Olympiads as a site of professional self-actualization and selection in higher education: the case of MGIMO student culture

Introduction. Contemporary student Olympiads in Russian universities are becoming an important mechanism for professional self-actualization, talent selection, and construction of student culture. However, their role in shaping students’ professional identity and their relationship with educational inequality remain insufficiently studied. The aim of the study was to examine MGIMO students’ experience of participation in academic Olympiads: motivation to participate, preparation strategies, educational and career effects, as well as barriers and selective consequences of the Olympiad movement. The necessity of analyzing Olympiads as an intersection of educational policy, institutional practices, and individual student trajectories is substantiated in order to build a more balanced support system that minimizes selective effects.
Materials and methods. The results of thirty semi-structured interviews with 3rd–4th year undergraduate students at MGIMO who have experience participating in Olympiads at various levels are presented. Thematic analysis was employed to identify motivational factors, typology of preparation strategies, educational and professional-identity effects of participation, as well as students’ perceptions of barriers and fairness of competitive procedures.
Results. Strong differentiation of preparation resources was revealed: from systematic team-based training supported by mentors to individual and minimal preparation against the background of high academic and work load. It was established that Olympiads function not only as a tool for deepening subject knowledge and developing communicative, research, and project competencies, but also as a mechanism for forming professional identity and attitudes toward competition and public evaluation. The axiological dimension of the Olympiad experience was analyzed – students’ reinterpretation of the values of fairness, responsibility, and development under conditions of competition.
Discussion and conclusions. The obtained results and their analysis revealed a contradiction between the formal equality of Olympiad rules and the actual inequality of participants’ starting opportunities. Olympiads are considered as an element of MGIMO student culture, generating specific rituals, symbols, and informal hierarchies. The research findings substantiate the necessity not only of expanding the range of Olympiads and strengthening institutional incentives, but also of building a more balanced support system that assists students with diverse starting opportunities.

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