Educational diagnosis of the Russian student worldview

Abstract

This article examines the value orientations and worldview of contemporary Russian university students through the prism of media images of heroes, with a particular focus on their significance for higher education and educational practice. The study aims to identify how media-constructed heroic models influence students’ value systems and to assess the potential of educational diagnostics in organizing effective educational and upbringing work at universities. The research is based on the original “Hero of Time” methodology, which combines reflexive content analysis of mass culture artifacts with an anonymous survey. The empirical study was conducted in 2025 at a pedagogical university and involved 250 undergraduate and graduate students aged 18–26 enrolled in humanities programs. The methodology allows for the diagnosis of both individual and group value structures, including those formed in informal and digital educational environments. The findings demonstrate that despite deep immersion in digital media, students retain a stable core of traditional educational values, such as professionalism, social responsibility, sincerity, and self-development. The contemporary hero is perceived as an ordinary individual capable of ethical choice, balance, and self-realization rather than as a media idol. The results highlight the importance of integrating value-based diagnostics into higher education to improve educational work, career guidance, and the formation of a holistic student worldview in a rapidly changing media environment