DOI: 
http://dx.doi.org/10.15293/1813-4718.2604.08
UDC: 
371.39 (37.015.3)
Chernyavskaya Valentina S.
Доктор педагогических наук, Prof. of the Department of Philosophy and Legal Psychology, Vladivostok State University, valstan13@mail.ru, Vladivostok
Ekitsev Vladislav I.
Кандидат психологических наук, Assoc. Prof. Assist. Prof. of the Department of General and Legal Psychology, Vladivostok State University, ekintsev@mail.ru, Vladivostok

Attitude Towards Studying Mathematics and Professionalization of Students

Abstract: 
The determining factor in the development of modern society and education is technology, which is based on mathematics, at the same time mathematics, as a subject of study, is insufficiently studied within the framework of the sciences of education. It is this subject that causes difficulties for students and is often positioned in the context of anxiety. The purpose of the article is to study the attitude towards mathematics among students of specialized fields of study. The methodological basis of this study was based on a) the concept of attitude in its integrative context; b) the student was viewed as a subject of education and thinking, within which he expresses his attitude and meanings in relation to the study of mathematics. The empirical methods used were a survey (questionnaire), content analysis, systematization, and interpretation of information. The results showed that the majority of students have a positive attitude towards mathematics and its study: 74,1% of students stated that mathematics is necessary for them. It evokes strong emotions in students: 65.4% have a positive attitude towards studying it, 23.5% have a negative attitude, and only 11,1% have a neutral attitude. The study shows a range of typical examples of why students like mathematics. These examples reflect the answers to questions using the categories “I like solving complex problems,” “fun,” “challenge,” and “excitement.” However, the professionalization of students in the context of mathematics was low: only about a third of the students were able to formulate the connection between mathematics and their profession, and most of them were unable to provide examples of how mathematics is used in their professional activities. Conclusion. The positive attitude of students towards mathematics was largely declarative. Based on statistical analysis, a statistically significant relationship has been proven between the variables reflecting students’ attitude towards mathematics and their ability to provide specific examples of applying mathematics to the tasks of future professional activities. This requires a special approach to mathematics in higher education.
Keywords: 
mathematics; students; mathematical education; attitude; professionalization; involvement
References: 

