For or against rural living? : attitudes of higher educated young people toward living in Croatian rural areas

Odlazak mladih sa sela predstavlja veliki problem za egzistenciju hrvatskih sela. Smanjenje broja mladih u seoskom stanovništvu uzrokuje senilizaciju stanovništva i postepeno propadanje sela. Odlazak visokoobrazovanog stanovništva još više pogoršava socio-demografsku sliku seoske populacije. U ovom radu prikazali smo rezultate istraživanja koje je provedeno 2020. godine na uzorku studenata 6 fakulteta Sveučilišta u Zagrebu. Cilj istraživanja je utvrditi žele li se studenti nakon završenog studija vratiti ili preseliti na selo. Ispitali smo koji infrastrukturni elementi su važni da bi se studenti odlučili živjeti na selu. Osim toga, ispitali smo u kojoj mjeri studenti percipiraju prednosti i nedostatke života na selu i sela općenito. Na kraju smo se dotaknuli odlaska mladih iz Hrvatske te smo studente pitali planiraju li nakon studija napustiti Hrvatsku.The departure of young people from the countryside is a big problem for the existence of Croatian villages. The decrease in the number of young people in the rural population causes the senility of the population and the gradual decline of the village. The departure of the highly educated population further worsens the socio-demographic picture of the rural population. In this paper, we present the results of a survey conducted in 2020 on a sample of students from 6 faculties of the University of Zagreb. The aim of the research is to determine whether students want to return or move to the countryside after graduation. We examined which infrastructural elements are important for students to choose to live in the countryside. In addition, we examined the extent to which students perceive the advantages and disadvantages of rural life and the village in general. In the end, we touched on the topic of departure of young people from Croatia and asked the students if they plan to leave Croatia after their studies