The problems of the formation of the professional and personality qualities of graduates of higher educational institutions became especially relevant during the period in which Russia was making the transition to the new economic course of action, the system of market relations. However, the roots of these problems are to be found in the mid-1980s, when a rise in structural unemployment became apparent: college and university graduates were not finding jobs in the specialty or profession that they had acquired in school but in other sectors and spheres of production. Researchers have noted that for a number of years there has been an observable increase in the percentage of people who, after graduating, are choosing more than one specialty. Research on Russian university students shows that motivations to acquire a degree and choose a specialty are complex, but are dominated by considerations of employment and level of income. The motivation sphere is thus being deformed, potentially leading to workers' deprofessionalization. In the long run, this tendency may adversely affect social and labor relations. (Contains 1 figure.)