POSTGRADUATE STUDIES AS AN EXISTENTIAL EXPERIENCE: BETWEEN ALIENATION AND VOCATION

The article considers postgraduate studies not just as a stage of professional training of future scientists, but as a significant socio-philosophical phenomenon characterized by intense existential experiences and reflections on the meaning of existence and professional development. Modern society has a significant impact on the professional development of graduate students, emphasizing the complex intertwining of personal aspirations and external pressures created by institutional norms and requirements. The phenomenon under study is considered through the prism of the concepts of Martin Heidegger and Karl Jaspers, which make it possible to analyze the inner experience of a graduate student, including intensive reflection, the search for meaning, and balancing between personal vocation to scientific knowledge and mandatory compliance with the requirements of educational and scientific organizations. The empirical component of the study is based on a content analysis of modern sources (mass media, forums and social networks for 2022-2025). The content analysis revealed a significant contrast between the public, mostly positive, image of graduate school, disseminated in the media, and private, critical narratives contained on fairly anonymous discussion platforms and reflecting the real difficulties of graduate students (administrative obstacles, emotional burnout, lack of financial stability). The work leads to the conclusion that graduate school is a space where special «borderline situations» (according to Jaspers) unfold, creating a potential threat of loss of authenticity («fall» according to Heidegger) under the influence of institutional requirements, but at the same time containing a powerful potential for an existential breakthrough and gaining authenticity through conscious acceptance of one's scientific vocation and mission.