Life strategies of urban and rural school graduates: an empirical analysis of parameters (Part 2)

This publication is a continuation of the research described in the article: Коршунова О. В. Жизненные стратегии выпускников городских и сельских школ: теоретико-методологические подходы к интерпретации сущности феномена, специфика педагогического сопровождения (Часть 1) // Педагогика. Вопросы теории и практики. 2026. Т. 11. Вып. 1. https://doi.org/10.30853/ped20260009. The research aims to present the results of the empirical part of the study, focused on a comparative analysis of the parameters of life strategies of urban and rural school graduates to account for the identified specificities in the process of forming the phenomenon under study. The main diagnostic tool was the adapted Russian projective technique “The Life Boat”, which allows for the identification of value orientations, life goals, incentives, and obstacles as components of life strategies. The sample consisted of 163 first-year students in Teacher Education at Vyatka State University (112 urban and 51 rural school graduates). The results showed that the space-time perspective of the graduates is characterized by a short planning horizon: the future is most clearly envisioned 5 years ahead (graduation), while the present for rural respondents is more event-filled. A high and non-alternative significance of family as a value, a goal, and a primary incentive was established for both groups. Alarming trends were revealed: the extremely low significance of knowledge as a value (0% for urban, 5.88% for rural respondents), nature (3.52% for rural respondents), patriotism (5.36% and 11.76% respectively), and honest labor. A shift in value orientations toward individualization and pragmatization is observed. The main obstacle to the realization of life goals is a lack of time (especially for rural respondents – 35.29%), and every fifth graduate, regardless of their place of residence, is unsure about the future. These recorded facts indicate the need to develop specialized pedagogical programs to support the process of building life strategies for youth, aimed at expanding the time perspective and strengthening the values of cognition, labor, and civic identity, while considering the formative context; this necessity defines the scientific novelty of the work.