“There, Beyond the Horizon...” Young Scientists on the Road from the past Through the Lived Present to an Imagined Future

Abstract

This article discusses young people's perceptions of the future in the context of their present and past memories. The analysis focuses on a generational segment of young scientists at a leading Russian university, whose participation in constructing the future is actively supported by state rhetoric and university policy. The theoretical framework is formed at the intersection of the temporal turn in the sociology of youth, the incorporation of the past into understandings of the future, and the critical debate regarding generations and growing up. The article's empirical basis consists of 30 semi-structured interviews with young scientists at the Higher School of Economics, aged 20-35, working in the university's research structures across various fields. The author analyzes strategies for coping with uncertainty and the search for resilience through increased agency in managing life choices. The analysis reveals that young scholars construct visions of the future and define its horizons by taking into account their positions within the contemporary university— characterized by precarious employment, high demands for academic output, and financial instability — while drawing upon their lived present, references to the past (personal, familial, and national), their generational identity, and their standing within the professional scientific field. In this process, the past serves as evidence of one’s resilience, while the primary resource in the present becomes one’s engagement with science, alongside personal qualities such as the capacity to navigate difficulties and contemporary challenges, and a commitment to pursuing one’s chosen professional identity — traits linked to professional dedication and a drive for recognition. The author concludes that, although the narratives of young scientists contain a mix of optimistic and pessimistic expectations regarding the future, the emphasis placed on a sense of calling renders these envisioned scenarios optimistic within the broader sociocultural context.

Acknowledgements. This article draws on materials from the project “Generation Z in Search of Balance: Working Conditions, Work Schedules, and Life Values as Perceived by Young People and Employers” (HSE PFI 2024). The author would like to thank her colleagues Nadezhda Nartova, Irina Lisovskaya, Evgeniya Kuziner, and Ekaterina Semenova for their valuable input.