Psychosemantic Analysis of the Economic Consciousness of Students of Agricultural University Under the Conditions of Digitalization of the Economy

The relevance of the research topic is determined by the need of society in specialists with high economic efficiency, capable of planning strategies for self-realization in the economy in current conditions of development of the labor market and digitalization of the economy. The paper aims to study the economic consciousness of students of economic specialties of Stavropol State Agrarian University. The study used the method of experimental psychosemantics (semantic differential) and the method of multivariate statistics (factor analysis). The authors identified the basic constructs of the ordinary consciousness of students in the field of economics, through which they perceive the current economic reality. A comparative analysis of the results of the experimental and psychological study of economic consciousness of first- and fourth-year students is presented. It was revealed that first-year students perceive economic reality through constructs such as “strength-weakness” and “leadership,” and fourth-year students—through the constructs “morality” and “responsibility-irresponsibility.” In the ordinary consciousness of first-year students, the image of a businessman, a financially literate person, a financially secure person, and a contemporary student is perceived as strong and possessing leadership qualities. In the ordinary consciousness of fourth-year students, the image of a businessman, a financially literate person, a financially secure person, and a contemporary student is perceived as moral and responsible. The use of the possibilities provided by the method of private semantic differential to study the economic consciousness of students of a higher agricultural education institution is fundamentally new for the conducted experimental study.