The Role of Agricultural Education of University Graduates for the Agro-Industrial Complex

In the context of globalization and digital transformation, the importance of the socioeconomic contribution of graduates is increasing. Their competitiveness, employment, income, and professional mobility largely depend on the macro- and microenvironmental conditions. The issue becomes particularly relevant for agricultural education due to the growing mismatch between labor market demands and the competencies of degree holders. Objective – to substantiate the choice and methodological approach to assessing the impact of factors on the social and economic performance of a graduate who has completed the educational process at an agricultural university, using the example of North Kazakhstan University, and to develop recommendations aimed at enhancing it. Methods of logical interpretation were used to clarify the concepts of “socioinstitutional effectiveness of a graduate” and “professional well-being of a young professional”; a questionnaire survey was conducted to collect empirical data on the level of basic and additional knowledge, business, and financial stability; and correlation analysis was applied to determine the direction of the relationship between the level of graduates’ acquired skills and their sociolabor competitiveness indicators. Results – the necessity of monitoring the impact of various prerequisites on the socio-economic value of an agricultural university graduate was substantiated, the percentage increase in the efficiency of graduate training returns with the growth of managerial qualities along with an increase in practical experience was shown, and recommendations for optimizing the educational system were proposed. Conclusions – evidence-based measures to improve the training of agricultural personnel as a priority direction of the country’s agricultural policy were considered. An agricultural university graduate must not only generate new ideas, but also be able to implement them. The agricultural academic base can serve as a model for successful interaction among scientists, universities, and AIC producers.

1. Parrella, J.A., Esquivel, C., Leggette, H.R. & Murphrey, T.P. (2024). Preparing Agricultural Leaders: An Assessment of Agricultural Students’ Perceived Importance and Development of Employability Skills. The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, 30 (2), 233–255 [in English].

2. Bautista, T.G., Roman, G., Khan, M., Lee, M., Sahbaz, S., Duthely, L.M., Knippenberg, A., MaciasBurgos, M.A., Davidson, A., Scaramutti, C., Gabrilove, J., Pusek, S., Mehta, D. & Bredella, M.A. (2023). What Is Well-Being? A Scoping Review of the Conceptual and Operational Definitions of Occupational WellBeing. Journal of Clinical and Translational Science, 7 (1), e227. https://doi.org/10.1017/cts.2023.648 [in English].

3. Wijngaards, I., King, O.C., Burger, M.J. & van Exel, J. (2022). Worker Well-Being: What It Is, and How It Should Be Measured. Applied Research in Quality of Life, 17 (2), 795–832 [in English].

4. Van der Heijden, B.I.J.M., De Vos, A., Akkermans, J., Spurk, D., Semeijn, J.H., van der Velden, M. & Fugate, M. (2020). Sustainable Careers across the Lifespan: Moving the Field Forward. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 117, 103344. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2019.103344 [in English].

5. De Vos, A., van der Heijden, B.I.J.M. & Akkermans, J. (2020). Sustainable Careers: Towards a Conceptual Model. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 117, 103196. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2018.04.011 [in English].

6. Vanhercke, D., De Cuyper, N., Peeters, E. & De Witte, H. (2021). Defining Perceived Employability: A Psychological Approach. Career Development International, 26 (2), 152–170 [in English].

7. Okay-Somerville, B., Luchinskaya, D., Anderson, P., Hurrell, S. & Scholarios, D. (2022). The SAGE Handbook of Graduate Employability. London: SAGE Publications [in English].

8. Xin, L., Zhou, W., Li, M. & Tang, F. (2020). Career Success Criteria Clarity as a Predictor of Employment Outcomes. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 540. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00540 [in English].

9. Cherednichenko, G.A. (2020). Vypuskniki rossijskih vuzov na rynke truda (dannye oprosa Rosstata) [Graduates of Russian universities in the labor market (Rosstat survey data)]. Sociologicheskaja nauka i social’naja praktika - Sociological Science and Social Practice, 8 (3), 108–124 [in Russian].

10. Tihonova, N.E., Latov, Yu.V., Karavaj, A.V., Latova, N.V. & Slobodenjuk, E.D. (2023). Chelovecheskij kapital rossijskih professionalov: sostojanie, dinamika, faktory [Human capital of Russian professionals: state, dynamics, factors]. Moscow: FNISC RAN [in Russian].

11. Slobodenjuk, E.D. (2021). Blagopoluchie rossijskih professionalov: dinamika i mehanizmy [Well-being of Russian professionals: dynamics and specifics]. Zhurnal institucional’nyh issledovanij - Journal of Institutional Studies, 13 (4), 40–58 [in Russian].

12. Tomlinson, M., McCafferty, H., Port, A., Maguire, N., Zabelski, A.E., Butnaru, A., Charles, M. & Kirby, S. (2022). Developing Graduate Employability for a Challenging Labour Market: The Validation of the Graduate Capital Scale. Journal of Applied Research in Higher Education, 14 (3), 1193–1209 [in English].

13. Sin, C., Tavares, O. & Amaral, A. (2021). Employability of Higher Education Graduates: The Roles of Human Capital, Career Management and Context. Studies in Higher Education, 46 (11), 2290–2307 [in English].

14. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (2024). The Digitalisation of Agriculture: A Review of Technologies, Policies and Markets. Paris: OECD Publishing [in English].

15. Yerzhanova, Zh., Dossanova, A. & Tapalova, A. (2025). Providing the Agricultural Market with Young Specialists: Problems and Solutions. Bulletin of the National Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 415 (3), 426–438 [in English].

16. Rausch, A., Abele, S., Deutscher, V., Greiff, S., Kis, V., Messenger, S., Shackleton, J., Tramonte, L., Ward, M. & Winther, E. (2024). Designing an International Large-Scale Assessment of Professional Competencies and Employability Skills: Emerging Avenues and Challenges of OECD’s PISA-VET. Vocations and Learning, 17 (3), 393–432 [in English].

17. [Kremer, N.Sh. (2023). Jekonometrika: uchebnik i praktikum [Econometrics: textbook and workshop]. Moscow: Jurajt [in Russian].