Arseniy Buchatsky and Alexander Novikov held the first seminar of the project group on studying educational courses for elderly Russians as a resource for active longevity.

On Wednesday, April 10, the first seminar of the HSE FSS project group “Educational courses for the elderly as a resource for active longevity” was held at the ILSIR. 

The speakers were ILSIR research intern Arseniy Buchatsky and 4th-year student of the Sociology program Alexander Novikov. Co-organizer the seminar and co-author of the material was Victoria Antonova, a professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences who supervised the speakers' work.

Educational courses for senior citizens are a new direction in Russia's social policy. Such programs, for example, "Active Longevity", can improve the quality of life and strengthen social integration of the older generation. International experience confirms the effectiveness of such effects from courses. However, the lack of data on the availability and popularity of such programs, as well as the difficulties in learning and audience demands, requires further study of their experience in Russia.

The authors focused on studying the demand for online education among older students, as well as its barriers and drivers. The aim of the pilot study (sample: 819 respondents), conducted in the Krasnodar Territory, Saratov Region, Samara Region and Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug in 2024-2025, was to determine the reasons for participation and non-participation elderly people in online education and the needs of such an audience. The study shows that additional education is generally popular among citizens over 75 years old (more than 85% of respondents), a high proportion of single (47.6%) and widowed (42.1%) respondents creates a context for perception of online classes as a convenient way to create new social connections. The demand for group classes (58.6% of respondents) also testifies in favor of this possible role of online courses.

However, as the authors show, the audience does not seek to acquire digital competencies, despite their demand, but the refusal of online classes is associated precisely with the lack of these skills. Generalized data from recent previous studies generally indicate a low demand for digital competencies for the "baby boomer" generation.

The next stages of the project will be aimed at studying this contradiction and improving specific strategies for involving the older generation in the digital environment.

During the discussion of the report, the discussant, head of the research laboratory of the Institute of Continuing Professional Education (social workers of the Department of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of Moscow) Victoria Mukha gave and suggested studying similar social contradictions in the experience of other countries, as well as focusing on the motivation for training of individual groups of students and the image of a teacher for elderly students, using an interdisciplinary approach.

Earlier, the results of the study were successfully presented by Arseny and Alexander at the XXIII International Conference of Young Scientists "Vectors" in the section on the study of education as a channel for social mobility. Based on the results of the study, an article is planned to be published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal in the near future.