Kolesnikova E.M. Pre-School Teachers: Profession as a Resource of Social Mobility

Abstract

The article is devoted to the analysis of status indicators of a group of preschool teachers. The study was organized as part of the project aimed at the analysis of social status and prospects of pre-school teachers in Russia.This professional group is considered from the standpoint of intergenerational and geographical mobility of its representatives and analyzed in the framework of neoweberian approach. The study was organized in 3 regions (Moscow, Samara region, Nizhny Novgorod region). A quota sample was based on the criterion of pre-school teaching work experience. 347 questionnairesfilled in by teachers of public kindergartensand 93 questionnairescompleted by teachers of private kindergartenswere selected for the analysis. In our opinion, social resources available for accumulation in the beginning pre-school teacher career stimulate their prospects of social and territorial mobility. Important trends are associated with the “closing” of the socio-professional community in the medium and small cities and the outflow of specialists from rural areas. The “closure” of professional communities and the reluctance to migratefrom small and medium-sized cities in Russia, in our opinion, is a reflection of certain elements of the rigid social structure there. An outflow of pre-school teachers from rural areas begins during the period of vocational education and leads to a growing professional status in comparison with their parents.