 2024, with almost 80% of publications falling within the last 5 years.
For the bibliometric analysis, VOSviewer 1.6.20 software was applied, which allows for the analysis of co-occurrence of keywords used in the articles. The threshold for the minimum number of keyword occurrences was set at 4, resulting in 65 out of 517 keywords meeting this criterion. Keywords not related to the research topic were removed: “youth”, “honesty”, “pandemic”, etc. The largest set of connected keywords consisted of 43 items.
Results
The bibliometric analysis of keyword co-occurrence allowed for the identification of six thematic clusters, characterized by clear intra-cluster connections, as well as significant inter-cluster relationships (Fig. 1).
Fig. 2 displays the keyword visualization map highlighting the thematic clusters obtained as a result of the bibliometric literature analysis.
Cluster 1: Digital educational technologies
The research presented in the first cluster considers the phenomenon of PSD from the perspective of educational technologies, with particular attention paid to digital technologies. This research direction is among the most recent works, dated after 2021 (Fig. 3).
One of the basic concepts of the first cluster is the phenomenon of transprofessionalism. Definitions of transprofessionalism encompass not only the multidimensionality and multitasking of a person’s professional activity but also include the ability to quickly adapt to changes, find and implement new ideas (Zeer, 2018; Zeer, Tretyakova, Zinnatova, 2020), the ability to solve multiple tasks simultaneously (Dorofeeva, Latypova, Ziganshina, 2015), combine different directions or perform several types of activities (Yalalov, 2015).
Cluster 2: Inclusive education and special needs of learners
The second cluster, identified as a result of the bibliometric literature analysis, is formed around the issues of inclusive education.
The most important topic addressed in the research of the second cluster is the formation of so-called “subjectness” in learners with special educational needs, i.e., “an integrative property of the personality, reflecting its ability and readiness for self-determination of its professional and personal development” (Bairamov et al., 2018). Scholars consider subjectness as a determinant not only of professional but also of personal self-determination of students with disabilities (Bonkalo, Tsygankova, 2015). The substantive elements of subjectness positively correlate with indicators of the effectiveness of students’ professional self-determination: formed professional identity, internal motives for professional activity, choice of profession under the influence of one’s own inclinations, abilities, life plans, etc. (Bairamov et al., 2018). Researchers conclude: “assistance to children with disabilities in professional and personal self-determination should be oriented towards finding personal meaning in professional (labor) activity” (Belyavsky, Solovieva, 2016).
Cluster 3: Educational environment
The third cluster is dedicated to the educational environment of PSD, i.e., all elements that accompany a person on the path of building their professional and educational trajectory.
The most common theme of such research is the study of approaches to career guidance that can ensure a sufficiently high level of student readiness for professional self-determination. Scholars note the complex nature of career guidance work as an integral element of the modern educational environment, striving to form students’ motivation for creative self-realization (Shatyr, 2017). Some researchers operate with the concept of the “motivational complex of the personality”, which consists of three types of motivation: internal, external positive, and external negative motivation (Lavrenteva, Ignatenko, 2015).
Cluster 4: System and institutions
The fourth cluster, identified during the bibliometric analysis, encompasses a global understanding of professional self-determination from the perspective of the system and its constituent institutions.
The most frequent conclusion of the scientific works in this cluster boils down to the necessity of “combining the efforts of all levels and types of education and other interested parties (family, employers, state authorities, etc.)” (Gulyumova, Sichinsky, 2022; Kolesnikova, 2016). A separate emphasis is placed on the need to consider the specifics of each region when building a state support system for PSD, as well as on the specific stage of self-determination at which a person currently finds themselves (Gulyumova, Sichinsky, 2022; Shatova, 2023).
Cluster 5: Self-actualization of a person and their professional development
Unlike all other clusters, the research included in the fifth cluster is united by a human-centric approach, striving to highlight personal self-actualization as the most important element of PSD.
Self-actualization is understood by the authors as the realization of one’s own potential, the highest step in the hierarchy of human needs (Maslow, 1997), “the desire to become everything one is capable of becoming” (Antsupov, 2006).