1 Myasishchev, V. N., 2011. Psychology of relationships: selected psychological works. Moscow: Moscow Psychological and Social Institute Publishing House; Voronezh: MODEK, 398 p. (In Russ.)
2. Druzhinin, V. N., 1999. Psychology of General Abilities. St. Petersburg: Peter Publishing House, 368 p. (In Russ.)
3. Tikhomirov, O. K., Terekhov, V. A., 1969. The Significance and Meaning of the Process of Solving a Thinking Task. Questions of psychology, no. 4, pp. 66–84. (In In Russ., abstract in Eng.)
4. Kostrigin, A. A., Poznyakov, V. P., 2025. Comparative study of the scientific ideas of S. L. Rubinstein and V. N. Myasishchev on the problems of subject psychology and attitudes. Part 2. Quantitative analysis, vol. 46, no. 2, pp. 13–23. DOI: 10.31857/S0205959225020022. (In Russ., abstract in Eng.)
5. Ushakova, T. N., 2019. The Nature of Word Meaning. Moscow: Institute of Psychology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 248 p. (In Russ.)
6. Andreeva, A. D., 2021. Attitude to Learning in Different Periods of the Development of Russian School Education. Cultural and Historical Psychology, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 84–92. DOI: 10.17759/chp.2021170112. (In Russ., abstract in Eng.)
7.Sergomanov, P. A., Andreeva, A. D., Danilova E. E., 2020. Russian Teenagers in the Era of the Late USSR and Modern Russian Society. Questions of psychology, no. 4, рр. 40–53. (In Russ., abstract in Eng.)
8. Filimonov, V. A., 2015. “I Hate Mathematics!” or Cognitive Infrastructure vs. Cognitive Immunity. Current Problems of Teaching Mathematics at a Technical University, no. 3, рр. 214–220 (In Russ.)
9. Velichko, T. A., Chernyavskaya, V. S., 2025. Psychological Differentiation of the Effectiveness of Teaching Mathematics to Adolescents. Psychological and Pedagogical Research, vol. 17, no. 1, рp. 100–112. URL: https://doi.org/10.17759/psyedu.2025170107 (In Russ., abstract in Eng.)
10. Veraksa, A. N., Zinchenko, Yu. P., Kalimullin, A. M., Kostyuk, G. P., Rukshin, S. E., Tsvetkova, L. A., Yashchenko, I. V., 2024. “Mathematical Anxiety”, Pseudoscientific Research, and Methodological Dead Ends. Bulletin of Moscow University. Ser. 20. Pedagogical Education, vol. 22, no. 1, pp. 26–53. (In Russ.)
11. Adaskina, A. A., 2018. Study of the Phenomenon of Mathematical Anxiety in Foreign Psychology. Modern Foreign Psychology, no. 8(1), рр. 28–35. URL: https://psyjournals.ru/journals/jmfp/archive/2019_n1/Adaskina (In Russ., abstract in Eng.)
12. Maloney, E. A., Risko, E. F., Ansari, D., Fugelsang, J., 2010. Mathematics anxiety affects counting but not subitizing during visual enumeration. Cognition, no. 114(2), pp. 293–297. URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2009.09.013 (Canada)
13. Malanchini, M., Rimfeld, K., Shakeshaft, N. G., Rodic, M., Schofield, K., Selzam, S., Dale, P. S., Petrill, S.A., Kovas, Y., 2017. The genetic and environmental aetiology of spatial, mathematics and general anxiety. Scientific reports, no. 7 (42218). URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/srep42218. (UK)
14. Dobrynina, I. V., 2024. On the Application of Information Technologies in Teaching Higher Mathematics. Pedagogical Informatics, no. 2, рp. 288–295. (In Russ.)
15. Wang, M., Hu, Ya., Liu, J., 2025. Optimising the content and pedagogy of the mathematics curriculum in vocational education in an information technology environment. Applied Mathematics and Nonlinear Sciences, Т. 10, № 1. (India)
16. Melievna, M. D., 2020. Using information technology tools in mathematics lessons for teaching future teachers. International Journal of Scientific and Technology Research, Т. 9, no. 3, pp. 4168–4171. (In Eng.)
17. Burova, N. A., 2003. Using the beauty of mathematics as a method of solving the problem of non-violent education. Actual Problems of the Quality of Pedagogical Education: Materials of the Scientific and Practical Conference, Novosibirsk: Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University, pp. 195–199. (In Russ.)
18. Gelfman, E. G. Kholodnaya, M. A., 2018. Psychodidactics of a School Textbook. Moscow: YURAYT Publishing House LLC, 328 p. (In Russ.)
19. Dvoryatkina, S. N., 2022. A Model of Teaching Mathematics with the Effect of Developing the Probabilistic Style of Thinking in a Digital Educational Environment: Theoretical Justification and Empirical Verification. RUDN Journal of Psychology and Pedagogics, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 352–366. DOI: 10.22363/2313-1683-2022-19-2-352-366. (In Russ.)
20. Aronov, A. M., Znamenskaya, O. V., 2010. On the Concept of Mathematical Competence. Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta. Seriya 20: Pedagogical education. 4, рp. 31–43. DOI: 10.51314/2073-2635-2010-4-31-43. (In Russ.)
21. Zhukova, G. S., 2014. Russian Mathematical Education at a University: Status, Expectations, and Problems. Human Capital, no. 12(72), рp. 112–119. (In Russ.)
22. Vavilov, N. A., Yurkov, A. V., Khalin, V. G., 2023. The Heavens Fall: Mathematics for Non-Mathematicians. Reports of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Mathematics, Computer Science, and Control Processes, vol. 511, no. 1, pp. 144–160. DOI: 10.31857/S2686954323340015. (In Russ.)
23. Neri, F., 2021. Teaching Mathematics to Computer Scientists: Reflections and a Case Study. SN COMPUT. SCI. no. 2, 75. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42979-021-00461-7 (UK)
24. De Mol, L., 2015. Some Reflections on Mathematics and Its Relation to Computer Science. Adamatzky, A. (eds) Automata, Universality, Computation. Emergence, Complexity and Computation, vol. 12. Springer, Cham. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09039-9_3 (Switzerland)
25. Ceragioli, F., Spreafico, M. L., 2020. Tangible Tools in Mathematics for Engineering Students: Experimental Activity at Politecnico di Torino. Digit Exp Math Educ, no. 6, pp. 244–256. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40751-020-00063-7. (Italy)
26. Filimonov, V. A., Burmistrova, N., Chernyavskaya, V., Malakhova, V., 2021. Collective Development of Cognitive Abilities Using the ‘4C’ Approach // Proceedings – IEEE Ural-Siberian Conference on Computational Technologies in Cognitive Science, Genomics and Biomedicine, CSGB 2021, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, 26–28 мая 2021 года. Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, pp. 60–63. DOI: 10.1109/CSGB53040.2021.9496021. (Russ.)