The relationship between education, profession and social status in the modern global world is not obvious. A high level of education does not guarantee a professional career. The discrepancy between professional education and occupation is especially acute in the field of customer service. On the one hand, it reduces the quality of services provided and, on the other hand, causes tension among workers of this industry. The aim of the research is to study educational values, the choice of an educational trajectory and professional self-determination of modern working-class youth in the service industry.
The article is based on the materials of an empirical study using quantitative and qualitative sociological methods: a mass survey of working-class youth in the Ural Federal District and a biographical interview, the informants of which are employed in the real sector of the economy and the service sector.
The contradictory attitude of young service workers to education was revealed: not seeing the connection between the level and quality of education and the characteristics of their own life, young people are confident in the value of education and maintain a respectful attitude towards educated people. The personal significance of education for the new generation of working-class youth is small; the social prestige of education does not in any way affect personal life plans, including the professional choice.
The established relationships between the educational and professional choice of working-class youth - the basic layer of the social structure of any society - can be used to organize vocational guidance work in secondary school, and can be in demand by the state and regional authorities of vocational education.