“Why am I here?”Analyses of the values and meanings of higher education through the eyes of students
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15503/jecs2026.1.113.127Słowa kluczowe:
higher education, values and meaning, mentoring, professional identity, self-development.Abstrakt
Aim. The question of the value and meaning of higher education in the modern world, in the era of new technologies and opportunities, takes on a new meaning. What do future professionals expect from universities, what do they perceive as their meaning or points, and what kind of values do they respect? This is the primary research question of the current study. The authors analysed the meanings, expectations, and values of students at several humanities universities worldwide, as reflected in questionnaires, in order to answer this very question and identify the main reasons for pursuing higher education.
Methods. The authors used comparative, contrastive, analytical, and systematic research methods. The main basis for obtaining the results were anonymous questionnaires and surveys, in the form of tests and open-ended questions.
Results. The authors conducted an in-depth analysis of students’ reflections on the values and meanings of higher education, their main reasons and needs for pursuing it. They also identified the main criteria by which the students’ answers and reflections were classified: pragmatic, social-status, and existential.
Conclusions. The authors concluded that actually higher education at a university is not merely an end in itself nor the final milestone on the path to professional mastery by achieving professional competencies. Higher education is generally viewed as a process of self-improvement, self-determination, self-knowledge, and self-development, the primary foundation for developing the necessary competencies and skills needed to adapt to new conditions and create the architecture of one’s professional identity.
Pobrania
Bibliografia
Danek, J. (2019). Philosophical and societal elements of human upbringing [Filozoficke a spolocenske aspekty vychovy cloveka]. XLinguae, Scientific Language Journal, 12(4), 66–76. https://doi.org/10.18355/XL.2019.12.04.06
Esmond, B., Schmees, J. K., & Wedekind, V. (2026). Emancipation and Vocational Education: Skills, Bildung and the Subject (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003608141
Gkoutis, G., Thode, M., & Paliokas, I. (2025). A European examination of digital education strategies: Broader insights into policy adoption and economic impact. Digital Society: Ethics, Socio-Legal and Governance of Digital Technology, 4(2), Article 53. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44206-025-00206-6
Göçen, A., Ibrahim, M. M., & Khan, A. U. I. (2024). Public attitudes toward higher education using sentiment analysis and topic modeling. Discover Artificial Intelligence, 4: 83. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44163-024-00195-4
Green, A. (2013). Education and State Formation. In A. Green (Ed.), Education and State Formation. Education, Economy and Society (pp. 82–114). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137341754_4
Montero, J. M., & Montero, B. (2026). From Enigma to a Generative AI Teaching–learning Paradigm. In L. F. Rivera-Galicia, J. M. Montero, C. García-Pérez, & E. Senra-Díaz (Eds.), Teaching Innovations in Economics (pp. 51–81). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-08213-8_3
Ryall, J. T. W. (2017). Experience and Enlightenment. In J. T. W. Ryall, A Copernican Critique of Kantian Idealism (pp. 245–256). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56771-6_9
Savina, K. (2024). Sistema otetchestvennogo obrazovaniya s vvedeniem bakalavriata I magistrature [The domestic education system with the introduction of bachelor’s and master’s degrees]. Nauka, obrazovanie y kultura, 4, 70. https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/sistema-otechestvennogo-obrazovaniya-s-vvedeniem-bakalavriata-i-magistratury
Su, J., & Yang, W. (2022). Artificial intelligence in early childhood education: A scoping review. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 3, Article 100049. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeai.2022.100049
Su, J., Zhong, Y., & Ng, D. T. K. (2022). A meta-review of literature on educational approaches for teaching AI at the K-12 levels in the Asia-Pacific region. Computers and Education: Artificial Intelligence, 3, Article 100065. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.caeai.2022.100065
Tan, C. S. (2025). Education in the Technological Age: The Conflux of Technology, Education, and Science. In M. E. Auer, & D. May (Eds.), 2024 Yearbook Emerging Technologies in Learning. Learning and Analytics in Intelligent Systems, vol. 44 (pp. 421–438). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-80388-8_23
Titova, T. A., & Puraeva, A. V. (2006). Nravstvennoe soderjanie obrazovania s vvedeniem bakavriata y magistratury [Moral content of education as an urgent task and problem of the education system]. Tomsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin, 12. https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/nravstvennoe-soderzhanie-obrazovaniya-kak-nasuschnaya-zadacha-i-problema-sistemy-obrazovaniya
Wood, A. (2024). Kant and Enlightenment. Jus Cogens, 6, 109–122. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42439-024-00091-6
Zakiryanova, I., & Mikhailova, A. (2023). Etnokultura v sisteme duhovno-nravstvennogo vospitania [Ethnoculture in the system of spiritual and moral education]. Bulletin of Kemerovo State University. Series: Humanities and Social Sciences, (1). https://cyberleninka.ru/article/n/etnokultura-v-sisteme-duhovno-nravstvennogo-vospitaniya
Pobrania
Opublikowane
Numer
Dział
Licencja
Prawa autorskie (c) 2026 Ekaterina Samorodova, Liubov Chitakhova, Samira Merzouk
Utwór dostępny jest na licencji Creative Commons Uznanie autorstwa 4.0 Międzynarodowe.
CC-BY
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal. All authors agree for publishing their email adresses, affiliations and short bio statements with their articles during the submission process.