Researchers note that the process of PSD can be interpreted from the perspective of “the integration of two opposite tendencies: towards adaptation and the actualization of one’s own self” (Rokitskaya, 2010). The process of adaptation is aimed at professional development, enrichment, and complication of various aspects of the personality, such as intellect, motives, values, character traits, self-concept, etc. The process of self-actualization, however, lies in the fact that a person builds their professional trajectory according to their unique characteristics, including character, temperament, self-perception, attitudes, and personality orientation (Rokitskaya, 2010).
Cluster 6: PSD as a process
The last thematic cluster considers PSD from the perspective of a continuous process. Representatives of the cluster define PSD as “an internal, self-flowing process of sequential independent choices made by a person as a result of correlating their internal resources with the requirements of the professional and labor future” (Chebrovskaya, Chebrovsky, 2022).
All blocks of a person’s psycho-emotional well-being are involved in the PSD process: “general life satisfaction, sense of life meaningfulness, presence of life goals, self-acceptance”, etc. Researchers assert that to form a positive psycho-emotional background at each stage of the PSD process, it is necessary to organize a correct form of psychological and pedagogical support: career enlightenment – transferring knowledge about the world of professions and labor; career information – assisting in orientation among various options of labor activity; career counseling – providing scientifically based psychological and pedagogical recommendations for assessing one’s capabilities when choosing a professional field; career adaptation – supporting the process of a person’s adaptation to performing professional tasks and interacting in a work collective (Chebrovskaya, Chebrovsky, 2022).
Discussion
The results of the study reveal significant potential for researching the topic of PSD. The table displays the research gaps identified in each of the six clusters.
Table
Research gaps within the PSD topic
|
Research gaps |
Sources |
|
1 |
2 |
|
CLUSTER 1: DIGITAL EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGIES |
|
|
Defining the criteria of transprofessionalism and “indicators of the development of information competence as a transprofessional one”. |
(Zeer, Tretyakova, Zinnatova, 2020; Tabachuk, 2021) |
|
Studying the “factors and conditions for the formation of an educational space ecosystem in the context of digital transformation of leading economic sectors and professional self-determination of learners”. |
(Atamanova, Emelyanova, Khramova, 2021; Gritskevich, Reshotka, Rozhdestvenskaya, 2019) |
|
Identifying changes occurring in the role of the teacher and students in the context of PSD. |
(Ivanova, Knyazkova, Somova, 2021; Pasechkina, 2022) |
|
Improving the content and technologies used in gamification methods for PSD. |
(Alexandrova et al., 2021; Yakovleva, Goltsova, 2022) |
|
CLUSTER 2: INCLUSIVE EDUCATION AND SPECIAL NEEDS OF LEARNERS |
|
|
Updating the career guidance activities of educational organizations according to the special needs of learners. |
(Bairamov et al., 2018; Belyavsky, Solovieva, 2016; Bonkalo, Tsygankova, 2015) |
|
Resolving contradictions arising in the PSD process at the stage of pre-university training for persons with disabilities. |
(Medvedeva, Olkhina, 2018) |
|
Developing programs to assist the employment of persons with disabilities in universities; distinguishing between the “technologies”, “tools”, etc. of employment assistance for persons with disabilities; differentiating the university’s functions within the framework of employment assistance initiatives and post-graduation support for persons with disabilities. |
(Nikolaeva, 2019) |
|
Developing and providing theoretical substantiation for a system of psychological support for the professional self-determination of persons with disabilities in the process of general education; determining the conditions for the effective implementation of the system; developing criteria for the formation of professional self-determination of persons with disabilities. |
(Ansimova, Chuprova, 2017) |
|
Developing diagnostics for the degree of psychosocial well-being and the level of autopsychological competence of persons with disabilities. |
(Samokhvalova, 2013; Osmuk, Melnikova, 2019) |
|
CLUSTER 3: EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT |
|
|
Developing and implementing a systematic, comprehensive approach to career guidance in general education organizations. |
(Lavrenteva, 2015; Shatyr et al., 2017) |
|
Studying tools for combining acmeological and competence-based approaches in organizing the educational process with the aim of forming students’ readiness for professional self-determination. |
(Knyazeva, Manukhov, Shcheveleva, 2015) |
|
Developing and implementing into the educational environment methods for working with parental attitudes in dynastic families, which are characterized by high rates of professional continuity. |
(Valiakhmetov, Turakaev, 2020; Shamanin, 2019) |
|
CLUSTER 4: SYSTEM AND INSTITUTIONS |
|
|
