Years later: what helps to reap the benefits of economic education?

Modern educational programs are focused not only on providing subject knowledge, but also on developing a wide range of skills and values. At the same time, graduates often indicate that the link between the subjects studied and future employment remains unclear, while employers emphasize the lack of developed ‘soft skills’ in job seekers. The purpose of the study: to evaluate which skills and knowledge gained from economic education are related to socioeconomic benefits of graduates and to identify which value orientations contribute to mastering these skills and knowledge. Drawing on OLS-regressions and ordinal logistic regressions as modeling methods, the authors conducted a survey of 451 graduates of the Economics Faculty of Lomonosov Moscow State University (1993–2023). Obtaining practical knowledge and skills is positively related to five dependent variables out of six (getting in-demand profession, salary, forming connections, forming a network of like-minded people, career growth), while obtaining theoretical knowledge is positively related to only two (getting in-demand profession and competitiveness). Among soft skills, teamwork, adaptability, efficiency, and ability to accept criticism showed a positive relationship with one or more of the dependent variables. The coefficients in front of the variables reflecting the ability to learn, oral presentation skills, and the ability to find information were not significant in any of the models. Respondents' personal values explain about 30% of the variation in knowledge and skills acquired. Openness, desire for self-development and independence are positively related to most of educational outcomes. Unlike other studies, attention is paid to both skills and knowledge formed during training and the personal values of graduates. The obtained results can be used in drawing up educational programs.

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