Professional subjectivity and employers’ trust in university graduates as an element of labor market culture

The article deals with the problem of lack of trust between employers and graduates of higher educational institutions. The object-subject area of the article is the process of forming trust between university graduates and employers. The article substantiates the relationship between the economic culture of a person and his professional subjectivity. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study is the model of P. Shtompka’s culture of trust. The hypothesis is tested that the professional subjectivity of a graduate affects the formation of a trusting relationship between him and his employer, and it is easier for a graduate with pronounced characteristics of professional subjectivity to build a trusting relationship with his employer. The application of the method of traditional analysis of documents allowed us to determine the main approaches to the study of the phenomenon of professional subjectivity: economic, legal, sociological and psychological. To test the hypothesis, both quantitative and qualitative methodology was used, in particular, methods of a questionnaire survey of graduates, a series of semi-formal interviews with employers. The use of these methods made it possible to study the influence of professional subjectivity of graduates on the trust of employers. According to the results of the study, it was possible to identify criteria of mutual trust for employers and for graduates, to compile a generalized portrait of a graduate who will cause distrust of the employer at the interview stage. In addition, it has been revealed what prevents these subjects from building trusting relationships and which practices that contribute to increasing trust between graduates and employers they see as more effective. The social types of graduates are identified and described: “interested”, “earners” and “careerists”, who are assessed by the level of formed trust in the employer at the intersection of the bases of professional orientation and trust-forming conditions. The article concludes with the results of hypothesis testing, as well as the directions of further scientific research and the practical significance of the conducted research.