Developing mechanisms for involving regional educational authorities in the system of continuous support for professional self-determination of learners. |
(Gulyumova, 2022; Kolesnikova, 2016; Shatova, 2023) |
|
Studying tools for the “optimal development of all psychological components of the social situation of development of high school students <...> as the main determinant of the success of their professional self-determination”. |
(Aron, 2013; Shtumpf, Ansov, 2023) |
|
Studying and developing ways to meet the requirements of educational customers regarding the professional self-determination of graduates in the conditions of vertical integration of education. |
(Lukashenko, 2002; Sergeev, 2017) |
|
Scientific and methodological support for the process of successful socialization of learners. |
(Trubina, Zeer, Mashchenko, 2017) |
|
Empirical and theoretical substantiation of models of professional self-determination of learners within the ideology of socially-oriented education. |
(Zakharova, 2021) |
|
CLUSTER 5: SELF-ACTUALIZATION OF A PERSON AND THEIR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT |
|
|
“Researching and forming the readiness of older adolescents for professional self-determination”; identifying differences in the degree of readiness of learners for professional self-determination and determining the factors underlying such differences. |
(Kuznetsov, Kuvshinova, Zhilinskaya, 2023) |
|
Developing mechanisms for improving the information (digital) competence of teachers in educational organizations and forming integrative psychological formations (“self-determination, self-actualization, and self-personalization”) within the framework of applying a personalized approach to education. |
(Zeer, Symanyuk, 2021) |
|
Studying the influence of a personalized approach to education in the conditions of digitalization of learning on “the development of professional consciousness and self-awareness of the subject of labor, on the processes of self-determination”. |
(Rudenko, Kovalenok, 2022) |
|
CLUSTER 6: PSD AS A PROCESS |
|
|
Developing programs for “training teachers in matters of professional studies, the socio-economic situation of the region, technologies for diagnosing the psychophysical and personal properties (abilities) of a person”. |
(Chebrovskaya, Chebrovsky, 2022) |
|
“Developing technologies for forming new, foresight methodology-based professional competencies of future teachers”. |
(Panfilov, Panfilova, 2022) |
Conclusion
This study is dedicated to reviewing contemporary scientific literature by domestic authors on the topic of PSD, with the aim of understanding the current state of knowledge about the phenomenon under consideration, understanding the perspectives through which PSD is analyzed, and identifying potential directions for future research. According to the results of the bibliometric and systematic literature analysis, six thematic clusters were identified based on keywords, each representing a distinct research direction in the field of PSD.
From a theoretical perspective, this study makes an important contribution to the academic discourse on PSD. Firstly, as a result of the bibliometric analysis, a keyword visualization map used in scientific works dedicated to PSD was formed, which allowed for determining the current state of academic works on the topic under consideration. According to the analysis results, PSD is considered by domestic scholars from the perspectives of digital educational technologies, inclusive education and special needs of learners, educational environment, systems and institutions, self-actualization of a person and their professional development, as well as a continuous process. Secondly, this study allowed for identifying the results obtained by the authors of works on the topic of PSD to date, as well as research gaps that had not been properly analyzed before. The identified research gaps represent the foundation for further research dedicated to the topic of PSD.
The results of the study contribute to career guidance work from the perspective of various stakeholder groups. The conclusions of the work can be used at the federal, regional, or municipal levels of education when developing programs and courses aimed at students forming their professional trajectory. Based on the identified trends in the study of PSD, educational materials can be created that take into account modern approaches to professional self-determination at psychological-pedagogical, institutional, systematic, and other levels. The results of the study can be useful for employers and HR specialists, who can use this information to develop personnel selection strategies, considering the latest research in the field of professional self-determination. This will allow companies to attract employees who best meet their requirements and expectations, as well as create conditions for their further development and career growth. Finally, the obtained conclusions can be useful for the subjects of professional self-determination themselves. Thanks to the identified factors that most favorably affect the effectiveness of career guidance activities, the optant has the opportunity to build and, if necessary, adjust their educational and professional trajectory with the aim of forming readiness for professional self-determination.