Abstract:

Since the signing of the Bologna Convention by Russia, there is a process of rethinking the social significance of younger generation lecturer’s professional group and their professional culture. Increasing globalization has changed our societies to knowledge-based societies and confronted higher education systems with new challenges. Russia is an important actor in the international arena and is actively involved in these processes. The integration processes affected Higher education institution. The Russian system of higher education is facing important challenges: fall in occupational prestige of universities lecturers, professors‘staff high rotation and requirements of Bologna process. Attracting and retaining new lecturers remains a formidable challenge for university leaders and policymakers. Bologna proccess presents the ambitious goal of requiring a “highly qualified” younger generation lecturers at every university. Thus, the national focus on younger generation lecturers‘ "quality“ and their professional culture comes in the context of both professors‘ staff high rotation and requirments of Bologna process.

Despite the considerable researches on professional culture, there remains a lack of understanding as to how younger generation lecturers’ professional culture is formed and developed at modern conditions. Our study seeks to fill this gap.

The major research objectives were to clarify Russian younger generation lecturers’ professional culture, if so, how it is formed and developed. The study conducted in the city of Yekaterinburg one of the Russian megalopolises. The research methodology combined both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The primary data was collected using questionnaires and in-depth interviews.

The investigation has revealed the essential characteristics of the professional culture of younger generation lecturers and found out the main factors affect it. The study has fixed the predominance of negative trends in the professional culture of younger generation lecturers in contemporary Russia, which hinder its development (poor integration in the socio-professional group, the lack of value of creativity, the lack of professionalism in a large part of lecturers and so forth).There is a trend of outflow younger generation lecturers’ (after successfully defending his doctoral thesis) in the more lucrative sectors of the economy.

The study has determined the main factors that affect its development (fall in occupational prestige of universities lecturers, an increase in young lecturer workload, overload and stress in young lecturers, new lecturers’ job dissatisfaction, requirement for compliance of scientific and educational activity, requirement for being a creative young lecturer, failure of younger generation lecturers to interact both with students and colleagues etc.).

It has been shown that in contemporary Russia solving problems of development and formation of younger generation lecturers’ professional culture is associated with the reform of the higher education system as well as solution of the fundamental problem - enhance the prestige of the Teacher Profession, its status in the Russian society.

Keywords:

Bologna process, professional culture, younger generation lecturers, Russia, affecting factors professional culture.