STUDENTS OF HIGHER AND SECONDARY PROFESSIONAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS OF CHUVASHIA ON SELF-IDENTIFICATION AND ETHNO-CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT

The purpose of this study is to characterize the features of self–identification by the student youth of Chuvashia. The work is carried out within the framework of the emerging traditions of studying interethnic relations, as well as the general civil, regional and ethnic identity of the population, at the same time, some subjects are considered taking into account new conditions. This involves the makeup of respondents, as well as the impact of the coronavirus epidemic on respondents’ responses. The article is based on the materials of a survey of 300 students of universities and secondary professional educational institutions of the Chuvash Republic studying humanities, technical and natural sciences. Conditional and marginal data distributions were obtained using data processing in the SPSS Statistics 22 program. As a result, it was revealed that in the list of problems that cause concern among students, the state of interethnic relations in the republic took one of the last places, but not because of their low importance for each of the young people, but due to real situation in the republic, when the absolute majority of people characterized the interethnic situation positively. The survey showed that the majority of respondents gave the most priority to the general civil identity, which surpassed the regional and ethnic ones in terms of the frequency of choice. It should be emphasized that there is no antagonism between these levels of identity, on the contrary, they organically combine with each other, and such a relationship is often situational. A favorable interethnic situation can be disrupted, and, according to students, the reasons for such changes are determined by unprofessional actions of the authorities, improper upbringing in the family, defiant behavior of some ethnic groups representatives, provocative publications in the media, social networks, etc. Such studies conducted in monitoring mode are important not only to increment the theoretical knowledge, but to provide materials that can be used to justify specific management decisions as well.