Sociology and Space, No. 10, 1965.
Original scientific paper
Aspirations and Professional Orientation of Rural Youth
Edhem Dilić
Abstract
In this article the author presents the summary results of an interview which embraced 4,293 pupils in the concluding classes of primary schools in villages and 2,271 young peasants in the age between 14 and 25, who live and work on their own or of their parents’ holdings. This investigation was done as a part of a wider study project: »The Possibilities of Extending Socially owned and Socially Leased Land as a Consequence of the Influence of the General Social and Economical Development on Changes of the Agrarian Structure«. As it was predicted the pupils of the concluding classes of the primary schools almost entirely tend to nonagricultral occupations, because only 0.4%
respondents declared their wish to become agricultural workers. The interviewed pupils prefer mostly those occupations and professions which enable quick economical independency and stability of income, while general attractiveness of some nonmanuel jobs (doctor, technicians, etc) proved to have no significant influence upon the selection of desired occupation. In the same way the majority of the interviewed pupils prefer living in towns, especially because of wider
possibilities for entertainment, better general conditions of life, wider possibilities for education and more developed cultural and communal institutions. Investigation of the aspirations of young peasants, who due to the particular reasons have not availed themselves of social mobility but remained to live in their native villages and on their own or of their parents’ holdings, proved that in a certain sense it can be spoken of their unadaptibilitv to their present social position. A minority of them, mostly of older age, partially have stabilized themselves residentially, but still indications of their spatial mobility exsist. The basic reasons of feelings of neglectance of those young peasants who wish to proceed their schooling and to leave agriculture and village life, schould be sought among the following factors: a) low standard of living, b) economical and social dependency, c) low reputation of agricultural occupation, d) lack of organized and diversified leasure time, e) unsolved social problems and want ol social benefits, i ) poor perspectives of peasants’ holdings, etc. The author concludes his article with the statement that rural youth predominantly prefer values of urban life and in order to attain these values is ready to leave their villages and agricultural occupation. This fact, together with some undesirable consequences of the rural exodus of youth not only in the zones of emigration (depopulation of villages, senilization of agricultural population and social problems related to this, abandonment of agricultural capacities, etc) but also in the zones of immigration (difficulties of accommodation, an increase of unemployment in towns, etc) indicate the significance of further research of this phenomenon.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
118305
URI
Publication date:
23.12.1965.
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