Applied sociological projects in the context of the clinical educational model of the Saint Petersburg State University

Applied sociological projects can play an important role in reducing the gap between higher education and labor markets, but for this educational organizations need to develop a mechanism for interaction between students and employers. The article presents the clinical model used at the Saint Petersburg State University as a tool for organizing applied sociological projects as a part of the educational process. The authors describe the features of the Sociological Clinic of Applied Research of the Saint Petersburg State University, the results of its work and the directions of its development, providing some practical recommendations for introducing a clinical training infrastructure in educational programs in sociology. These recommendations may be useful for universities that want to improve their interaction with the labor market and their quality of education. The development and assessment of forms for integrating employers’ requests into educational institutions are current methodological tasks, and solutions developed and tested by the Saint Petersburg State University, namely the clinical approach, may be interesting for all participants of the education market. Its uniqueness is determined by the flexible organizational model which focuses on characteristics of different educational areas. Over a five-year period, the Sociological Clinic of Applied Research has become an educational form that successfully combines classical education with project-based activities, giving students the opportunity to include in-demand cases into their portfolios and establish relationships with representatives of local communities. This experience will be useful for improving the quality of education in sociology-related areas.