Dynamics of ethnocultural and civil identity of graduates of the Russian higher education institutions abroad

Emigration of graduates of the Russian higher education institutions abroad has become the constant phenomenon of modern life. Creation of the social mobility conditions by the higher school emphasizes the problem of preserving ethnocultural identity by emigrants and their positive attitude to Russia. The paper shows the results of the field sociological studies (internet poll and focus group) on the graduates of the Russian higher education institutions who currently live in Germany. The objective of these studies has been to investigate the tendencies of a change of the sociocultural and civil identity of the Russian-speaking youth abroad. The wave-like nature of the dynamics of the ethnocultural identification of the 8-year residence abroad is found, and four different models of the behavior of young migrants concerning the sociocultural adaptation and the preservation of ethnocultural identity are described. Two characteristics are used as the criteria for the models' identification: "success" and "not success" in the adaptation to the sociocultural life in Germany and a strategy of the preservation of enthocultural identity. Based on them, first, the small group of young migrants who experience problems in the intercultural communication and adaptation and who feel their Russianness, home-sickness is separated. Other three different models of behavior are typical for the young Russian-speaking migrants successful from a standpoint of adaptation but they demonstrate diverse forms of the preservation of enthocultural identity. One of these three groups additionally reveals a negative civil identity to Russia. The studies also reveal the negative attitude of the Russian-speaking youth to collective forms of preservation of cultural identity and to the Russian diaspora aged over 50 years old. The forms of the preservation of ethnocultural identity of the youth to a greater extent have individual character with use of modern communicative technologies. The majority of the respondents show a positive relation to Russia, its history and culture. At the same time a part of young migrants state a rejection of the political regime in the Russian Federation and consider a possibility of returning to Russia only after a change of the political regime in the country.